Staff & Board of Directors

Staff

Rachel Figurasmith

Executive Director

Ask me about:

  • Amherst Media's mission & vision
  • Volunteering & board engagement
  • How we work with the town of Amherst
  • Non-profit management

Dave Sondrini

Director of Production, Intern Coordinator

Ask me about:

  • How to plan a production
  • Getting trained on equipment
  • Creating short-form narratives
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Editing and digital hygiene
  • Planning a Podcast

Board of Directors

Amherst Media has bylaws and a Board of Directors. We maintain a calendar of board and committee meetings. Regular meetings are on the first Thursday of each month at 5:30pm, but please check the calendar for changes. The meetings, located at Amherst Media, are open to the public with a public comment period at the start of the meeting.

Vira Douangmany Cage

Board President

  • Associate Director & Service Coordinator for BakuCare Adult Day Health
  • Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition
  • Previously: Amherst School Committee

Artie McCollum

Board Vice President

  • Land conservation & environmental work
  • Zoology & Marine Biology
  • Amherst Media BOD since 2010

Michael Burkhart

Board Interim Treasurer

  •  Commissioner – Amherst Housing Authority
  • Retired organization development consultant – 35 years
  •  Consultant for black-owned diversity company working with Fortune 500 companies -18 years 
  • Antioch New England Management Institute

Justin Beatty

Board Treasurer

  • Founder of the Odenong Powwow
  • UMass Indigenous Policy, Culture, and Art
  • Social Distance Powwow Board of Directors
  • Board of Trustees for the Connecticut River Conservancy


Jamahl Jackson

Board Member

  • MahlG-FM and the Real Hip-Hop is Alive podcast
  • Amherst Regional Public Schools Athletics Department

Jennifer Shiao

Amherst-Pelham Regional School
Committee Representative

  • Amherst School Committee Member


Lissa Pierce Bonifaz

Board Member

  •  Ph.D. from the University of Texas at
    Austin in 2003
  • Bilingual in Spanish and English
  • Activist for bilingual education and immigrant rights
  • ESL teacher for students at Fort River and the founding class of 5th graders in the Caminantes Dual Language Program 


Marita Banda

Board Member

  • Amherst Regional High School Special Education
  • Best Buddies Club
  • Banda Bola Sports Foundation/Chituka Village Project
  • Local Spiritual Assembly of Amherst
  • Race Amity Day

Ursa Shabazz

Board Member

  • Amherst Regional High School Graduate
  • 2023 Youth Hero Award Awardee
  • Social Science student at Holyoke Community College

Fanny Rothschild

Board Member

Tim Lovett

Board Member

  • Comedy as a Weapon

Allison Wright

Board Member