Board

Michelle Rindels is a reporter with The Nevada Independent. Michelle spent six years at The Associated Press before coming to The Nevada Independent. She alternated between Carson City and Las Vegas to cover the Legislature, campaigns, and Nevada and Utah breaking news for national and international audiences.

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.

West Juhl serves on the board of the Society of Professional Journalists Las Vegas, which seeks to foster a community for Southern Nevada journalists and to advocate on their behalf. West was born in Las Vegas and enjoys comic books, poetry, and spending time with family and friends.

Colton Lochhead works at 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.

Vanessa Vancour is a former TV anchor with a passion for bilingual storytelling and community engagement. Vanessa is passionate about equity, inclusion and thoughtful diversity initiatives. In her current role as Director of Community Relations at Community Health Alliance, Vancour is responsible for internal and external communications, community engagement, as well as nurturing and developing community partnerships.

Roxann McCoy serves as president of NAACP Las Vegas.

Kenneth Retzl, Ph.D. is the Director of Education Policy for the Guinn Center. Dr. Retzl has a passion for ensuring the Nevada educational system fulfills its promise to every student to provide an educational experience that prepares them for the future. Prior to joining the Clark County School District, Dr. Retzl worked for two accounting firms as a Certified Public Accountant in Madison, Wisconsin. During this time, his primary focus was non-profit organizations (including Head Start agencies), community colleges, and local governments (including a number of school districts). He has published several peer-reviewed articles on topics of governance, transparency, and partisan politics. Dr. Retzl was born in Iowa and received his B.A. from Clarke University in Iowa, and his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

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.

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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.