Board

Michelle Rindels is a co-managing editor with the nonprofit news outlet The Nevada Independent. During her first six years in Nevada, Michelle worked at The Associated Press, alternating between Carson City and Las Vegas to cover the Legislature, campaigns, and Nevada and Utah breaking news for national and international audiences. She has worked for The Nevada Independent since its inception in 2017, and now plans coverage, edits and helps manage a newsroom staff of about 20 people.

Maggie McLetchie is a founding partner at McLetchie Law. Maggie has a long history of fighting for justice and is no stranger to standing up to powerful adversaries. Whether she is representing reporters, civil rights plaintiffs, or businesses, she is a passionate and creative advocate.

Marla McDade Willams is the Senior Director for Northern Nevada with Strategies 360. 

She brings more than 25 years of government and policy experience to S360. She maintains a network of strong relationships across interest groups, carries a deep understanding of policy development and analysis, and has the ability to navigate complex levels of government bureaucracy.

Colton Lochhead previously worked for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Patrick File is Assistant Professor of Media Law at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. He teaches and conducts research on media law, the First Amendment, and journalism history. He has worked on Nevada legislative efforts related to the Nevada Public Records Act and, in 2017, securing a “New Voices” law that clarified the rights of Nevada student journalists. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.A. in Journalism and History from Simpson College, in Iowa.

Sondra Cosgrove is a thirty-four-year Las Vegas resident and the President of the League of Women Voters of Nevada. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, with areas of specialization in the U.S. West, Native American History, and Latin America. Currently, Sondra is a full-time history professor at the College of Southern Nevada and is actively involved in a wide range of college and community service.

Stephen Bates is an associate professor at the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Previously he was literary editor of the Wilson Quarterly in Washington, DC. He is the author of An Aristocracy of Critics: Luce, Hutchins, Niebuhr, and the Committee That Redefined Freedom of the Press, forthcoming from Yale University Press. He holds an A.B. and a J.D. from Harvard University.

Rio Yamat is a reporter with the Associated Press in Las Vegas. Rio has also reported in newsrooms in the Lazio region of central Italy and Washington, D.C. She is a proud graduate of the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Peggy Santoro is the executive editor of the Reno Gazette Journal.

Anjeanette Damon is a Nevada-based reporter at ProPublica who focuses on government accountability. She previously worked for the Reno Gazette Journal and the Las Vegas Sun. She is a graduate of the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada Reno and has a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Alex Falconi is the Founding Director of Our Nevada Judges, Inc., an organization bridging the gap between the general public and the judiciary. Our Nevada Judges compiles information on all of the courts of the State which includes video coverage of hearings and trials. Alex graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering and has worked in industry as a software engineer. 

Bob Conrad is publisher, editor and co-founder of This Is Reno. He has served in communications positions for various state agencies and earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2011. He has been running This Is Reno since 2009.

Shelby Fleshood is the director of open records and citizen engagement at the Nevada Policy Research Institute.

Christopher Peterson is the Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, where he manages the affiliates legal team and docket. He is an alumni of University of Virginia and Georgetown University Law Center.