Meet ELi’s Board of Directors

Chuck Grigsby, President of the Board of Directors

Chuck Grigsby was unanimously appointed to the ELi Board on June 21, 2022. He possesses a wealth of abilities, experiences, and skills that will benefit ELi. He motivates others toward community enhancement goals. He is committed to team development and is skilled in team leadership. He has over eight years of experience in proactive management strategies to help drive collaboration for positive results. He is experienced and skilled in helping organizations and groups clarify and achieve their mission and purposes, and in business development and operation. Among his recent professional experiences, he served as Chairperson of the Study Committee on Independent Police Oversight Commission, Chairperson of the Human Relations Commission for the City of East Lansing. Also, he brings experience and skills of effective volunteering as mentor, teacher, organizer or evaluator for helping the East Lansing Schools, the East Lansing Public Library, other government agencies, and for a variety of youth and sports agencies and programs in Michigan and other states. 

Karessa Weir, Secretary of the Board of Directors

Karessa Weir holds a Masters of Environmental Journalism from Michigan State University in addition to bachelor’s degrees from MSU in Anthropology and Journalism. She brings to ELi’s board over 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Now a communications manager and adjunct faculty in journalism at MSU, Karessa was one of the first regular reporters for ELi, covering our East Lansing Public Schools beat. She’s also been a donor from the start. “I am an active and engaged resident of East Lansing who depends on the reporting of ELi on a daily basis,” she says. “I strongly feel ELi serves an invaluable function in our town.” Karessa moved to East Lansing with her husband Brian in 2013 and their  three children have attended ELPS. She has volunteered on the East Lansing Historic District Commission and on the board of several parent organizations. She joined the board in February 2023.

Cody Harrell, Public Editor and Member of the Board

Cody Harrell is an East Lansing High School Journalism and English Teacher. He earned his undergraduate degree in English and Journalism in secondary education from Michigan State University in 2016. He has experience as a media consultant and has been the director of ELi’s Summer Youth program for five years. He has earned accolades from the Journalism Education Association, the Society for News Design, and the School of Journalism at MSU.

Adan Tomas Quan, Director at Large

Adan is a student at East Lansing High School and is the Editor of Portrait, the ELHS student newspaper. He has been a reporter for ELi for several years and is a graduate of both of our Summer Youth Journalism Programs – the intro and the advanced courses. Adan has reported for us on a wide variety of topics, including food banks, the ELHS Trojan Marching Band, a town-gown medical training program, Covid vaccinations, and much more. With a unanimous vote of support from the Board in Nov. 2021, Adan has taken the place of Anaiis Rios-Kasoga who graduated from ELHS and left East Lansing to attend Yale University. Our Board gives us important generational diversity in perspectives, provides us important insights into their educational institutions, and also gives us an opportunity to mentor and support them. You can read Adan’s explanation of why he works with ELi here.