We are very pleased to introduce this accomplished group of candidates. These five design professionals highlight the range of experiences, backgrounds, platforms and geographical locations that comprise the membership of the Society for News Design. All have been supporters and active members of SND throughout their careers. And they have all stepped to the current moment and risen to the challenges the Society now faces.
The SND Leadership Council will meet with the candidates to help answer and share orientation and context on the Society’s current and past efforts. We’ll hold a public Candidate Q&A session where SND members can hear from each candidate and ask them questions about their vision for the future of SND. We’ll follow that with a formal election.
Meet the candidates
Marianne Bahl
Marianne Bahl is a freelance visual strategist, a digital storytelling innovator, and a visual journalist. She has her own studio in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark. She is heading cross-functional teams working with innovative experience design and visual communication. Marianne is working with Media Groups communicating and developing visual strategy and identity, visual journalism and cross media communication on all platforms and channels. Marianne is an analytical innovator and pragmatic esthetician. She is a cross-organizational thinker who is focusing on refining leadership by e.g., improving workflows, to enable people to do what they do best. Marianne is a very strong believer in diversity and it’s top of mind at all levels. The goal is to diversify the workforce, to radically increase the number of ideas, opinions, outlooks, and experiences available within any organization.
Alex Fong
Alex K. Fong is the deputy creative director for design at the San Francisco Chronicle and oversees a multidisciplinary team of designers, graphic artists and developers. His more than 15 years of experience in the news industry has included leadership roles in newsrooms in the United States and overseas. In 2012, he collaborated on the redesign of some 80 daily print newspapers for Digital First Media, including the Los Angeles Daily News and the El Paso Times. During a four-year stint in China, Alex advocated for greater rigor in the practice of visual journalism and led the award-winning redesign of the Shanghai Star. Alex has mentored journalism students at the City College of San Francisco (where he was once a student) and currently serves on the journalism department’s advisory board. He recently participated in SND’s executive director search committee.
Antonio Cucho
Antonio Cucho Gamboa, Peruvian web developer and web designer. Antonio currently works at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in the Editorial and Product team since 2018. Previously at Data and Investigation and Data Graphics team of Univision News (2016-2018, Miami, FL, U S.), News Apps Developer of Ojo Publico (2014-2016, Lima, Peru) and Web Developer of La Republica Digital (2011-2013, Lima, Peru). Antonio works and volunteers for different news media outlets around the globe. As a hacktivist, he led and helped to organize groups of data literacy and civic technology focused on working with the journalists community in Latin America with the School of Data, Open Data Peru and Hacks/Hackers.
Dalit Shalom
Dalit Shalom is a Design Lead at The New York Times where she guides the creation of new formats, spaces and tools that advance storytelling. Her work lives at the heart of editorial, research, ideation, and prototyping, and she believes in design as a vehicle for helping people understand and navigate complexities. In her current role, she leads a team that focuses on Trust and Credibility, interfacing with multiple desks and teams across the newsroom, and working closely with the Masthead to define key moments to help clarify The Times’ journalism to readers. She is also the co-chair of the Women’s Network, NYT’s largest ERG. Previously, Dalit’s work included consulting and bringing projects to life for NASA, This American Life, and The New York Public Library, to name a few.
Yuri Victor
Yuri Victor lives in New York and is a senior editor at The Atlantic. He’s helped hundreds of companies rethink their digital experiences, created software used by thousands of organizations, and worked with the largest media and tech companies on design and emerging technology. He co-founded Vox.com, drawing the original concepts on a napkin, before leaving to help start a profitable research and development department at The New York Times. For the past 12 years, he’s administered SND’s servers, helped plan multiple conferences, roamed the world teaching quick courses for the organization, and judged multiple competitions. He is passionate about building happy teams and cultures. His dog is named Rosie and she is adorable.