SALEM – The Board of Overseers of the Jewish Journal, the nonprofit newspaper that informs the Jewish community on the North Shore and beyond, welcomed a new president and thanked its outgoing one at its annual meeting on Nov. 17.
The board voted unanimously to select its vice president, Johanna Matloff of Swampscott, a civil litigation attorney and partner with the firm Conn Kavanaugh in Boston, as its new president, and Ted Stux of Marblehead, as vice president and treasurer. Attorney Andy Caplan of Swampscott will take over as clerk and counsel.
“I am so looking forward to serving as the board’s president in the next coming term,” Matloff said during the meeting, “and I very much look forward to continuing our mission together. I’ve worked with many of you for quite some time and I’m looking forward to working with many more of you who are newer.”
Outgoing president Neil Donnenfeld will remain on the board as past president and continue to serve on the executive committee. Fred Cohen, John Smidt, and Ted Stux were renewed as members of the board through 2023.
Matloff noted that Donnenfeld had served as the Journal’s president for two years, including during the past eight months of the pandemic “which has presented its own unique challenges.” Matloff said she was impressed with Donnenfeld’s integrity and sense of mission, and she thanked him for all he has done.
“To quote Matthew, not the Bible, but [board member and fund-raising committee chairman] Matthew Swartz,” said Donnenfeld, “this has been one of the most enjoyable, fulfilling, and meaningful experiences I have ever had. I’ve run a couple of companies, I’ve served on other boards, and as [board member and former president] Bob Rose likes to say, ‘This is an exceptional story and these are exceptional people.’”
“I want to thank you, Neil, for your service as president of the Board of Overseers in the last two years,” said Steven Rosenberg, the Journal’s publisher/editor. “I also want to congratulate Johanna Matloff, who is the board’s incoming president, and Ted Stux, the new vice president. I’m sure Johanna and Ted will be a wonderful team. The community is lucky to have such two dedicated, talented volunteers and leaders.”
Rosenberg said that overall, despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, “it’s been quite a productive and busy year.” Rosenberg and board members also thanked the work of the staff, which was able to “turn on a dime,” and shift from the office in Salem to home offices “in a matter of hours” to produce one of the largest editions of the year, the Passover edition, in the spring.
Matloff has served on the Journal’s board as clerk and counsel since 2016. She and her husband, Steven Reilly, are an interfaith couple who belong to Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead, and are raising their two children, Caleb and Norah, Jewish.
Matloff grew up in Needham where she belonged to Temple Beth Shalom. She graduated Needham High before heading off to college and law school. She has lived in Swampscott since 2006. Her parents, Ronald and Cindy Matloff, moved from Needham to Swampscott five years ago, and she has a brother and sister-in-law who live in Virginia.
“I am grateful and honored to have the opportunity to serve as the Jewish Journal’s president,” Matloff said in an email, “to continue its mission to connect, educate, and inform our community, and to continue on the path that was blazed by my many predecessors toward a vibrant and promising future.”
