BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

Troy Foster is a documentary filmmaker, journalist and new media advocate. A former newspaper editor and reporter, Foster left the print industry in 2006 to pursue additional education and a new direction with new media. In 2008, he formed Foster Group Media, LLC to be the vehicle for several personal freelance journalism projects, including the documentary series “BaseCrawl.” Foster spent nine years in the newspaper industry and is an unabashed fan of citizen journalism and the positive ways it’s affecting our evolving media landscape. He resides in Portland, Ore., where he provides real estate services for a small, family-run company.

Steve Fox is a 15-year veteran newspaper reporter and editor who now teaches journalism and English composition at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., where he also serves as adviser to the student newspaper, The Torch. A member of College Media Advisers, Fox has attended the CMA spring national convention in New York the last three years. He is interested in keeping the dissemination of news relevant to young readers.

J.D. Cogmon is Director of Student Support Services at the Oakland School for the Arts. A 20-year veteran educator, Cogmon worked in his native San Francisco before crossing the Bay to work in Oakland, where he strives to help keep students engaged in their education and away from criminal activities. Cogmon, who holds an graduate certificate in online teaching and learning, believes that modern publishing tools and citizen journalism training have the potential to empower disenfranchised persons.

Marshall Thompson is a social media expert and social activist. A former Army Reserve journalist, Thompson returned from a tour of duty in Iraq and promptly engaged in a walk across Utah, a 500-mile protest trek chronicled in the documentary “A Soldier’s Peace.” As a journalist, Thompson worked for the Associate Press in Israel and for several newspapers in Utah. He is now the public relations director for the Utah-based Internet firm Advent Creative, for which he writes a blog on social media, marketing and Web design.

Andrea Gardner is a frequent contributor to Marketplace, a program heard daily on National Public Radio stations across the country. She also freelances for KPCC, the Los Angeles-based NPR station. She often reports on the marketing industry and the business side of popular culture. Gardner is also the author of “Thirty Second Seduction,” a book about how advertisers market to women, published by Seal Press in 2008. Gardner holds a master’s of arts degree in print journalism from the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California, and a bachelor’s of arts degree in broadcast journalism from the University of La Verne.

April Squires teaches English and journalism at Riverton High School in Utah, where she advises the staff of the school’s award-winning newspaper, The Silver Scribe. She is also the state director of the Journalism Education Association. In 2009, Squires was the recipient of the Clifford B. Cheney Service to Journalism award for her work educating, advising — and defending — the students who write for The Scribe.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Matthew D. LaPlante is a father, husband, blogger, journalist, author and educator. As national security reporter for The Salt Lake Tribune, he has covered military operations from Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Germany and throughout the United States, in addition to feature reporting assignments in Israel, the West Bank, Spain, Ecuador and Cuba. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Oregon State University and a master of education degree from California State University East Bay. He lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, a literacy specialist, and their toddler daughter — to whom he writes regular letters of love, hope, advice and anxiety on his blog, www.dearspike.com.