MIAMI – Juan J. Martinez joins the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s expanded accounting staff as controller, reporting to Betty Clossick, vice president of accounting. He replaces Asya Pashenko, who has been named Knight Foundation’s accounting manager after almost two years as controller.
Pashenko is responsible for tax and payroll matters for the foundation. Martinez, a Certified Public Accountant, will oversee the day-to-day operational and financial reporting.
Martinez previously served as manager of financial planning for Telemundo Group. He has also provided financial consulting for companies such as Pollo Tropical and was a senior auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. Martinez holds both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in accounting from Florida International University.
New members of the communications staff at Knight Foundation are communications associate/webmaster Robertson Adams, and communications associate/program liaison Patricia Maldonado. They report to Larry Meyer, vice president of communications. Adams comes to the foundation from Knight Ridder Digital’s Miami office, where he served as senior artist. He has 15 years experience as a graphics designer and editor for publications such as The Miami Herald and the English-language edition of Nikkei, Japan’s leading business paper. Adams has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Maldonado has been a staff writer for more than 10 years with media outlets including the Associated Press, the Naples Daily News and The Miami Herald. She was part of a team of Herald reporters honored with the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for uncovering massive voter fraud in the Miami mayoral race. Maldonado joins the foundation from Miami-Dade Community College where she was a newspaper adviser and instructor, and where she helped launch the Florida Center for the Literary Arts. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University and a bachelor’s in communications and political science from the University of Miami.
Knight Foundation has also named Julie Brooks as its grants administrator, reporting to Penelope McPhee, vice president and chief program officer. Brooks previously served as the grants coordinator and contributions coordinator with The Sara Lee Foundation and Sara Lee Corporation in Chicago. She is an experienced administrator and project coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Va.
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.