The Wellesley Advisory Committee is made up of fifteen residents, appointed by the Moderator. The term of appointment is three years, and roughly one-third of the membership turns over each year.
Advisory’s tasks
Being on Advisory is an essential part of Wellesley town governance. Being on Advisory can also be a time-consuming (and thankless) task. Here’s what members do:
- review all requests for annual operating and capital appropriations
- make recommendations to Town Meeting on all Warrant Articles presented to Town Meeting
- weigh in on all significant matters in town
- to learn much, much more, check out our 2022 post, What the heck is Wellesley’s Advisory Committee, anyway?

Ways to get appointed to Advisory
- recommendations by current or former elected officials
- recommendations by people who are active in town government, whether in appointed or elected positions
- recommendations by citizens who pay attention to down doings and who aren’t afraid to speak up
What helps (or hurts) your case in getting on Advisory
- your precinct
- age
- gender
- employment status and/or history
- general background/life experiences
- your kids
- time you’re able to give
There’s no right or wrong precinct, age, gender, etc. What Moderator Mark Kaplan looks to achieve is a Committee that isn’t stacked with members from any one particular profession (can’t have all lawyers); or one that is full of Fiske School families; or skewed heavily toward retirees. The town’s website says, “Membership on the committee reflects a cross section of the Town’s residents.”
The Moderator and the Fifteen (updated Sept. 2023)
Madison Riley, Chair | 2024 |
Wendy Paul, Vice Chair | 2024 |
Gail Sullivan, Vice Chair | 2025 |
Susan Clapham, Secretary | 2024 |
Alberto Ferrer | 2024 |
Pete Pedersen | 2024 |
Christina Dougherty | 2025 |
Rani Elwy | 2025 |
David Prock | 2025 |
Tamara Sielecki | 2025 |
Hanna Bonin | 2026 |
Philip Jameson | 2026 |
Jay Prosnitz | 2026 |
Lucienne Ronco | 2026 |
Donna Stoddard | 2026 |