Francesca M. Maximé is an experienced digital/broadcast journalist & content creator in New York City. Most recently she served as a Special Correspondent for PBS NewsHour, a reporter for PIX11, and an anchor for NY1 and Blooomberg. She received her Mindfulness Meditation Teacher certification in 2016 and is the creator of the YouTube vlog, #WiseGirl. She graduated from Harvard University in 1994 with a degree in English Literature. She is has published two full volumes of poetry, “Rooted: a verse memoir” and “Re-Routed: verse for the human animal.” She has been nominated for four Pushcart prizes in poetry and has received three Honorable Mentions in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards.
She began her journalism career in her hometown of Boston as an intern/entertainment producer for WCVB, and soon got a Weekend Anchor job at WIVT in Binghamton, NY. Francesca then worked as a Reporter and Anchor in various northeast cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Hartford, and Syracuse. In New York, she also worked as an international news anchor for Arise TV (Nigerian) and Ebru TV (Turkish).
She has reported live, first-hand, on such national stories as the Paris Attacks, Occupy Wall Street, the capture of Osama bin Ladin, 9/11, the Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal, the Beltway Sniper Shootings, the August 2003 blackout, the Martha Moxley/Skakel murder case, the Dartmouth Professor slayings, and the disappearance of Molly Bish.
She has interviewed President George H.W. Bush, Senators John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Charles Schumer, Joe Lieberman, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Vice President Dan Quayle, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Philadelphia Mayor John Street, and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.
Francesca also worked as an Entertainment Reporter for Film Slate Magazine and for Comcast's "Backstage," and has interviewed countless celebrities including Colin Farrell, Amanda Seyfried, Ellen Barkin, Debra Messing, Damon Wayans, Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, Steve Martin, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Robert Duvall.
From 2007-2009 Francesca was the Primary Nighttime Anchor (and Reporter) at WEAR-TV ABC3, the #1 station in Pensacola, Florida. While in Pensacola, Francesca spent as much time working out in the community, as inside the newsroom. In 2006, Francesca joined the Pensacola Young Professionals and founded the Quality of Life Environmental Subcommittee to effort curbside recycling in Escambia County, which was passed in April of 2008. She also served as a working board member of the Pensacola Opera, Film Festival, and National Association on Drug and Alcohol Dependence. In 2007, Francesca was awarded the "Beacon Award" in the Media Category, given out by the "Circuit One Community Alliance," for her work on behalf of foster children.
As a Haitian-Dominican Italian-American, Francesca is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the National Association of Black Journalists, and has also volunteered her mentoring and media consulting services to the Asian American Journalists Association and Celebrity Catwalk, and animal rescue group in New York. She is proficient in Spanish, French, and Italian, and while at Harvard working for "Let's Go: Italy," researching and writing content for the budget travel guide. Maximé is active on all popular social media platforms. She loves to play tennis competitively on several USTA teams, write and share her poetry at readings in the New York City area, take poetry classes, cook and entertain, and hang out with her adopted kitties, Maggie and Penny.