Cardinal News is pleased to announce that two women with deep ties to journalism have joined the board of directors.
Former journalist Chelyen Davis and journalism professor Dayo Abah have joined the Cardinal board of directors that oversees the nonprofit, independent Cardinal News.
“I am thrilled to have Chelyen and Dayo join our board. They each bring experience and a passion for local journalism in our region that will enrich both our board and Cardinal News as we work to deliver on our mission to serve Southwest and Southside Virginia,” said Caroline Glickman, board chair.
Davis joined the board in November. She is a native of Tazewell County and a former journalist in Southwest Virginia, Lynchburg and Richmond. She is currently executive director of executive communications at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Davis grew up in Bluefield. Her first journalism job was at the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, covering Buchanan County, Grundy and Richlands. She covered state government and politics from 2001 to 2014, first for the Lynchburg News & Advance and then for the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star.
She then worked for two governors, as communications advisor for Gov. Terry McAuliffe and as deputy communications director and speechwriter for Gov. Ralph Northam.
She is now at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is President Michael Rao’s executive communications director and speechwriter.
“As a Southwest Virginia native, it’s important to me that our region has the ability to tell its own story. Cardinal News is doing an admirable job of that, providing news coverage that’s important to the people in Southwest and Southside Virginia,” Davis said. “I’m honored to get to be a part of making sure our region has a voice.”
Abah joined the board in December. She is an Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow to the Office of the Provost at Washington and Lee University, where she works in faculty development and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
Abah is a professor of journalism and mass communications; faculty in the Law, Justice and Society program; and an affiliate faculty in the Africana Program. She was recently the head of the department of journalism and mass communications. She serves on the editorial board of Communication Law and Policy Journal.
With a grant from the Institute of International Education sponsored by the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP), she worked as a consultant in the development of the first master’s degree program in communication at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Abah lives in Lexington with her spouse and two children.
Cardinal Productions Inc., doing business as Cardinal News, was founded in 2021 with three board members. Davis and Abah’s appointments have expanded the board to five members.