Meet the 2027 - 2028 Board Candidates
It's election season again and voting will open next week to elect three candidates to the Board of Directors.
The 2027 - 2028 candidates are Donesha Aldridge, Angela Chao and Sophia Rosenbaum.
Donesha and Angela are incumbent candidates, both seeking re-election as they approach the end of their first term. Sophia is a new candidate.
Voting will open next Wednesday, October 7 and close October 23. All current ONA members are eligible to vote.
About the Candidates
Donesha Aldridge a digital leader at WXIA 11Alive in Atlanta and has more than a decade of newsroom experience. She has a track record of driving audience engagement and growth through data-informed decisions. She also teaches online journalism courses for University of Florida.
Before moving to Atlanta, Donesha worked in newsrooms in two Mississippi markets. Her previous work experience allowed her to learn the skills of reporting, anchoring, producing, and creating web content strategies.
Donesha is a current member of the ONA Board of Directors. She hopes to lead and motivate other young journalists as her career continues.
Angela Chao is the Director and Head of Global News at Healthline Media and Healthgrades, home to the world's leading health and wellness media platforms such as Healthline, Medical News Today, and Healthgrades.
In her current role, Angela owns editorial vision, strategy, and operations for news, newsletters, and HCP (healthcare professional) content across the portfolio, leading an international team of editors, freelance writers, credentialed medical and life-sciences fact checkers, and podcast producers. She partners cross-functionally to develop and launch high-stake content products and business initiatives, and is an early adopter championing responsible, ethical generative AI adoption in editorial workflows.
Angela is an award-winning journalist and executive producer, and a digital pioneer who has led large-scale content experiments across web, social, OTT, and emerging platforms, driving exponential audience and revenue growth at multiple news organizations. Before joining Healthline Media in January 2022, she worked as an executive producer, digital journalist, and newsroom leader at outlets including TEGNA's 11Alive/WXIA, The Weather Channel/Weather.com, Lonely Planet, USA TODAY Network/Gannett, and AOL.
With native fluency in three languages, Angela holds a bachelor's degree from Washington State University and a master's from the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She currently serves on the ONA Board of Directors.
Sophia Rosenbaum is a journalist, consultant and advisor who has spent her career helping legacy media organizations adapt, experiment and connect more deeply with the people they serve.
She got her reporting roots at the New York Post, then moved to Time Inc., where she learned how audience behavior and data could inform how stories were told, packaged and distributed. At The Associated Press, she spent years in the newsroom before helping lead the organization’s digital transformation and expand its approaches to audience growth and revenue over nearly a decade.
That winding path has made Sophie a connector across parts of the industry that do not always speak the same language. She advises organizations and leaders, teaches and mentors journalists and brings people together around the changing realities of building both journalism and a career in it.
She is vice chair of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Alumni Board and a 2025 alum of ONA’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator.
To learn more about joining ONA's board, as either an elected or appointed board member, visit our 2027-2028 Board Election FAQ.