NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award

The NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award, sponsored by Randy Lovely and the Gannett Foundation, recognizes individuals who have made a positive impact on their newsrooms by increasing diversity and improving coverage of the LGBTQ community. The recipients of the award may not necessarily be active journalists themselves, but have nonetheless used their work to improve the news industry and the journalism profession.

This Year’s Winner

Yvette Miley

Yvette M. Miley serves as Executive Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the NBCU News Group and Head of NBCUAcademy. Her responsibilities include recruiting and retention, training and development, employee engagement, strategic partnerships, and editorial initiatives across all four networks. She reports to NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde. Miley has worked for NBCUniversal for 33 years. Before joining MSNBC and NBC News, Miley was Vice President & News Director of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale-based NBC owned and operated television station NBC 6/WTVJ in June 2004. In July 2001, Miley was named Vice President and News Director of the then-owned NBC station, WVTM-NBC 13 in Birmingham, AL.

Miley is the recipient of many of the industry’s highest honors. She received three Emmy Awards, including an Emmy for the MSNBC and NBC News coverage of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage in 2016; ten Edward R. Murrow Awards; a DuPont-Columbia University Award; a George Foster Peabody Award; and four Associated Press Awards. Additional accolades include Adweek’s Pride Stars Award; the University of Florida’s Distinguished Alumna Award; the National Association of Black Journalists’ Chuck Stone Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017; and recognition from the National Press Club for her work as a mentor in 2016; amongst others.

Past Winners

Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams is the recipient of the 2023 NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award. Williams is the Digital and Special Events Producer at the D.C. Public Library. Since joining at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ryan has successfully produced...

David Plazas

David Plazas

David Plazas is the recipient of the 2021 NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award. Plazas is the Opinion and Engagement Director for the USA TODAY Network in Tennessee and for the Tennessean. He has written award-winning editorials and columns on...

Errin Haines

Errin Haines

Errin Haines is the recipient of the 2022 NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award. Haines is editor at large and a co-founding member of The 19th, a nonprofit, independent newsroom focused on the intersection of gender, politics and policy. She is...

Arlyn Gajilan

Arlyn Gajilan

Arlyn Gajilan is the recipient of the 2019 NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award. She is the deputy managing editor for operations at Reuters. Gajilan helps manage the news agency’s bureaus from Toronto to Santiago and San Francisco...

Carolyn Ryan

Carolyn Ryan

Carolyn Ryan is the recipient of the 2018 NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists Leadership Award. She is the assistant managing editor at The New York Times. In this position she oversees the recruiting of journalists to The Times. Before she was...