Alums join advisory board
Clark, Leach have experience in seeking Web potential

In April, Dean Paul S. Voakes announced that two alums of the School, John Leach and Leanna Clark, had joined the SJMC Advisory Board.

Besides considerable success at leading newspaper and public relations organizations, respectively, the two also bring to the Advisory Board valuable experience in applying new technologies in those industries.

“John and Leanna have each received press coverage recently for their innovative, Web-based multimedia work,” Voakes said.

Three other Advisory Board members are retiring, and Voakes thanked them for their service. They are Marilyn Hogan, who served for three years; Ann Penny, who served for 15 years; and Mary Brown, who has served on the SJMC Advisory Board since its inception in the early 1980s.

John Leach teaches a class at KPNX-TV in Phoenix.

John Leach (’74, MA ’79) is managing editor for news and digital media at The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, where he is in charge of news, sports and business coverage.

Leach moved into the newly created job in February from the post of editor of azcentral.com. Widely recognized as an innovator in adapting new technologies for Web news applications, his views are commonly sought by publications that cover the development of online news distribution.

Leach had held a number of editing positions with the Republic and The Phoenix Gazette. He began his journalism career as a reporter in Colorado and Arizona.

The founder and the president of the Best of the West journalism contest and grants program (bestofthewestcontest.org), Leach teaches an editing class at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Besides his News-Editorial bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree in journalism from the SJMC, he holds a master’s degree in American studies from the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. He is married to Deborah Ross (’79), who also holds a News-Editorial degree from the School.

Leanna Clark

Leanna Clark (’89) is a principal and co-owner of Schenkein public relations firm, where she has played an instrumental role in helping the Denver agency become recognized as one of the top 10 midsize PR firms in America. She has 18 years of marketing, public relations and media experience. While at the SJMC, she majored in Broadcast Production Management.

At Schenkein, Clark manages teams for many of the agency’s major accounts, including First Data, Western Union, CIGNA HealthCare, Johnson & Wales University and New World Restaurant Group. She has also been instrumental in developing the agency’s coaching and mentoring system, a hallmark of Schenkein’s culture.

Clark has served on the PRSA Colorado Chapter’s board of directors as well as its executive committee.

Clark serves on the board of directors for Colorado Public Radio, the Public Education and Business Coalition, the March of Dimes, Bright Beginnings and the Denver Metro Chamber Foundation. She’s also been tapped by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper to serve as a member of his leadership team on Early Childhood Education as well as his marketing think tank. Clark serves on the Metro Denver Sports Commission’s International Bid Committee, working to bring international-caliber sporting events to the Denver area.