Meet the 7 nominees for LION Publishers’ 2025 Community Member of the Year
Cast your vote by June 23, and join us in St. Louis this September to congratulate the winner.
Voting is now open for LION members to recognize a peer who exemplifies our core values as LION’s 2025 Community Member of the Year. This person routinely goes above and beyond to support, acknowledge, and celebrate their fellow news entrepreneurs. They are dedicated to building a sustainable news business and helping others do the same.
For the first time this year, LION members nominated their peers, and the winner will be determined by membership-wide vote. We’re accepting ballots now; the deadline to cast your vote is Monday, June 23, at 5 p.m. PT.
Voting guidelines:
- One vote, for one candidate, is allowed per news business. Please coordinate with your colleagues to determine who will submit your organization’s vote.
- You need to be an active LION member to vote. If you’re not on our list of active LION members, please email membership@lionpublishers.com. We’re ready to help answer any questions about your current membership status.
The three nominees with the most peer votes will become finalists for the award and will receive a complimentary ticket to the LION Awards Ceremony & Dinner at the Independent News Sustainability Summit in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 3, 2025.
Steps to cast your vote:
- Create an account on the LION Awards platform or use your existing account.
- Click on “Judge.”
- Select “Vote” underneath the name and photo of the nominee you’d like to vote for.
- That’s it! When you see the “+1” under your desired candidate, your vote is submitted, and you can exit the voting page.
- To change your vote, you can unclick your selected nominee and click “Vote” on your preferred nominee.
The nominees are:
Nominations edited for length and clarity.
Branden Andersen
Founding Editor, Newsberg (Newberg, OR)
From the nomination: Branden is an incredible LION member. He is extremely active in the solopreneur community, sharing his wisdom, use cases, and ideas for newer and established members alike. He’s also tirelessly worked on policy issues affecting LION members in Oregon, providing testimony, suggestions on bills and legislation, and has personally spoken to legislators to advocate for legislation benefiting LION members. You’ll find him in LION’s News Entrepreneur Community Slack every day, helping LION members, and he has always been eager to help in any way.
Garry Pierre-Pierre
Founder, The Haitian Times (Brooklyn, NY)
From the nomination: First of all, Garry is a pioneer in ethnic media, and he’s always willing to share the lessons he’s learned with others. His work has not only impacted the Haitian community, but also other ethnic, migrant, and diaspora media entrepreneurs that he so graciously mentors. This past year was tough for his community, and The Haitian Times proved to be an important source of news. They also build their priorities by listening to their community. Finally, in 2024, he showed us what true sustainability looks like by creating a successful succession plan.
Leo Cusimano
Publisher and President, Dallas Voice (Dallas, TX)
From the nomination: Leo exemplifies everything LION stands for — collaboration, sustainability, innovation, and community. For four decades, Leo has dedicated himself to building one of the most respected LGBTQ news organizations. Within LION, Leo is a trusted connector and generous mentor. Whether he’s leading the LGBTQ affinity group at the LION Summit, offering strategic advice to emerging publishers, or sharing candid lessons from his own journey, Leo always shows up with insight. He celebrates others’ successes, uplifts underrepresented voices, and constantly looks for ways to build a stronger, more sustainable news ecosystem. He has also encouraged more LGBTQ publishers to join LION, including me. LION’s community is stronger because Leo is part of it.
Maritza L. Félix
Founder and Director, Conecta Arizona (Phoenix, AZ)
From the nomination: Maritza embodies the spirit of the LION community — generous, innovative, and deeply rooted in service. As the founder of Conecta Arizona, she’s built a trusted, Spanish-language news outlet from the ground up, reaching audiences across the U.S.-Mexico border with critical, community-informed journalism. Her leadership has helped center immigrant and Spanish-speaking voices in industry conversations and inspired other publishers to think differently about audience, access, and sustainability. Additionally, Maritza is always ready to mentor others, offer tactical advice, and share hard-won lessons about building a news business from scratch.
Mark Talkington
Publisher and Founder, The Palm Springs Post (Palm Springs, CA)
From the nomination: The Palm Springs Post is a shining example of what’s possible in journalism in 2025. Just a few years after launching, Mark has built a sustainable business. Additionally, he’s a true friend to other local news entrepreneurs. During a recent staffing shortage at my publication, I texted him to see if he could edit something for me. I received a text within five minutes: “Yes, absolutely.” Through his related ventures, he is at the forefront of AI in the news industry, focusing on making news better, not replacing human journalists. We are lucky to have him.
Nicci Kadilak
Publisher and Founding Editor, Burlington Buzz (Burlington, MA)
From the nomination: Being a solopreneur is HARD. Nicci recognized that and still offered to do more, bringing together LION’s Solopreneur Peer Group for both formal and informal gatherings. In addition to being a connector, she models resourcefulness, puts new learnings into practice, and pushes to track the impact of the Burlington Buzz, such as by monitoring voter turnout.
Nissa Rhee
Cofounder and Executive Director, Borderless Magazine (Chicago, IL)
From the nomination: Nissa’s leadership and vision have been a beacon of light to understand how immigration journalism needs to happen. Borderless Magazine’s reporting consistently shows the power of immigrant voices as a key part of telling the stories of our community. Nissa’s work has informed my own work as a publisher and journalist.
Support the 2026 Summit
We're heading to San Diego from September 9–11 for our 2026 Independent News Sustainability Summit. Sponsorship opportunities are now available; check out our deck and connect with us at summit@lionpublishers.com to sign on for next year's conference.
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