Our Mission

ONN’s vision is to build a nonprofit newsroom that ensures all people in Ottawa County have access to trusted news. To that end, we pursue our mission of providing timely, accurate news coverage, promoting the value and benefit of public service and investigative journalism.

We see community advocacy as key to combating polarization and other big challenges of the day. Our community drives our coverage. We strive to always conduct ourselves with transparency and in an ethical manner, in accordance with the Society of Professional Journalists' standards.

Our Values

At ONN, we believe that:

  • Ethical journalism serves people and communities.
  • Independence builds public trust.
  • Equity is fundamental to all our actions and news coverage.
  • Collaboration, camaraderie, and mutual respect are the basis of a positive work culture.

Our Mission Statement

  • ONN strives to engage residents of Ottawa County to help them understand the governments, industries and locally unique qualities in their communities — and how those communities are affected by state, regional and national influences.
  • ONN does this by tapping into Ottawa County’s journalism talent to produce local stories that inform and inspire. We provide training and spur conversations in support of media literacy, community problem-solving, community journalism and democracy.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

ONN is committed to transparency.

Our Donors

Thank you to our early donors who helped launch ONN! For a list of our donors, click here.


Meet Our Team

Sarah Leach, Executive Editor

Sarah is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist who led The Holland Sentinel and 14 other Michigan papers for many years. She has more than 20 years of experience as a reporter, copy editor, designer and executive editor. She is a 2002 graduate of Central Michigan University (journalism) and a 2013 graduate of Baker College (graphic design). She is a fierce advocate for local journalism and student journalists.


Our Board

Clay Stauffer, Chair

Stauffer is a former publisher, editor, and reporter who spent nearly two decades in the newspaper industry, including 11 years as publisher of The Holland Sentinel. Other daily newspaper experience includes publishing the Glenwood Springs, (Colo.) Post, and news staff positions at the Bellingham (Wash.) Herald, the Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal. He resides in Holland.

Milton Nieuwsma, Vice Chair

Milton Nieuwsma is a two-time Emmy Award-winning writer, journalist, and public television producer. For many years he traveled the world as a freelance correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. In 2009, Hope College honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Award. Milt resides in Holland.

Ben Beversluis, Secretary

Beversluis is a retired career journalist who previously served as the editor for The Holland Sentinel and the Grand Rapids Press’ Lakeshore Bureau as well as a Press’ assistant metro editor. More recently he has provided communication services for government and business, written the script for a film history of Holland, and was development coordinator for City on a Hill Ministries. He lives in Holland Township.

George Boerigter, Board Member

Boerigter is the founder and former chairman of Hudsonville-based SoundOff Signal safety solutions. A benefactor along with his spouse, Sibilla, of Hope College Boerigter Institute cross-functional integrated program, Boerigter served as pastor for Reformed Church in America before becoming a serial entrepreneur. He resides in Holland.

Janet DeYoung, Board Member

DeYoung is the former president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area. A lifelong community advocate, DeYoung has championed several Holland/Zeeland education initiatives and serves on the board of the League of Women Voters of Holland. She also is the former president of the Holland Rotary Club and former president of the Holland Classis of the Reformed Church in America. She resides in Holland.

Sheila Reinecke, Treasurer

Reinecke is a retired national account director at Advance National. A Central Michigan University graduate, Reinecke has worked as a career marketing/sales executive, serving as the former advertising director of The Muskegon Chronicle. She resides in Grand Haven.


Our Advisory Board

Todd Fettig: Attorney, Grand Valley State University journalism instructor, and new advisor to The Lanthorn student newspaper; former executive director of National Freedom of Information Coalition, and former editor and manager with The Grand Rapids Press/Muskegon Chronicle/MLive Media Group. Resides in Grand Rapids.

Jay Peters: Founder/CEO of Development Strategies Inc., fund-raising and interim project management consultancy; four-term Holland City Council member (retired); and formerly with Michigan West Coast Chamber of Commerce and West Michigan Strategic Alliance. Resides in Holland.

Rick Martinez: Michigan Office of Retirement Services communicator, Pinewood Communications principal, Georgetown Area Action Committee co-chair, and Ball State University School of Journalism and Strategic Communication Alumni Society VP; and former journalist for more than 25 years with Grand Rapids Press/MLive, Indiana, Ohio, and N.H., newspapers, broadcast/digital outlets, and group travel trade. Resides in Jenison.

Rebecca Padnos Altamirano: Founder, Tangelo Technologies. Altamirano is an entrepreneur, author, activist, and educator who has dedicated her professional life to increasing access to the culture of power for underrepresented communities. As a biracial woman from a multicultural family, she is primed for building bridges between people, networks, and communities. Her professional path has given her deep hands-on experience in working with the underserved and underrepresented. She details many such efforts in her book, “Be The Change: Reinventing Schools for Student Success.” She conceived of WalkWoke, an iPhone app for designing protest signs that empower freedom of speech through art. Altamirano is focused on Venture Development at Tangelo Technologies, the company she co-founded with her husband, Antonio. Established in 2007, Tangelo provides experience design for startups and corporations, including Intel, Facebook, Google, and Intuit. She has written for the Huffington Post, Thrive Global and Ms. Magazine.

John Donnelly: Retired; former director, Mercantile Bank; Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Donnelly Corp., where he worked 26 years for the three-generation family-led, publicly-traded firm that merged with Magna International. He remains well-involved in the Holland community.

Paul Hillegonds: Hillegonds currently chairs the board of the Center for Michigan and Bridge Magazine, and serves on the board of Michigan Future Inc. He is the former CEO of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, which was created by state legislation to advance the health and wellness of Michiganders, particularly seniors, children and vulnerable residents. He previously served as senior vice president of corporate affairs for DTE Energy, and was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1979 to 1996, holding several leadership posts, including Speaker of the House. Hillegonds is a former chairman of the board of directors for the Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan and served on the boards of the Children’s Leadership Council of Michigan, the Citizen’s Research Council, the Grand Valley State University Foundation, Michigan Future Inc., New Detroit Inc., the Center for Michigan and the Michigan chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Mark Lewison: Book editor, Mission Press (Traverse City), and active with League of Women Voters of the Holland Area. Formerly Grand Rapids Press reporter, editor, and Lakeshore Bureau chief; Advance Newspapers managing editor, copy editor and writer; former Holland Sentinel editor, night news desk, and staff reporter; and Ypsilanti Press staff reporter. Hope College instructor for 20-plus years in English, journalism, print media, communications, and student life and Anchor News faculty advisor. 

Rebecca Wildeboer: Unapologetic supporter of small, local, independent business and community. Social connectivity and local events matter. Chamber leader for South Kent, Allendale, Coopersville and Sparta. Experienced event consultant.

Jerry Morlock: Morlock spent 35 years as a newspaper editor and reporter at Central Michigan LIFE, The Muskegon Chronicle, The Grand Rapids Press, the Booth Newspapers State Capitol Bureau, and the Kansas City Star. For part of his time in Muskegon, Morlock directed the Chronicle’s coverage of Ottawa County. Now retired and living in Grand Haven, he works in business communications.


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