KPA Board of Directors

  • Chad Lawhorn

    President

    Chad Lawhorn, editor and publisher of the Lawrence Journal-World, is the seond vice president and treasurer for the Kansas Press Association Board of Directors. Lawhorn has been with the Journal-World since 2001. He has served as a reporter, managing editor and editor during his time at the...

  • Adam Strunk

    First Vice President/Legislative Director

    Adam Strunk is a partner and director of editorial content with Kansas Publishing Ventures and serves on the board as legislative director for the Kansas Press Association. He has also served as the managing editor of Harvey County Now, since its founding in 2015. He graduated with a journalism...

  • Nickole Byers

    Northwest District Director

    Nickole Byers has been with Main Street Media, a company of 34 weekly newspapers spread throughout in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, since July 2003. She started in the Ellis Review newspaper office as a typesetter and is currently the editor at the Ellis Review and the Western Kansas World in...

  • Jay Senter

    Presidential Appointment

    Jay Senter is the founder and publisher of the Johnson County Post. The company has been recognized by Harvard's Nieman Lab and NPR's Morning Edition as a model for a sustainable community news operation. Raised in Prairie Village, Kan., he holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University...

  • Earl Watt

    Southwest District Director

    Earl Watt is the owner and publisher of the Leader & Times in Liberal, Kansas. Watt started his career in journalism in 1991 at the Southwest Daily Times. During his career, the newspaper has won a total of 17 Sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association for editorial content and 18...

  • Brian McCauley

    Northeast District Director/Treasurer

    Brian McCauley is managing editor of The Miami County Republic, where he oversees a newsroom covering Miami County, Kansas, including Paola, Louisburg, Osawatomie, Spring Hill and surrounding regions. He has worked at the Republic since 2005, when he graduated with a journalism degree from the...

  • Christy Hopkins

    At-Large Member

    Christy Hopkins is the owner and editor of the Greeley County Republican, a weekly newspaper serving Greeley County. She is the secretary for Growing the Vision: A Foundation for the Future of Greeley County and treasurer of The Star Theater of Tribune, a community-owned movie theater. Christy is a...

  • Jeff Cott

    Past President

    Jeff Cott is publisher of the Derby Weekly Informer, a second generation Kansas newspaper publisher. He has served as treasurer after serving several years as legislative director. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was involved with and grew up in a family operation of five weekly newspapers that were...