Executive Board
President
Vice President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
National Trustee
Alternate Trustee
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Anchor
Photojournalist
Director
Game Producer
Digital Journalist
Producer
News Director
Executive Producer
Founder/CEO
Professor Emeritus
Senior Producer
Executive Director
Robin Tracey
President
Robin is an Emmy® award-winning Producer & Director, bringing over 20 years of experience in mastering the art of true collaboration in broadcast and commercial television. She currently works at Jack Morton Worldwide as an Executive Producer, bringing an unparalleled level of expertise to every project.
Things happen fast in the production world, and from an early start, Robin has brought confidence and genuine, responsive energy to every challenge. From Assistant Director on live weekly national talk shows to Producer/Director for the Programming Department of a significant market CBS Network Affiliate and then to Executive Producer of all programming.
As Executive Producer for Producers Color Service, Grace & Wild Studios, and Cutters Studios, she provided live broadcast network news, sports, and entertainment production for clients including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, BloombergTV, Fox News, HBO, CNBC, ESPN, etc.
Barb Roethler
Vice President
Barb Roethler has over 25 years of experience as a journalist, with almost 20 years in Michigan. She started her career in Marquette as a reporter after graduating from Central Michigan University. She has also worked at WSMH in Flint as a News Director, a producer at Fox 2, Digital Director at WDIV, Assistant News Director at WXYZ-TV, and the News Director at WILX-TV in Lansing. Barb is currently the Communications Director for the Detroit Health Department. Barb is a multi-award-winning journalist, including several Emmy® awards.
Hilary Golston
Vice President
Hilary Golston is a 6-time Emmy-winning journalist who returned to her hometown of Detroit after several years in newsrooms across the country. Hilary comes to FOX 2 from WKYC in Cleveland. She collected three Cleveland Press Club awards and appeared on MSNBC for her expertise in the Tamir Rice case and on the Weather Channel from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Jamal Bransford
Treasurer
Jamal Bransford currently works as the Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator for Westwood Heights Schools. He is a 2-time Emmy® Award Winning Photojournalist, 2-Time Edward R. Murrow Award winner, the Michigan Association of Broadcaster Photojournalist of the Year, and a host of other awards. Jamal Bransford has worked in Broadcast News for over 20 years, including WEYI NBC 25, WJRT ABC 12, and WDIV TV 4 in Detroit. He is a graduate of Specs Howard and Purdue Global.
Kit Kuhne
Secretary
Kit Kuhne is an award-winning journalist with a love of breaking news, politics, and storytelling. In 2016, she started her career at ABC 12 in Flint, MI, as a News Producer. In 2021, she moved across the state to join FOX 17 in Grand Rapids as an Executive Producer. Kit is also a proud Michigan State University alumna -- Go Green!
Carlota Almanza-Lumpkin
National Trustee
Carlota is a Silver Circle® MI-NATAS Member, Past Chapter President, V.P.s, Board Secretary, and Alt. National Trustee. She's a 36-year broadcast (public) media veteran. Her positions include Production Manager/Producer and Part-Time Video production instructor. Scholarship Chairman; Internship Supervisor and Detroit Public Schools Advisory. Tuskegee Airmen/Detroit Chapter, and member of Friends of Detroit City Airport.
Gary May
Alternate Trustee
Gary May is a multiple Emmy® winner and past President of the Michigan Chapter. Gary still provides creative and production consulting services to production companies, networks, and local stations across Michigan. In his spare time, he is an ordained wedding minister.
Brent Ashcroft
Anchor
Brent Ashcroft has worked in Michigan TV for 30 years. Ashcroft covered sports for 22 years, including a 10-year stint as Sports Director at Fox 17 WXMI in Grand Rapids. In 2010, Brent moved to WZZM TV-13 in Grand Rapids, where he continues to report and anchor. His storytelling has won 30 Michigan Emmys® and 9 Edward R. Murrow awards, including a National Edward R. Murrow award in 2016.
Alex Atwell
Photojournalist
Alex Atwell is a graduate of Central Michigan University. He has been an Emmy® award-winning visual storyteller for more than 20 years. In addition, Atwell also won a national Edward R. Murrow award in 2019 for Excellence in Sound. His areas of expertise are shooting and editing video, including live and recorded interviews in a fast-moving news production environment under extreme deadline pressure. He currently works at WDIV-TV in Detroit.
Matt Bellehumeur
Director
Matt Bellehumeur is a graduate of Central Michigan University and recipient of 5 Michigan Regional Emmy® Awards. He started his television career in 1996 broadcasting local school board meetings for Lincoln Park Public Schools, in Lincoln Park, MI. Matt has been a full-time director for the last 12 years at WXYZ/WMYD in Detroit, primarily focused on news and station special programming. He has also directed station syndicated programming for the Woodward Dream Cruise and Lions GameDay Live (official pregame show of the Detroit Lions).
Jason Dizik
Game Producer
Pistons and Tigers Game Producer for Bally Sports Detroit. 2nd Vice-Chair on Central Michigan University School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts Alumni Advisory Board. Farmington Public Schools TV-10 advisory board member. American Cancer Society Night of Discovery board member.
Christa Ferguson
Digital Journalist
Christa Ferguson graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism in 2006. Over the past 15 years, her career in broadcast and digital journalism has taken her to four Michigan markets: Detroit, Saginaw, Lansing, and Grand Rapids. She spent 7.5 years filling various producing roles at WZZM before moving to WOOD TV8 as the station's digital executive producer. In October 2019, Ferguson shifted to a newly created role within her company: digital journalist. Within six months, she earned an Emmy® nomination and a merit award from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for the stories she created entirely on her own.
Sheila Grant
Producer
Sheila Grant is a native Detroiter who has always wanted to be a broadcast journalist. She earned an undergraduate degree in Communications – Broadcast Journalism from Wayne State University. Her life experiences and internships at Detroit Public Television and WDIV – Local 4 have given her insight into the news, the inner workings of television production, and the bustling newsroom.
Neille Giffune
News Director
She has been at WEYI/WSMH for eight years and brings over 18 years of experience as a broadcast journalist. She has experience as a sports anchor, manager, and jack of all trades in the newsroom. Neille has guided her team through one of the most important stories in a generation, the Flint Water Crisis.
John Hammond
Executive Producer
John has been a member of the Michigan Chapter of NATAS since 1982. He is an Emmy® award-winning producer/director and has served the chapter as National Trustee, President, Vice President, and Treasurer and is currently Chair of the chapter's Finance Committee.
Joseph Harris
CEO
Joseph has a great eye and his camera work is careful and impeccable. Joseph has been a Director of Photography and an editor for more than 20 years working in news and production and is a 5- time Emmy winner. Joseph has honed his remarkable skill-set and taken his talents to LA and now to help further advance the great city of Detroit. Joseph is the Production Manager of Media Services for the city. The biggest moment of his career was having the honor to coordinate the international media coverage for the Homegoing Service for Ms. Aretha Franklin.
Emmanuel Smith
Founder/CEO
Emmanuel Smith, also known as Mr. E, and I have "4 E's". Through Edutainment, he Encourages, Educates, and Empowers young people and their families to be life-long learners who are not afraid to take risks because life is an Adventure. He has partnered with the City of Detroit to produce a children's program entitled "The Mr. E Show!" The 1st episode was nominated for a regional Emmy and received an Emmy® for the 2nd episode.
Rick Sykes
Professor Emeritus
Rick Sykes is a professor emeritus in the School of Broadcast & Cinematic Arts at Central Michigan University. He is a 2020 inductee into the Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Sykes' communications career spans a total of 47 years, with 23 years as an industry professional and 24 years as a media educator. His industry experience includes both an on-air talent and a behind-the-scenes news manager/assignment editor. He has worked in both medium and large size television markets. In addition, his professional experience included six years as a senior executive in a regional public relations agency.
Carol Yancho
Senior Producer
As senior producer, Carol Yancho leads WKAR's talented team of original content producers. She also develops and produces content for WKAR, including the Emmy® award-winning kids' science programs Curious Crew, Curious About Careers, and the WKAR Family video platform. Carol is a seasoned writer, producer, and director with a diverse television series and digital production background. While living on the East Coast for 15 years, she worked on a wide range of documentary, reality, home renovation, and true crime series for A&E, HGTV, Animal Planet, Lifetime, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and others. Before working in episodic TV production, Carol worked in both network and local news. As a field producer for CNN, she traveled extensively across the country, covering stories of national prominence. She began her news career as an intern at WLNS and went on to work at WJRT in Flint and then WDIV in Detroit.
Stacia Mottley
Executive Director
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