The Belmont Voice Team
Jesse Floyd
Editor-in-Chief
Jesse has spent more than 30 years in newsrooms throughout the region. Most of that time, almost 27 years, was with Community Newspaper Company/Gannett. He started there in 1996, working up from editor of “The Wilmington Advertiser” to become managing editor of the Northwest Group, guiding the staffs of more than 20 local weekly papers. At heart, Jesse is a storyteller, and finds small-town journalism a rich and inexhaustible fount of great stories.
Mary Byrne
Assistant Editor
Mary has worked in local news since she graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2016. She accepted her first job as a news reporter at the Danvers [Mass.] Herald. Originally from Reading, Mass., she most recently worked at the Greenfield Recorder in western Massachusetts, covering municipal government, the schools, and all aspects of daily life. Before that, Mary spent a year in Glasgow, Scotland, earning a master’s degree in international journalism, media, and communications. She’s excited to get to know the people of Belmont and tell their stories.
Board of Directors
Lucia Arno-Bernsen
Board Clerk
Lucia was born and raised in Belmont. A graduate of Boston University with a BS in Journalism, Lucia spent 28 years in sales, marketing, and community relations at Time Warner Cable and Comcast. She served as president of the New England chapter of Women in Cable, on several PTO school boards, and on the Belmont Media Center’s Board of Directors. She contributed to the Belmont Citizen-Herald for years, specializing in feature/human interest stories.
Sarah Caputo
Board Co-President
Sarah is a nonprofit fundraising consultant who works to improve the capacity of educational and nonprofit organizations. Since moving to Belmont in 2008, she has served the town through volunteer roles with the Foundation for Belmont Education, the Community Preservation Committee, Communities for Restorative Justice, and the Belmont Garden Club. Sarah received a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA in Higher Education Administration from Harvard University.
Anne Donohue
Board Member
Anne is an award-winning journalist recently retired from a 25-year career at Boston University, where she served as both an associate dean and professor of journalism. Before and during her teaching career, she worked as a reporter, producer and editor in public radio and in television news. Anne has received grants from the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and has reported from Egypt, Indonesia, Japan and China.
Victoria Fici
Board Treasurer
Victoria is a CPA who has held roles in auditing, financial advising, financial reporting, and technical analysis in companies including a big six accounting firm, a venture capital firm, a private half-billion dollar company and a large investment firm. Victoria and her husband have lived in Belmont since 2008 and have three children who are currently either in or have graduated from the Belmont Public Schools.
Maria Olagunju
Board Member
Maria, a former real estate professional specializing in commercial development, moved to Belmont in 2017. Holding an MBA from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and a B.A. in English and Political Science from Seattle Pacific University, Maria is deeply involved in community service. She serves as a board member for the Foundation for Belmont Education and soccer coach for Belmont Soccer, and previously contributed to Treehouse, a nonprofit aiding youth in foster care. Maria, along with her husband and three children, enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and surfing.
Bob Rifkin
Board Co-President
Bob is a retired investment professional who has lived in Belmont for 28 years. Most recently, Bob was a Portfolio Manager for Wells Capital, co-managing over $3 billion worth of small cap equities for mutual fund shareholders and institutional investors. Bob has a BS in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Kevin Sullivan
Board Member
Kevin is an Emmy, Peabody and duPont-winning journalist and media leader with vast experience launching new ventures, including as Executive Producer of the groundbreaking investigative public radio show and podcast, Reveal. Earlier in his career, he was a media consultant in Bosnia and Kosovo, worked as a documentary film producer/director and local TV reporter and producer. Kevin has a BS in journalism and an MBA from Boston University. He now roots for the Marauders Rugby team.
Mariya Treisman
Board Member
Mariya is an attorney and policy advisor who currently serves as the publisher for DailyChatter, a daily newsletter devoted to world news. She began her career at a large New York law firm, served in a variety of legal roles in local and state government in New York and Massachusetts, and was in-house counsel at News Corp. Mariya is a graduate of Colorado College and Duke University School of Law. She lives in Belmont with her husband and two daughters.
Editorial Advisory Group
Sally H. Jacobs
Sally is a former reporter for the Boston Globe where she worked for close to three decades. She is the winner of The George Polk Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. She has lived in Belmont since 2007 with her two children and their yoga-loving dog.
Jane Clayson Johnson
Jane has had a distinguished career in network television at ABC and CBS News. She is currently a frequent program host at WBUR. She started her career in journalism, writing and delivering 30-second newscasts at her college radio station. She lives in Belmont
Dick Lehr
Dick is a professor of journalism at Boston University and author of seven books. Lehr coauthored The New York Times bestseller Black Mass. Dick previously reported for The Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigative reporting team and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He lives in Belmont.
Stephanie Leydon
Stephanie is the director of special projects at GBH News in Boston. Earlier in her career Stephanie worked at television stations in Georgia, New Hampshire and WLVI-TV in Boston where she spent a decade as a news anchor and reporter. She lives in Belmont.
Cosmo Macero Jr.
Cosmo, a Belmont High ’85 graduate, spent nearly two decades as a journalist, including roles at FOX 25 News and the Boston Herald, where he served as Assistant Managing Editor for Business news. Since 2006, he has been a public affairs consultant, residing in Belmont with his family.
Frederique Rigoulot
Frederique is a digital producer for GBH Forum Network, and a French journalist who has spent most of her professional career reporting on local news. She is the former News Director at Belmont Community Media, where she created a community-driven show, Belmont Journal.
Jane Rosenzweig
Jane is the director of the Harvard Writing Center and a former staff editor at the Atlantic. Her writing has been published in many newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe, and Harvard Business Review.
John Rudolph
John is the Executive Producer & Founder of Feet in Two Worlds. John has four decades of experience as a program host, reporter, editor and producer of documentaries and news reports for public radio. John has reported from around the world, with a focus on immigrants and refugees.
Ben Schreckinger
Ben is a national political correspondent for Politico, based in Washington. He is an alumnus of Plymouth Nursery School, the Wellington, the Chenery, Belmont High and Brown University.
Jason Tuohey
Jason is the managing editor for digital at The Boston Globe. He oversees reporting, publishing, and audience strategy across the Globe’s digital platforms. He launched BostonGlobe.com in 2011, and has overseen its growth into one of the nation’s top news websites. Jason lives in Belmont.
Pierre Valette
Pierre is an Emmy and Peabody-Award winning journalist and marketing executive. Valette directed and produced documentaries, including the PBS documentary series, The Life and Times of Jim Crow, for which he won a Peabody Award and Emmy-nomination.
Julie Wu
Julie’s novel, “The Third Son” (Algonquin Books) was listed as one of 10 riveting reads in the May 2013 edition of O, The Oprah Magazine. Julie has a B.A. in Literature from Harvard and an M.D. from Columbia School of Physicians & Surgeons.
Community Advisory Group
Sue Bass, Deborah Dumaine, Judith Feinleib, Jeffrey Hansell, Linda Pinkow, Paul Santos, Hal Shubin, Anne Stuart, and Robie White.