The Banner honors 2026 class of Emerging Leaders

A group of leaders from across the area were honored as The Baltimore Banner’s fourth class of Emerging Leaders on Wednesday, May 13.

The honorees shared stories about how they’re making an impact in Baltimore and beyond at an event at The Center Club in downtown Baltimore. Each honoree was selected from a pool of community nominations by a committee of local leaders.

Read more about each honoree below.

Dana Blackwood

Turner Construction Company, GeneraL Manager

Construction has long been viewed as a male-dominated business, but Dana Blackwood, business manager of Turner Construction’s Maryland Business Unit, is working hard to change that perception. “I think construction is a great opportunity to use the superpowers that come naturally to women — adaptability, creativity and problem-solving,” said Blackwood, who has served as executive sponsor of Turner’s Women’s Employee Resource Group and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Diversity Action Plan Committee.

Blackwood noted that Turner relies on local small-business partners. “A lot of the work is done by people who don’t receive a direct paycheck from Turner,” Blackwood said. “We have the unique opportunity to generate exposure for local businesses, including women-owned ones.” Blackwood also partnered with Femly, a local, woman- and Black-owned healthcare business, to provide free feminine-care products at Turner’s local job sites and offices. Blackwood strives to make Turner’s work environment one where all employees and business partners feel valued.

“We have air-conditioned trailers with restrooms, break tents that are air-conditioned so that workers don’t have to eat their lunch in the cars to stay cool, and we have athletic trainers on-site for health and safety checks,” Blackwood said. “There’s consistent data that shows that people rank feeling valued at work sometimes higher in importance than salary and benefits.” Blackwood, a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University, gives back to her alma mater by mentoring Hopkins students and coaching student teams in the university’s annual HopStart business plan competition.

“I love HopStart because I feel like a judge from the show ‘Shark Tank,’” she said. “I aim to connect young entrepreneurs to mentors who have a similar background or perspective.” Outside of work, Blackwood said, she loves running and cycling and has completed a cross-country 4K bike ride benefiting the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults, as well as multiple triathlons with the Ulman Cancer Fund’s “Team Fight.” “These days, I don’t have a lot of time for triathlons,” she said with a laugh.

“My 5-year-old son keeps me on my toes, and I spend a lot of time learning all the characters of the Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ movies. We live in Severna Park and have become oyster gardeners through the Severn River Association’s Oyster Recovery Partnership. It’s such a truly Maryland experience to share with my son.”

Raj Borsellino

Truist Foundation, Director of National Philanthropy and Community Relations

Raj Borsellino was living the good life in New York City — a Yale Law School graduate working at a large corporate law firm with a generous salary. He was also volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and after work his firm had a black car waiting for him to drive him up to the Bronx or Harlem to spend time with his mentee. “During one of those rides, I just realized the dichotomy of the very comfortable life I was living in New York versus the real challenges a lot of folks in New York were facing, and I really started to think that I was straying from my roots,” he said.

“I realized that as much as I enjoyed being a corporate lawyer, there is really something powerful about the role of philanthropy and the ability of philanthropy to really affect systematic change, something that stemmed from a lot of the lessons I learned from my father.” Borsellino shared that he feels fortunate that he was raised comfortably in Iowa. “However, I was also one generation removed from the real struggles of growing up in America,” he said.

“My father was raised in a public housing project in the Bronx, and both of my parents really instilled in me the importance of working to better your community.” Borsellino joined the Robin Hood Foundation in 2019 — when now-Gov. Wes Moore was CEO — and worked there until 2022, when his wife took a job as a law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. Wanting to continue working in philanthropy, Borsellino landed a job as director of national philanthropy and community relations at the Truist Foundation in the summer of 2022.

“My role is focused on creating partnerships with nonprofit organizations,” he said. “Grant funding is obviously important, but I also try to think about intentionality in serving as true partners to nonprofits by helping with areas such as networking and leadership development. We are hyperfocused on making sure that we are not coming in and telling nonprofits how to operate, because they know their communities and the people they support far better than we do.”

Borsellino said that Truist’s fully open application portal benefits smaller nonprofits. “Sometimes with corporate philanthropy, the organizations with the most connections are the ones who get the funding. Our model levels the playing field,” he said. He added that one organization he works with is Vehicles for Change, a Baltimore nonprofit that provides training for individuals in the automotive industry, many of whom have been in the criminal justice system.

Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family, including his 4-year-old son, who loves public transit. “We spend a lot of our weekends honing our shared love of Baltimore City’s public transit by taking the bus, Metro and Light Rail.”

Eric Brown

NCIA’s Baltimore Vocational Training Center, Program Director

While any job that helps you pay the bills is great, a career can provide more stability and lead to professional and personal growth. With this goal in mind, Eric Brown, program director of NCIA’s Baltimore Vocational Training Center, leads NCIA’s workforce development and vocational training programs that are offered free of charge in areas such as HVAC, commercial driving and automotive repair, with plans to soon offer forklift training and programs for those interested in going into the restaurant industry.

Brown said that before students can begin their training, he assigns a case manager to help them navigate the process. “They will help them remove any barriers that may prevent them from working,” Brown said. “We have people who are returning citizens recently out of the correctional system, and they don’t have vital records, a driver’s license, may have issues with child support or need housing. We help them take care of those issues.” Participants undergo a 17-week program and earn industry-recognized certifications.

At the end of the program, they are matched with an employment specialist to help them find a career. “My main goal is to try to shift people from thinking about getting a job to actually starting a career. Once they find that career, we stay in touch with them for at least a year to make sure they are doing OK, because for a lot of our population, this may be their first job,” Brown said. Brown also helped launch an initiative in which vocational training students visit employers’ worksites.

“For example, our automotive-class cohort recently went to visit MileOne, which is one of the largest automotive employers in Maryland,” he said. “They got to meet with the technicians and human resources staff. Hearing about job opportunities in person makes it all the more real to them.”

Brown said one of his favorite parts of his job is graduation day. “For many of them, this is the first time they have walked across the stage or accomplished something important, and it does so much to lift the entire family,” he said. “They are so proud of themselves that they become our best recruiters who bring their friends and family to NCIA. We have so many sons who have brought their fathers here.”

Brown’s efforts to change lives go beyond workforce training: He is director of operations and assistant varsity basketball coach at Saint Frances Academy and director of operations for Team Melo, part of Baltimore native and NBA legend Carmelo Anthony’s foundation, where he has helped more than 200 student-athletes earn college scholarships.

Grace Caltrider

Ulman Foundation, Chief Operating Officer

For a young professional, the ability to make a difference in other people’s lives can be quite fulfilling. For Grace Caltrider, chief operating officer at the Ulman Foundation, which supports young adults who are facing cancer, she not only found that opportunity but also one where she works to improve the lives of people her age. “What drew me to Ulman was, as a young adult, knowing that I can work directly with and have a meaningful impact on people who are my age and are going through the phases of life that I am going through now,” she said.

As a young mother, Caltrider is especially passionate about helping young women facing cancer. “When a 50- or 60-year-old gets diagnosed with cancer, they’re not thinking about if they’re ever going to be able to have children again, but when a 20-year-old does, that needs to be one of the first thoughts that they have before they start treatment,” she said. “If you don’t have the right advocate or navigator in the room to help you understand this issue, you could lose your chances for fertility, and in some cases, you have 24 hours to make that decision.”

While many people are aware of the cancer risks for older adults and even children, Caltrider said that the demographic between ages 15 and 39 is one of the most underserved because the healthcare system doesn’t expect these people to get cancer. “Screenings aren’t happening for people in their 20s and 30s, and it’s often more difficult for them to advocate for themselves. So often, when young adults are being diagnosed with cancer, it’s in later stages because the signs were missed or the screenings weren’t done,” she said.

Caltrider works to educate young people with cancer on the impacts of treatment, as well as how cancer may affect their careers and finances and how to talk to their children about it. “Many of these people also feel socially isolated because their peers cannot relate to them, and other cancer patients they meet are typically much older,” said Caltrider, who added that Ulman House, which provides free housing for young adult cancer patients and their caregivers, is designed to create community and connection to combat that isolation.

Caltrider also spearheaded Ulman’s health equity strategy, “because we exist to serve an underserved population, break down barriers and bridge gaps for people who can’t access the care that they need. We also approach some of the challenges that our patients face around food insecurity during treatment, as nutrition is a huge piece of treatment success,” said Caltrider, who added that the Ulman Foundation gives out around $20,000 a year in direct patient assistance.

“When somebody shows up to treatment and they say, ‘I can’t afford my groceries for my kids right now,’ we will try to provide help, even if we are giving out gift cards at the bedside.”

Dr. Lucas Carlson, MD, MPH

MedStar Health Baltimore, Emergency Physician, MedStar Health and Medical Director, Preventive Care, Devoted Health

As an emergency medicine physician, Dr. Lucas Carlson has seen it all, but one issue has really stuck with him throughout his career — the health and social needs of vulnerable individuals and the societal factors that affect people’s health.

“In the ER, that’s really where my passion to help comes out. I’ll have a patient come in for chest pain, but in reality, it’s because they don’t have a place to sleep at night,” he said. “A patient comes in complaining of foot pain, but the foot pain is really just because they are unhoused and don’t have money for shoes. I wanted to figure out what we could do upstream to prevent those cases from having to come to the emergency department in the first place.”

Carlson added that lack of nutrition is a major cause for people ending up in the ER. So he launched FoodRx to address food insecurity for patients with diabetes and other chronic diseases. “The idea is that by providing food as medicine, we’re able to impact health outcomes more than traditional medical treatments. We know medicines for diabetes work, but we all too often don’t see the health outcomes that we would hope for these patients,” Carlson explained.

“We opened a food pantry with a dietitian that staffs it. Patients can access enough food for 10 meals per week for their entire household. Patients that have started in the program have an average reduction in their HbA1c, which is a measure of how well-controlled someone’s diabetes is, on average about 2 percentage points. For comparison, a new medication that’s coming to market aims for a reduction of 0.5 to 1 percentage point.” Carlson is also actively involved with stemming the substance abuse epidemic in Baltimore.

“The Peer Recovery Coach program is amazing. Every single patient who comes to the ER is screened for substance use and alcohol use disorder,” he said. “If they screen positive, they have a team that responds in real time that’s able to talk with them, even if it has nothing to do with why they’re in the emergency department.” He added that patients are informed of what treatment can do for them. “If they are open to it, then they can refer them to treatment right there or even get them a taxi to take them straight to treatment,” he said. “If they’re not, then we let them know that we’re always here whenever they change their mind.”

Improving maternal-child health programs in the Cherry Hill neighborhood by removing systemic barriers such as transportation, food insecurity and lack of insurance is another cause close to Carlson’s heart. With the little free time he has, Carlson said he enjoys spending time with his husband and their 1-year-old son. Carlson remains at MedStar as an emergency medicine physician but recently stepped away as medical director to take on a similar role at Devoted Health.

Takiya Eastmond

Morgan State University, Student

You would think that as a college student pursuing a double major in engineering and computer science with a minor in information systems, not to mention being a mother, Takiya Eastmond would have little time for giving back. You would be wrong. “I am heavily involved on campus and off campus with a lot of service work for empowering others,” Eastmond said. “I was sitting back one day and wanted to know how I could elevate the campus, student engagement and faculty engagement a little bit more, so I looked into obtaining a license to bring TEDx to the university.”

Eastmond applied for the license and was successful in bringing TEDx to Morgan State. “In doing my research, I noticed that it was the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, and I wanted to take advantage of that and highlight the great work that a historically Black college and university is doing in research, performing arts and other areas,” she said. If that’s not enough, she is also the founder and president of Between the Lines, Morgan’s first and only book-based organization on campus.

“Our work is driven behind inclusivity of all authors, especially minorities — minority women or those from diverse cultures — and highlight all of the great work that they do, especially in this current administration with the book banning and book burnings that are going on and the censorship of a lot of media,” Eastmond said. “We should have access to open education as well as a good news source, so we definitely wanted to bring awareness to authors and literature on campus and within our community.”

She added that the organization partnered with Harford Heights Elementary School in Baltimore. During National Book Month, they read to the kids, help them study literature and help them improve their writing scores for writing exams. Due to her love of the STEM fields, Eastmond also serves as a Department of Defense STEM ambassador, as well as a Fearless Institute ambassador, where she goes to Lillie May Carroll Jackson Charter School in Baltimore to teach girls STEM.

As a woman of color and first-generation student, Eastmond recognizes her place as a role model for the girls she mentors. “That’s probably why I’m so passionate in the things that I do, because my parents before me always pushed that education was key, but they themselves never went to college. So this is a way for me to just pay it forward to my community that helped raise me to be the woman that I am,” she said.

Brad Fallon

Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Assistant Secretary for Business Development

Sometimes it’s easy to lose confidence that the government can actually help to improve the lives of its citizenry. Brad Fallon hopes to change that perception. Fallon, who has worked in various roles in government, now leads a newly formed business development division for Maryland, lending to small businesses while connecting them to resources to succeed. Fallon is particularly passionate about affordable housing. “There is such a significant housing shortage, and to tackle the housing crisis of the scale that we have now, we need about 100,000 new units,” Fallon said.

“We need small single-family homes, townhomes and apartment buildings. Truly affordable housing is not built without subsidy, and we have flexibility to be below market rate in our lending and assist in cases where the private market may say, ‘There’s too much risk in that area.’” Fallon, who also teaches a government course at the University of Maryland, said that the development of mixed-use apartments is an emphasis in Baltimore City.

“We just did one recently in a distressed area for 25 apartments and retail space on the bottom,” said Fallon, who added that he aims to have some housing directly targeting teachers. Fallon shared that in surveys his office has done with young people who are leaving Maryland, the costs of housing and transportation are noted as the top reasons. He believes that housing built near transportation can help create self-contained communities where you have your office, your barber and your favorite restaurants all within reach.

To increase access to healthy, fresh food and support farmers and other retailers, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development launched a new grant program with the Maryland Department of Agriculture called NourishMD. Through this initiative, eligible retailers may apply for grants ranging from $25,000 to $150,000. “We’re seeing more and more of these big-box grocery stores close due to small margins,” he noted. “How can we make sure that communities still have access to fresh foods, even if we can’t attract a very large grocery store?

“For instance, we might have a corner store that says, ‘I would love to carry produce, but I don’t have a cooler and I can’t afford a $30,000 cooler.’ That’s where our grant comes in. Or a farmers market says, ‘If we had a tent with heat, we could operate year-round.’ We can come in and provide a grant to help them.”

Another focus for Fallon and his team is childcare expenses. “We have an inadequate supply of childcare providers, especially in certain areas. In addition to lending, we can also connect them with resources like the Small Business Development Center,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who want to start up a childcare business who are totally capable of providing really quality childcare. They might have been in the business for quite a while, but they don’t know how to run a business or make a business plan, so that is where we can help.”

Maureen Frowenfeld

University of Maryland Faculty Physicians, Chief of Staff to CEO and Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives

Maureen Frowenfeld did not intend to pursue a career in healthcare. However, when she developed a rare nerve condition, she realized that the physical requirements of being on her feet all day teaching would be a challenge. Luckily, she found a new career path in which she could continue helping people. “As a teacher, I had always felt limited in my abilities and the resources I could provide to make sure that my students’ educational needs and health needs were met, because if their health needs are not met, school is difficult for them,” she said.

“The first town I worked in was in Pennsylvania, and a quarter of the population lived in poverty. I had students who had never gone to a doctor or ever had fluoride for their teeth, so they had dental issues.

“My eyes were opened to the inequities in healthcare. I was receiving fantastic, high-quality healthcare from incredibly specialized surgeons and medical providers, while they weren’t receiving basic healthcare, so it definitely left me determined to focus on how I could promote access to healthcare.”

She earned a master’s degree in public health and healthcare management and worked at Johns Hopkins Medicine before joining University of Maryland Faculty Physicians. “When I went into teaching, I wanted to serve the community and help others. I realized that a career in health administration was a fitting opportunity for me to go help others on a larger scale. I have been able to lead initiatives that open doors to excellent, quality care for the people who need it. I’m actually doing what I wanted to do, and it’s pretty awesome,” she said.

Frowenfeld recognizes the support she has received from mentors, so she wanted to give back to the next generation through the University of Maryland Faculty Physicians administrative residency. “I can’t imagine getting to where I am now and feeling equipped to tackle real-life challenges in the healthcare field without the support of professors and other administrative and physician leaders who have generously shared their time and wisdom and found hands-on opportunities for me to learn and grow,” she shared.

“So when students come to their residency at our company, I mentor them one-on-one but also connect them with professionals who they can learn from. For example, I had a resident who said that they did not know much about how compliance works in healthcare, so I was able to connect them with a colleague who’s a compliance officer who could add them to a project to learn firsthand. This is your time to learn and find out what you do want to do.”

In addition to being a mother of two young children, she also helped form the Chronic Boss Collective, a network of professional women who live with chronic conditions. “These women are really ambitious and dreaming big in their careers and making a difference all while prioritizing their own health needs and lifting others in the process.”

Chaitra Gowda

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, Shareholder

“When I was in law school, I wanted to have mentors, but when you are young, it’s hard to find mentors or even know that you need them when you’re starting off,” said Gowda, who works in her firm’s Labor & Employment Group. “Through a bar association, you have others who have walked through your own path and had some of the same struggles and hurdles, as well as resources to help you in your career.

“My LinkedIn is constantly filled with messages from law students, and I might be one of the only crazy people who will respond about 95% of the time. I set up a time to meet with them and encourage them to join a bar association even at their law school. I try to encourage others to join because I now see on the other side how invaluable those kind of organizations can be.”

Gowda has served on the executive committee of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Maryland (APABA-MD). “These subspecialty bar associations are put together because they want people of the same interests and the same backgrounds to be able to come together and find common ground, which is great. I want to be a resource and a mentor for others, and I want to be able to find other resources for myself as well,” she said.

Outside of work, Gowda is a passionate advocate for Business Volunteers Maryland’s GIVE Fellowship program. She said she was initially drawn to the organization to learn more about Baltimore’s nonprofits and meet new people. “BVM is a great organization that really focuses on nonprofits throughout Maryland and helps them advocate for themselves, teaches them to become well-oiled machines and connects them to others who can help,” she said.

“The GIVE Fellowship program familiarizes fellows to different parts of Baltimore by hosting events at such places as Ravens stadium, the Maryland Zoo and the Hippodrome.” She explained that each year, professionals engage in an eight-month professional and personal growth experience to gain a better understanding of conditions in Baltimore. Then the fellows work in teams to assist a local community organization.

“We meet with the board of directors, the executive director and the people on the ground. I got placed with Paul’s Place [a Southwest Baltimore community organization], which was great because I’ve been giving my time there since I was in law school. We had a team of attorneys, bankers and people who work in HR and marketing to work together to formulate a plan to help them.”

Gowda seems to always be on the go. “I took a vacation with good friends in January, and I fell and broke my foot and ankle. Everyone said, ‘The girl who could never stop moving has been forced to sit down.’”

Mauricio Garcia

Northrop Grumman, Supply Chain Manager

ALPFA Baltimore, Vice President of Operations

When Mauricio Garcia first arrived at the University of Maryland, he said he had difficulty finding people with similar experiences. “I was born in Lima, Peru, and I was the first one in my family to go to college,” Garcia said. “I did not have someone in my family who could say, ‘I’ve gone through this before,’ when I was struggling.” Garcia, who knew he wanted to enroll in the business school, one day came across a flyer for an organization called ALPFA (at the time it stood for the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting, but it’s now the Association of Latino Professionals for America).

“My background is very humble, so I didn’t even own a suit, but I still decided to attend a meeting. As soon as I got there, a lady spoke Spanish to me, and as I looked around the room, people looked like me. I immediately had the confidence that I could graduate and have an impact in the business world. It was awesome.” Recognizing the impact representation had on him, Garcia has continued to stay active in ALPFA and later helped start a professional chapter in Baltimore.

One of the initiatives Garcia leads is creating partnerships between ALPFA and the business community. “At the end of the day, any nonprofit needs financial support from the business community, and our partners provide monetary assistance, as well as making their workplace available to us for meetings and events,” he said. Garcia added that hosting events at businesses such as Morgan Stanley not only brings brand awareness for the company with the Latino community but also allows young Latinos to interact with business professionals and make critical connections.

“Some of our partners also want us to help them recruit in that Latino space as part of their diversity efforts, which is a great opportunity.” As a young professional, or even a college student, walking into a networking event can be quite intimidating. “I think confidence really starts at representation, and that’s where I think ALPFA helps, as our members see panelists at our events that look like them. Also, when we have events with our student chapters, I make a point to introduce myself and ask them questions to make an intentional relationship so that when they attend the next event, they will see a familiar face,” Garcia said.

He added that he also aims to connect students with fellow board members at ALPFA who are employed in the same field that they are majoring in. Garcia said that he is grateful for the support he receives at Northrop Grumman. “ALPFA teaches skills such as leadership development and other soft skills. This translates into a positive ROI for my employer as they see how these events make me a more experienced professional. Northrop also has an employee resource group for Latinos called Adelante, and a couple colleagues have joined ALPFA, bringing a more diverse perspective to Northrop and to ALPFA.”

Megan Heidler

Dwyer Workforce Development, Program Services Manager

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how vulnerable the healthcare system can be; however, one bright spot was that Jack Dwyer, CEO of CFG Bank, took action to combat the need for staffing in skilled nursing facilities by establishing Dwyer Workforce Development, along with his wife and two daughters. Megan Heidler, program services manager, said that the organization not only helps assisted-living and skilled-nursing facilities and community hospitals in need of staffing, but also provides viable employment opportunities for those in marginalized communities.

“The way the organization was established allows us to dedicate every penny we receive in donations into the workforce development training and removing barriers for those seeking to better their lives,” she said. She added that Dwyer Workforce Development is unique in that it provides not only tuition-free healthcare training and job placement support, but also comprehensive wraparound support for Dwyer Scholars, as participants are called. “I’ve never worked for another workforce development where we’re able to provide them with a monthly bus pass and unlimited transportation, not only to and from training, but also to take their child to a doctor’s appointment or to get their child to daycare.

“Our whole focus is barrier removal while also providing this training,” said Heidler, who added that for those scholars who live in communities with an inadequate bus system, Dwyer partners with Lyft to provide transportation. Heidler also oversees the Dwyer Scholar Resource Center in East Baltimore, where the community can come together, host events such as financial wellness workshops, use the computers to study for exams and bring their children to read.

As wonderful as the center is, Heidler recognized that accessing resources in East Baltimore is not easy for everyone. “If one of our scholars lives on the Eastern Shore, how does she get to East Baltimore?” she asked. In response, Heidler worked with a team of developers for over a year to create a virtual learning management system called Launchpad. “There are soft-skills modules for the scholars to explore, and we can assign them modules that maybe they could benefit from, such as interpersonal dynamics or time management if they are struggling with tardiness. It’s just this extra tool in their toolkit,” she said.

Heidler, who also teaches the workforce development curriculum she created to individuals detained at the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, was able to link all the resources Dwyer has into Launchpad so that if a scholar needs help with childcare or finding a food pantry, the virtual hub will automatically direct them to resources that are close to her home or work. “I’m really proud of this project that will help our scholars succeed while also pushing myself to learn a new skill,” she said.

Jackie LaMonica

Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center, Program Director

Parents across the U.S. struggle to get their kids to put down electronic devices and go outside and play. Jackie LaMonica, program director at Genesee Valley Outdoor Learning Center, decided not to wait until kids were in their teens to expose them to the joys of nature. She developed a program series at Genesee Valley offering nature-based programming for preschool children.

LaMonica explained that there are two programs — Little Roots for ages birth to 3, where a caregiver attends and sessions last about 90 minutes, and Seedlings for 3- to 5-year-olds in a half-day session. “For our younger generation, I believe that nature is the best teaching resource and tool to instill the importance of being stewards for nature, but our programs also focus on taking care of your fellow peers,” LaMonica said. “When a kid here is crying or falls down, the kids are the first ones to run over and comfort them.”

In addition to practical skills, LaMonica said, cognitive, emotional and social skills are also taught. The programs for 3-year-olds are so popular that there is now a waitlist. “For parents, we educate them on what nature-based, child-led learning looks like, and for young parents, they benefit from learning how to dress their child for cold weather and whether it’s OK to not rush over every time a child falls down, to help build character and resilience,” she said.

Speaking of resilience, programs are held year-round, so LaMonica said being outside in unpredictable weather helps build toughness, and kids putting on their own shoes builds confidence. LaMonica went to Genesee Valley as a young camper and worked there during college. “Many young kids are surrounded by adults, so it’s fun to see them interact with their peers and engage with nature, whether we’re going on a hike, going to our mud kitchen or going to the sandy beach area,”

LaMonica said. “This time of year, birds are building nests and frogs are having tadpoles, so there is always something to observe.” LaMonica also said that Genesee Valley’s programs and summer camp should be accessible to all and has led efforts to grow the scholarship fund to assist with covering costs for transportation, a potential barrier for some families and school groups. “We want to get as many people as possible out here and make it financially accessible,” she said.

“We support families, mentorship programs and Title I schools where we can take our programming to their school, as buses are so expensive.” LaMonica recognizes the importance for young girls to see a woman like her in a leadership position. “Something that’s unique about our organization is our leadership team is pretty much all women,” she said. “I do feel proud to be a female leader in this field.”

April Lugo

McCormick & Co., Talent Acquisition Manager

ALPFA Baltimore, President

April Lugo recognizes how fortunate she was to receive a full scholarship to the Johns Hopkins University. Her parents were teenagers when she was born, and she was the first in her family to attend college. Looking back at her collegiate years, the one word that comes to mind is “lonely.” Lugo, who is now the talent acquisition manager at McCormick & Co., said even when she graduated and landed a job at Johns Hopkins Medicine, she felt isolated until she discovered ALPFA, the Association of Latino Professionals for America.

“No one I had ever known growing up had corporate jobs; everyone was hourly,” said Lugo, who is now president of the Baltimore chapter. “I didn’t know how to navigate it, and honestly, I don’t think if I hadn’t found ALPFA that I would have been able to ever gain the skills I needed, because there was no one in my life to teach me like how to dress, how to talk or how to write emails well. I don’t think I’d be the leader I am today if I wasn’t fortunate enough to find ALPFA.”

Lugo said that when she joined ALPFA, she immediately bonded with others who were also first-generation college graduates and immigrants to the U.S. “Many of us found ourselves in corporate spaces where we were often the only people who looked like us,” Lugo said. “It was such a lonely journey for us, so we wanted to make sure others coming up in their careers didn’t feel the same loneliness and isolation that we felt.” Lugo said that one of her goals at ALPFA is to introduce college students to the array of careers that are out there.

“Growing up in a Puerto Rico enclave, I knew of three professions — lawyer, doctor and police officer — and I didn’t want to be any of those things,” she said. “Also, when I was at Hopkins, I didn’t know like the value of internships, networking with your professors, or the value of networking with your peers. I thought if I worked hard and graduated, that would be enough.

“I applied to 300 jobs when I graduated, and I landed one single job. I want to share what I’ve learned with kids, because if they have no idea how to leverage the resources around them, they will fall behind before the game ever starts.”

Lugo works with college students to pair them with mentors and coaches, and she has witnessed students change their majors after being introduced to a new career option by a mentor. To further expose young people to Latino professionals, she helps send students to national conferences, utilizing the organization’s scholarship funds.

Indira Obichere

United Way of Central Maryland, Director of Public Policy

Indira Obichere credits her parents for her decision to pursue a career in human services. “My mother is from Jamaica, and my father is from Nigeria, and they were really grateful to be able to come to this country legally,” Obichere said. “They always stressed to me the importance of giving back.” She said that when she was in high school, her mother encouraged her to volunteer. They found Elizabeth House in Laurel, which feeds unhoused people and others facing food insecurity, and volunteered to serve meals.

“My mom always goes above and beyond, so instead of serving sandwiches, she and I went home and made a huge batch of curry chicken and rice to serve,” she said. “It was my first volunteer experience, and it felt so good. I knew then that I wanted to give back to the community. It didn’t have to come with a lot of money, because the feeling alone was better than wealth.”

As director of public policy at the United Way of Central Maryland, she uses her master’s degree in public administration with a focus in public policy and management to develop a public policy training course for employees and volunteers to advocate successfully to create change.

“I wanted to show them how important it was that we go to Annapolis, meet with legislators to share data that we collect and programs that we lead, and ask if there is a way that we can take what we’ve shared and turn it into legislation so that ALICE [Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed] communities and residents can have a better life. I want them to know that we can do more than just advocate.” Obichere added that ALICE communities, which represent households that earn above the federal poverty level but cannot afford basic necessities like housing, food, childcare, healthcare and transportation, are a primary focus of the organization’s work.

Part of her training is to show employees and volunteers the difference between advocacy and lobbying. “We are a 501(c)(3), and it’s a very thin line between advocacy and lobbying, so I wanted to make sure that we don’t cross the line,” she said.

Another focus for Obichere is United Way’s VoterVoice grassroots advocacy platform that drives advocates and volunteers to the platform to engage in campaigns and surveys and send direct messages to legislators on a range of different issues from childcare to housing. “We have about 1,000 people signed up on the platform, and it’s an amazing way for people to get involved and mobilize,” she said.

Outside of work, Obichere also tutors K-12 students in math and reading and is busy with an initiative called Barrels for Jamaica. “We send what we call barrels back home to Jamaica every year around Christmas,” she said. “It’s typically filled with Band-Aids, deodorant, toiletries, hats or whatever is needed. The recent hurricane there essentially wiped Jamaica out. People lost their homes, people died, and I have family members there who were impacted. It’s so fulfilling for me … it reminds me of volunteering at Elizabeth House in high school.”

Timmeka Perkins

Annie E. Casey Foundation, Senior Associate, Community Safety

When examining the issue of gun violence, Timmeka Perkins believes that it’s important to not solely look at the issue through a lens of law enforcement but rather look at the systemic issues that affect public safety in Baltimore. As a senior associate in community safety at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Perkins is committed to taking a holistic approach to the issue. “It’s all about being proactive and really recognizing that violence is a preventable disease,” Perkins said.

“When you recognize violence as a preventable disease, you start talking about the underlying issues that drive violence instead of just treating the symptom.” She noted trauma, lack of economic opportunity, inability to access a quality education and lack of a support system as factors that need to be explored to identify individuals at highest risk for gun violence. “Most of my work has been around creating more equitable systems and safer communities.

It’s a deeply personal issue to me. I feel like safety is a foundational requirement for communities to thrive. Safety impacts mental health, education, economic opportunity and just overall well-being,” Perkins said. Perkins stressed that the Casey Foundation works closely with community-based organizations through a public-health approach throughout Baltimore and 40 other cities around the country. “One thing that I live by is that those closest to the problem also have the solutions, so they must have a leadership role at the table,” she said.

Perkins is dedicated to reaching young people to reduce gun violence. “The data shows us that youth are not the drivers of violence, which means that if we can reach them while they’re young with those wraparound services before they truly are at the highest risk for involvement in gun violence, there’s evidence that shows that those are very successful strategies,” she said. “This type of comprehensive ecosystem means that we have the ability to really meet the needs of people, and that’s why we’re seeing these historic reductions in gun violence.”

Perkins added that the Casey Foundation has many great partners, including Roca, which engages young people, police and systems to help disrupt violence, and the Living Classrooms’ community violence intervention program called Operation Respond. Perkins stressed the importance of supporting frontline community responders and violence interrupters who are constantly dealing with trauma, and making sure that they have access to health insurance and mental health services. “We lean on them for a lot, and we would not have these historic lows without them.”

Perkins, who lost her 8-year-old daughter three years ago, is also passionate about supporting surviving family members of homicide victims. “My daughter didn’t die by gun violence, so I got an opportunity to say goodbye. Family members of gun violence don’t get that luxury,” she said. “I have a personal mission statement that says that every child deserves a chance, every adult deserves grace, and every person deserves safety and justice.

“That is my north star for all of the initiatives that I’ve done in the past, that I do currently and that I’ll do in the future.”