LION Publishers Staff Disclosures

This post was last updated June 23, 2021.

The LION Publishers staff is committed to providing our members, our board of directors, and the public with transparent disclosures on the companies and businesses we’ve worked, or currently work with, in the course of our careers. Each LION staff member must sign a conflict of interest statement to prevent the institutional or personal interests of LION Publishers staff from interfering with the performance of their duties to LION Publishers, and to ensure that there is no personal, professional or political gain at the expense of LION Publishers.

This policy is not designed to eliminate relationships and activities that may create a duality of interest, but to require the disclosure of any conflicts of interest and the recusal of any interested party in a decision relating thereto.

A conflict of interest may exist when the interests or potential interests of any director, officer or staff member, or that person’s close relative, or any individual, group or organization to which the person associated with LION Publishers has allegiance, may be seen as competing with the interests of LION Publishers, or may impair such person’s independence or loyalty to LION Publishers. A conflict of interest is defined as an interest that might affect, or might reasonably appear to affect, the judgment or conduct of any director, officer or staff member in a manner that is adverse to the interests of LION Publishers.

Below are relevant disclosures from each of our staff members, in alphabetical order. Learn more about our team here.

Anika Anand is LION’s deputy director. Prior to this role, she cofounded The Evergrey and was a director at WhereBy.Us, parent company of The Evergrey, a LION member. Anika was also a director at Chalkbeat, another LION member. She’s also worked for The Seattle Times Education Lab project, and, since leaving, has sporadically continued to help run their Student Voices program on a consulting basis. Finally, Anika is an advisor to Indiegraf, a venture by journalists Erin Millar and Caitlin Havlak.

Cassandra Balfour is LION’s membership programing manager and has no relevant disclosures to share.

Ben DeJarnette is LION’s communications manager. Prior to this role, he founded Bridgeliner, a WhereBy.Us publication and LION member. He’s a graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication and continues to work periodically on projects with the school’s Agora Journalism Center. He’s also previously worked for the SOJC, where he helped launch the Gather community for engagement journalism professionals.

Lisa Heyamoto is LION’s senior program manager for the GNI Startups Lab. She was a longtime senior instructor at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, and remains involved in the SOJC and the Agora Journalism Center. She is co-director of The 32 Percent Project, a community engagement initiative that explores what drives and disrupts public trust in journalism. She co-founded the initiative with her husband, who is a board member of the Energy News Network. She sits on the board of the Oregon News Enterprise, a LION member.

Penda Howell is LION’s News Revenue Coach. He is a minority partner in AM Newspaper Media Marketing Services, a multi-cultural print media buying company. He is also a board member of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, and he and his wife are board membership of their local NAACP. His wife is also board president of the National Council of Negro Women, Pocono Chapter and board president of the National Association of Court Executives.

Lisa Hunter is LION’s director of finance and operations and has no relevant disclosures to share.

Chloe Kizer is LION’s product manager and has no relevant disclosures to share.

Chris Krewson is LION’s executive director. Prior to this role, he worked for Spirited Media, which launched Billy Penn and The Incline — both are LION members.

If you have any questions about our disclosure policy or any of the above disclosures, please email LION Executive Director Chris Krewson at chris@lionpublishers.com.