Contact us at [email protected]

Meet the Team

The crew that digs up and serves up fresh hot facts – online, in video, and everywhere – led by Frank Sesno, director of The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs and former CNN correspondent and Washington bureau chief.

FRANK SESNO - Chief Executive

  • Director of The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs; Professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs
  • Creator of “Planet Forward” and recent host of “The Future of News” on PBS
  • Former CNN senior vice president, Washington bureau chief, correspondent and program host
  • Nationally renowned interviewer and moderator who has spoken with some of the world’s leading personalities including five American presidents.

ROB FLYNN - Development Director

  • Led communications and marketing teams and corporate / foundation development at PBS NewsHour
  • Led marketing efforts at The Golf Channel
  • Senior director of strategic communications, National Cable Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Washington, DC

MIKE DEVITO - Managing Editor/Online Producer

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs
  • Managing Editor, Planet Forward
  • Freelance multimedia journalist and web designer

Face the Facts Alumni

TOM FARMER - Executive Director

  • Founder, Solid State Information Design and Brick Duck Communications
  • Technology communications consultant for Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco Systems; former creative or strategy director for west coast interactive firms; winner of three New York Film Festival “Telly” Awards
  • CNN executive producer; shared George Foster Peabody Award for “Larry King Live”
  • Recipient of Associated Press awards for local reporting and news anchoring

KYLE O’CONNOR - Managing Director

  • Managing director of American Film Institute’s Silverdocs documentary film festival
  • Vice president of corporate affairs and social responsibility, Discovery Communications
  • Television news experience: WUNC-TV, Chapel Hill and WBZ-TV, Boston 

JOHN GILMORE - Executive Producer-Partner Manager

  • Former Sr. Supervising Producer "Larry King Live." Produced interviews with six American presidents, several world leaders and global star entertainers.
  • Former White House Executive Producer, CNN
  • Covered politics and major news stories nationwide.

SANDY JOHNSON - Executive Editor

  • Former Associated Press bureau chief, Washington, DC
  • Directed AP election coverage for 22 years and led AP Washington staff to four Merriman Smith reporting awards
  • Managing editor at the Center for Public Integrity and state news executive editor for AARP bulletin

ELAINE POVICH - Assignment Editor

  • Chief congressional correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, correspondent for Newsday, UPI reporter
  • Author of biographies of Senator John McCain and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
  • Adjunct professor, University of Maryland School of Journalism; recipient of the Women in Communications “Clarion” award

SIMON MARKS - Senior Video Producer

  • President and chief correspondent, Feature Story News; Emmy award-winning producer
  • Associate executive producer of PBS NewsHour and CEO and president, MacNeil-Lehrer Productions
  • Also served as Moscow correspondent and bureau chief, Christian Science Monitor

MELISSA MAPES - Graduate Student Research Director

  • MA student at The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs
  • Fulbright Grantee, Portugal 2009-2010
  • Social media consultant and freelance writer