Karessa Weir and Nathan Andrus Named to ELi’s Board of Directors
East Lansing Info’s Board of Directors has unanimously voted to add Karessa Weir and Nathan Andrus to the board.
“Our board members are thrilled to have Karessa and Nathan join us,” said Ray Vlasin, ELi’s board president. “Bringing their experiences, skills and interests, they will add positive strengths to the board in the period ahead.”
The Board of Directors has the responsibility of overseeing ELi’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation whose mission it is to deliver factual, nonpartisan, timely and meaningful news about East Lansing, Michigan.
Both Weir and Andrus have worked with ELi as part-time staff members on the reporting team, so they are well familiar with ELi’s operations. Starting early in the pandemic, Andrus functioned as a data analyst and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request coordinator for ELi, while Weir has reported on a variety of topics including the East Lansing Public Schools.
Weir holds a Masters of Environmental Journalism from MSU 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 – and she is, at the moment, teaching community journalism at MSU.
Weir moved to East Lansing with her husband Brian in 2013; their three children have attended ELPS. Weir has volunteered on the East Lansing Historic District Commission and on the board of several parent organizations.
Now a communications manager and adjunct faculty in journalism at Michigan State University, Weir 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 said. “I strongly feel ELi serves an invaluable function in our town.”
Andrus moved to East Lansing in 2017 to work with the Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS. He now works full-time for an employee-owned real estate software company, onboarding Multiple Listing Service (MLS) customers and bringing them through complicated database conversions. Andrus also comes with experience leading a large MLS data cooperative in Michigan. The skills he brings to ELi include software development, marketing and organizational management.
“Even prior to moving to the area,” Andrus said, “I learned that ELi was the go-to place for everything East Lansing. I’ve always had a desire for the people of East Lansing to have a better understanding of what is happening in their local government.”
In July 2022, Andrus was a key member of the ELi Task Force, which analyzed ELi’s history and resources and provided a path forward for ELi to resume operations following a four-month shut-down. Andrus has already been assigned to the board committee that is following-up on the Task Force’s work by developing plans to hire ELi’s next Executive Director and Publisher.
Weir and Andrus join board members Vlasin, Chuck Grigsby, Cody Harrell and Adan Tomas Quan, expanding the board to a current total of six members.