Elizabeth Hacala and John MacPhee were elected President and Treasurer respectively at the most recent meeting of The Citizen’s Board of Directors on January 26.
Hacala is a life-time resident of Bedford with the exception of a few years working on the west coast. She has been a volunteer, employee, and Board member at The Bedford Citizen. She began her connection with The Citizen by reporting on numerous town boards as both volunteer and paid reporter.
In 2017, she was hired as Community Editor with a specific responsibility for BeTC, the Bedford Town Calendar. Later, that position evolved into Operations Manager, a post Hacala held for two years. In 2021, she was elected to the Board of Directors.
Hacala has been a Trustee of the Bedford Free Public Library since 2016. In prior years, she was a member of the Community Preservation Committee, president of the Bedford Center for the Arts, and a soccer coach.
Currently, Hacala is employed by the New England Yearly Meeting of Friends (Quakers) as events coordinator. She worked for more than 15 years as a software engineer before transitioning her career to working with non-profits.
“We are so fortunate to be able to take advantage of both Elizabeth’s history with The Bedford Citizen and her history with the town of Bedford. She is uniquely qualified to lead The Citizen into its second decade with an appreciation of where we’ve been and where we need to go to continue to serve our readers,” said Ginni Spencer, outgoing co-president.
John MacPhee has lived in Bedford since 2000 and has three children who have all attended school in town. He has more than 25 years of experience in accounting and financial management and business operations for rapidly growing venture-backed and public companies.
Locally, MacPhee served as treasurer for St. Paul’s church (currently serving as assistant treasurer); is a Board member for St. Paul’s Pre-School; and performs the annual audit for the Job Lane House. He has coached Babe Ruth Baseball, Bedford Bauman Basketball, and Bedford Recreation Soccer.
Joan Bowen, outgoing co-president, said “We are looking forward to using John’s expertise to continue strengthening our financial practices. As a non-profit, we have legal reporting requirements and beyond that, we are committed to transparency for all our constituents. Upgrading our practices and keeping our organization running smoothly is a significant task and John’s experience will be invaluable.”
MacPhee is replacing Jerry Wolf, who has served as Treasurer and Board member since 2012. Bowen was warm in her praise of Wolf’s accomplishments noting, “Everything we did in the early days was seat-of-the-pants. Jerry was always at the ready identifying resources and processes we could use to respond to quickly changing circumstances. He kept track of things when we were far more loosely organized than we are today and kept leadership informed. He was always the “calm voice in the room” advising careful thought on our financial decisions while expressing confidence in our ability to achieve our goals. We are so pleased that Jerry will remain on the Board going forward.”
Hacala is replacing outgoing co-presidents Ginni Spencer and Joan Bowen who have served in the role since June 2021. Speaking for both, Spencer said, “We know we are leaving The Citizen in capable hands and that is a great feeling. Local journalism has never been more important and Elizabeth appreciates the importance of that even as she recognizes the challenges ahead.”
Both Spencer and Bowen have served on the Board of Directors since the launch of The Citizen in 2012. Both will remain on the Board until the conclusion of their current terms.
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