Guma Appointed Chair, Beilenson, Grangenois-Thomas & Princer Levy Elected 

HARTSDALE, NY (September 9, 2016) - The Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee, a nonpartisan, impartial committee that promotes a climate in which candidates for public office conduct honest and fair campaigns, began its 25th season by appointing Susan Pace Guma as Chair and electing three new members: Nick Beilenson, Joan Grangenois-Thomas, and Carole Princer Levy.

Susan Pace Guma of Bronxville recently retired as Dean of Graduate Studies at Sarah Lawrence University. Before becoming Dean, she had been Associate Director at the school’s Center for Continuing Education and then Assistant Director, Graduate Programs in Health Advocacy and Human Genetics. Since 1995, Ms. Guma has served as Co-Chair and Board Member of the Strategic Planning Committee at the Julia Dyckman Andrus Memorial Home, and Chair and Board Member of the Westchester County Fair Campaign Practices Committee.  She has served as Chair, Program/Strategic Planning Committee of Yonkers Partners in Education since 2012.  Ms. Guma earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Newcomb College, Tulane University.

Nick Beilenson of White Plains is the founder, long-time Board Chair and now a Board Member of Westchester Residential Opportunities, Inc. He is also the founder and, until 2013,  New York Area Coordinator of the Center for Public Interest Careers (CPIC) at Harvard College. From 1983-2000, Mr. Beilenson was Co-Publisher of Peter Pauper Press, Inc. He received the Human Rights Award of the Westchester County Human Rights Commission (2004), the Distinguished Service Award of the White Plains Human Rights Commission (1992), the Harriet D. Goldberg Volunteer Service Award of Westchester Interfaith Housing Corp. (1999), and the Westchester Community Opportunity Program Community Service Award (1999). Mr. Beilenson is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

Joan Grangenois-Thomas of Port Chester is the founder of JGT Public Relations, a boutique agency which focuses on marketing and media relations for a variety of nonprofit organizations in the lower Hudson Valley/Sound Shore area with a specialty in reaching minority audiences. Prior to founding JGT, she was Associate Communications Consultant at Douglas Gould & Company followed by Senior Media Consultant at Make Waves. Ms. Grangenois-Thomas’s civic involvement includes serving as Co-Chair, Port Chester Cares Community Coalition (2009 - 2011), President, Port Chester – Rye NAACP (2012 – 2015), and Board Member, League of Women Voters – Rye, Rye Brook & Port Chester (2010 – 2015). Ms. Grangenois-Thomas was a theater major at Hofstra University and is a graduate of Leadership Westchester.

The Honorable Carole Princer Levy of New Rochelle is a retired Magistrate who presided for 12 years in the Family Court of New York City. Prior to becoming a Magistrate, she was a practicing attorney specializing in ERISA, Employee Benefits, and Trusts and Estates, and then a Senior Assistant County Attorney in the Family Court Bureau of the Westchester County Attorney’s Office. She authored a section in Matthew Bender’s New York Practice. The Honorable Princer Levy’s current community involvement includes serving as Co-President of the Women of Reform Judaism at Westchester Reform Temple, President of the Brookridge Homeowners Association, Treasurer of the Scarsdale Adult School, and Secretary of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Westchester (former long time President). She is a former Regional Director of the Harvard Alumnae Association and National Vice-President of the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association. The Honorable Princer Levy is a graduate of Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and Pace University School of Law.

Committee Members: Susan Pace Guma [Chair], Miriam Cohen [Coordinator], Paul C. Atkinson, Nick Beilenson, Elizabeth Bermel, Gisele Castro, Daniel S. Franklin, Jr., Victor J. Goldberg, Joan Grangenois-Thomas, LaRuth Gray, Lee Kinnally, Robert C. Kirkwood, Polly Kuhn, Carole Princer Levy, Philip M. Maley, Harry Phillips III, Joy Rosenzweig, Susan Schwarz, Evelyn M. Stock.

Party representatives (ex officio): Republican Party, Democratic Party, Conservative Party, Working Families Party, Independence Party, Green Party, Reform Party                                   

The purpose of the Westchester Fair Campaign Committee is to promote a climate in which candidates conduct honest and fair campaigns. The Committee encourages candidates to conduct campaigns openly and fairly, to discuss issues, to refrain from dishonest and defamatory attacks, and not to use campaign materials that distort the facts. Additional information can be found at faircampaignpractices.org.