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Workforce & Employment
Joseph T. Jones, Jr.
President and CEO
Center For Urban Families, Inc. (CFUF)
Joseph T. Jones, Jr. is founder/CEO of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF), a Baltimore, Maryland nonprofit service organization established to empower low-income families by enhancing both the ability of women and men to contribute to their families as wage earners and of men to fulfill their roles as fathers. Jones is now a national leader in workforce development, fatherhood and family services programming, and through his professional and civic involvement influences policy direction nationwide. Jones also serves on the boards of OSI-Baltimore, Baltimore Workforce Development, and My Brother’s Keeper-Baltimore. Mr. Jones has received numerous awards and honors for his leadership and programming including the Johns Hopkins University Leadership Development Program’s Distinguished Leadership Award, a honorary Doctorate in Public Service from Morgan State University, the Walter Sondheim Public Service Award and the White House Champion of Change. He was a 2004 Weinberg Fellow, a 2013 CNN Hero, and current Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow. Mr. Jones is a graduate of the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Lisa Rusyniak
President and CEO
Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc.
Lisa Rusyniak has served as President and CEO for Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc. for 24 years and provides leadership to one of the largest workforce development agencies focused on people with disabilities and disadvantaged so that they may become self-sufficient. Goodwill’s 33 retail stores, ecommerce operation, and other business development provide the lionshare of funding for its workforce programs and services. Goodwill’s newest business venture in ecommerce, launched in 2017, currently generates $2 million per year to fund programs. In 2018, the organization assisted over 2,000 obtain employment that were not current employees or program participants. Lisa has received multiple awards from The Daily Record including Top 100 Women, Most Admired CEO and Influential Marylander. Lisa was also recognized as SMARTCEO Future 50 multiple years and received the SmartCEO Circle of Excellence. Lisa has a BS from Salisbury University and her Master’s of Science in Management from Wilmington University. She also holds certifications from Cornell in Change Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Nonprofit Financial Stewardship, and Strategic Frameworks for Nonprofit Organizations. She also earned a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Georgetown University, was a fellow of Public Policy Conflict Resolution at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, a 2009 graduate of the GBC’s The LEADERship Program, and Goodwill Industries International’s Executive Development Program.
Jason Perkins-Cohen
Director
Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED)
Jason Perkins-Cohen was appointed Director of MOED in 2015. He leads the agency that helps residents find their career and employers find their workforce. Jason oversees the implementation of workforce development initiatives responsive to the needs of Baltimore’s businesses, citizens and youth. Jason led the development of One Baltimore for Jobs, an innovative partnership with 19 community-based organizations that has helped residents to access sector based occupational training. MOED also oversees YouthWorks summer jobs program that serves 8,000 youth each summer. Under Jason’s leadership, MOED has doubled the number of job placements and increased the number of youth working in summer jobs by 75% in the last two years. Prior to joining MOED, Jason was the Executive Director for the Job Opportunities Task Force. Jason has served on the state’s Unemployment Insurance Task Force, its Task Force on Prisoner Reentry and the Maryland Adult Literacy Advisory Council. Jason currently serves as a trustee for the Baltimore City Community College, the board of the Baltimore Civic Fund, and is a board member for the US Conference of Mayor’s Workforce Development Council and the Maryland Workforce Alliance. Jason holds a Bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master’s degree in Policy Analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Education & Youth
Karen Webber
Director, Education and Youth Development Program
Open Society Institute – Baltimore
Karen Webber is the director of the Education and Youth Development program at the Open Society Institute-Baltimore where she focuses on bringing restorative and other complementary inclusive practices into public schools, to create school environments that are conducive to teaching and learning for all. Previously, Webber served as the Executive Director of Student Support in Baltimore City Public Schools where she worked on policies and practices that contributed to dramatic reductions in student suspensions and expulsions. Before moving into district administration, Webber served as a transformational middle/high school principal, Resident Principal, and teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools. Prior to her tenure in education, Webber earned a BA from Colgate University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law and focused her career on public service and human rights. Notably, Webber served as an Assistant Commissioner of Homeless Services in New York City and the Executive Director of the Public Justice Center in Baltimore, MD.
Peter Kannam
Principal
Henderson-Hopkins School
Kannam is the Principal of Henderson-Hopkins School. Kannam began his career as a teacher at Baltimore’s Lombard Middle School, where he taught science and U.S. history for five years and spent two years in a special education inclusion classroom. After receiving his master’s degree in school administration and supervision from the Johns Hopkins School of Education in 1999, he became Executive Director of Teach For America Baltimore, supporting City Schools in the recruitment, selection, and training of incoming TFA teachers. He also served for four years as Executive Director of New Leaders for New Schools Maryland, where he launched programs to recruit and train principals for Baltimore City and Prince George’s County schools; and as New England Regional Director for Catapult Learning.
In 2010, he co-founded the education nonprofit America Achieves, which partners with organizations to create clear pathways for economic advancement and civic engagement. He served as both Senior Adviser and Managing Partner to develop leadership fellowship programs and educational tools for city and state governments. In July 2013, Kannam was appointed to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, chairing the Teaching and Learning Committee and serving as a member of the Policy and Strategic Planning committees. He was elected as the board’s Vice Chair in 2017, a position he held until June of 2018.
Tina Hike-Hubbard
Chief of Communications, Engagement, and Enrollment, Baltimore City Public Schools
Ms. Hike-Hubbard began her education career as a Teach For America (TFA) Corps Member in 1994, teaching at West Baltimore Middle School. She also worked with the TFA national team by serving as a Faculty Director and a School Director, supervising the successful implementation of a professional development program for newly recruited TFA corps members. From 1997-2019, Ms. Hike-Hubbard worked for Enterprise Community Partners, serving as Senior Director for the Mid-Atlantic region, where she was responsible for developing and managing a comprehensive school/community reform effort in Baltimore. She also developed a national platform for the inclusion of school reform within traditional community development activities for Enterprise.
In 2010, Ms. Hike-Hubbard was appointed by Governor O’Malley and Mayor Rawlings-Blake to serve as a School Board Commissioner for the Baltimore City Public School System. She remained a commissioner for eight years, during which she served two years as Vice-Chair. In 2015 and 2017, Ms. Hike-Hubbard was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by the Daily Record. In 2018, she received the Family League’s President’s Award, which recognizes outstanding work impacting Baltimore’s children and families. Ms. Hike-Hubbard holds a BS in Government from Northwest Missouri State University and a master’s degree in Urban Education from The Johns Hopkins University..
John McAuliffe
Chief Executive Officer
Sylvan Learning
Chief Executive Officer, John McAuliffe joined the Sylvan family in January 2010 as the Chief Financial Officer. As CFO, John was responsible for creating the annual budget and forecasting the financial outlook of the company. In January 2016, John was promoted to the role of Chief Executive Officer for Sylvan. As CEO, John has laid out an ambitious roadmap for Sylvan’s future success. John has spearheaded efforts to streamline Sylvan’s business model, resulting in the most flexible and dynamic education franchise in the country. Under John’s leadership, Sylvan aims to deliver the best educational programs through the use of cutting-edge technology and best-in-class customer service. John holds a BA in Accounting from Loyola University Maryland.
Violence Prevention & Safety
Tara Huffman
Director – Criminal and Juvenile Justice Program, Open Society Institute-Baltimore
Tara Huffman comes to OSI-Baltimore with both national and local experience, strong advocacy skills, and deep knowledge of the field and of the organizational development needs of grantees. Previously, Huffman provided coaching and consulting services to nonprofit leaders and organizations—including Greater Baltimore Grassroots Criminal Justice Network. Before that, she served for five years as the Deputy Director for Policy and Programs at the Coalition for Juvenile Justice in Washington, D.C. There, she managed a project to advocate for national standards to reduce incarceration and criminalization of juvenile status offenders. Earlier in her career, she served for three years as the Director of the Maryland Justice Coalition, and two years as the Chair of the Maryland Juvenile Justice Coalition. A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Huffman began her career as a Staff Attorney at the Public Justice Center. Active in the community, Huffman has a deep commitment to reforming policies and practices that contribute to racial disparities, an over-reliance on incarceration, blocked opportunities, and unrealized potential.
Shantay Jackson
Director
Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement
In this new role, created by Mayor Brandon Scott, Jackson is responsible for addressing violence as a public health issue, serving as the accountability partner for all city agencies and local, state, and federal partners. Prior to this role, she spent almost 20 years in the private sector as an Assistant VP of Global Solutions & Technology at T. Rowe Price and Principal at Brown Advisory. After the uprising in 2015, Jackson became the Executive Director at the Baltimore Community Mediation Center, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing interpersonal conflict and community violence in Baltimore. Jackson rolled out a 3 component Police & Community Program, introduced community listening tours, and provided moderation and facilitation services to grassroots organizations and city agencies. This led to her federal appointment as Community Engagement Liaison for the BPD Consent Decree. Jackson also worked as the COO for The GBC Leadership and is the Founder/ CEO of EVOLVE to Lead. Jackson is often called upon to share her philosophies on leadership, violence prevention, and police/community relations. Most notably was being asked to participate in the White House Briefing on Black and Brown Gun Violence. Jackson was recently honored by Black Girls Vote and Radio One for her work. Jackson graduated Villa Julie College, majoring in Business Information Systems. She is a certified mediator, large-group facilitator, licensed consultant, and certified to conduct development trainings.
Erricka Bridgeford
Executive Director
Baltimore Community Mediation Center
Erricka Bridgeford trains mediators, teaches conflict resolution skills, co-organizes a movement that rallies Baltimore City to avoid violence during three-day weekends and performs rituals for every person who is murdered in Baltimore. Her life has been impacted by murder since she was 12 years old, and she has been working for over 20 years to ensure that murder does not have the last say. From addressing rape culture, to advocating for death penalty repeal, Bridgeford’s ability to influence social injustice is fueled by her commitment to transform her personal pain into “hope in action.”
Bridgeford is the Executive Director at Baltimore Community Mediation Maryland, co-founder and co-organizer of Baltimore Ceasefire 365 and an inspirational speaker. Her awards and recognitions include: Outstanding Volunteer Contribution to Victim’s Services by the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (2015), Best Baltimorean by City Paper (2017), Peacemaker of the Year by Baltimore Community Mediation Center (2017) and Marylander of the Year by The Baltimore Sun (2017).
Pickett Slater Harrington
Community Engagement Lead
Seawall Development
Pickett Slater Harrington is a social entrepreneur. He is the founder and managing principal at Joltage, a social change design firm that champions innovative solutions to social challenges by designing, investing, and incubating micro ventures- small scale, locally driven sustainable projects and enterprises.
Pickett has deep experience working with businesses, nonprofits, and government on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. He currently serves as Community Engagement Lead at Seawall, a community developer that believes in re-imagining the real estate development industry so that the built environment empowers communities, unites our cities, and helps launch powerful ideas. Pickett has also held leadership roles in several national nonprofit organizations, worked in partnership with government-based community development efforts and served as an adjunct professor and senior consultant at the Community Building Institute at Xavier University.
Transportation & Access
Jamar R. Brown
Partner
Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP
Jamar R. Brown is a partner in the litigation group at Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP, a full-service business law firm. Jamar advises and advocates for business and property owners as well as investors on high-stakes legal matters and represents these clients in various commercial, real estate, and contractual disputes. Prior to joining RMG, Jamar served as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore City. Jamar also serves as chair of the Advisory Board of OSI – Baltimore, Board President of CASA of Baltimore and is on the boards of the Enoch Pratt Free Library and JOTF. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Maryland State Bar Association, the Bar Association of Baltimore City, and the Monumental City Bar Association.
Jamar has been widely recognized for his accomplishments: Practitioner of the Year by the UMD Carey School of Law Black Law Student’s Association, BBJ’s 40 Under 40, received the 2020 Inspiring Voices Award from Community Law In Action (CLIA), selected for inclusion in the 2021 edition of Best Lawyers in America, named to Maryland Super Lawyers Rising Stars since 2017, a recipient of The Daily Record’s 2016 Leadership in Law Generation J.D. Award, Living Classrooms’ 2016 Rising Stars, and is a 2014-2015 fellow of the Maryland State Bar Association Leadership Academy. Jamar is a graduate of the UMD Carey School of Law and received his B.A. from Emory University. Upon graduation from the Carey School, he was inducted into the Order of Barristers.
Elisabeth A. Sachs
Director of Government Reform and Strategic Initiatives
Office of Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski
Elisabeth A. Sachs is the Director of Government Reform and Strategic Initiatives in the office of Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski, Jr. Prior to this, Ms. Sachs served as Executive Director of the Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF), an independent, nonprofit workforce intermediary focused on eliminating employment and educational barriers for low-wage workers. Ms. Sachs has also served in management roles at the state level — as the policy director at the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR), the first Program Director for EARN Maryland, a statewide industry-led workforce and economic development initiative and as Acting Secretary at the Maryland Higher Education
Commission. Ms. Sachs holds a B.A. from Haverford College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
Robbyn Lewis
District 46
Maryland House of Delegates
Delegate Robbyn Lewis is a public health researcher, sustainability advocate, and community leader. Her efforts have contributed to advances in human health and environmental sustainability at both local and international levels. Before becoming a state elected official, Delegate Lewis spent two decades in the field of international public health. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger. After graduate training, she lived and worked in a dozen countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. When not working overseas, Delegate Lewis was an active leader in her Baltimore community. She is a founder of the Patterson Park Public Charter School, and creator of an award-winning, neighborhood-wide sustainability movement that mobilized hundreds of volunteers, planted hundreds of trees, increasing the urban tree canopy by 20%. A leader in transit and mobility justice, she founded Red Line Now PAC as well as the Livable Streets Advisory Group. Delegate Lewis serves on the Health & Government Operations Committee in the Maryland General Assembly. She is the state’s only car-free legislator.
Health & Care
Scott Nolen
Director of the Addiction and Health Equity
Open Society Institute–Baltimore
Scott Nolen has held a variety of research, legislative, and advocacy positions in the public health, juvenile and criminal justice fields. Before joining the OSI–Baltimore, he worked as a health scientist at the National Institutes of Health. As a part of the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, Nolen led a project focused on driving the national discussion on health disparities. Prior to that, Nolen was the director of the Equal Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, where he combined his legal training with his background in social science research to address issues of racial and social equity. Nolen also served as a Congressional fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science working on health care reform. As a child psychology fellow for the New York State Psychiatric Institute, Nolen conducted and published research on mental health and juvenile justice issues and led probation officer training on identifying suicidal youth. He also worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital Adolescent Medicine Clinic, where he provided mental health services to youth in schools, emergency rooms, and outpatient clinics. Nolen holds a law degree from Harvard, a PhD in clinical psychology from Duke University and has taught numerous classes on diversity, health, and criminal justice.
Kerry Graves
Executive Director
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Metropolitan Baltimore (NAMI)
Kerry Graves serves as the Executive Director of NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore. In her role, she provides leadership for NAMI Metropolitan Baltimore’s mission of improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. NAMI Metro Baltimore is one of the largest and most active local affiliates of NAMI, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization. Before coming to NAMI in 2018, Kerry held management roles at several local area health advocacy non-profits, most recently as VP of Development for the DC/MD/VA chapter of the ALS Association.
Letitia Dzirasa, M.D.
Commissioner of Health
Baltimore City Government
Dr. Letitia Dzirasa joined Baltimore City government as the Commissioner of Health in March 2019. Dr. Dzirasa believes that equitable care is basic right for all and will tirelessly advocate for programs that support the overall health and wellbeing of all Baltimore city residents. Dr. Dzirasa’s special interests include obesity management and prevention, trauma informed care in children and adolescents, and expanded use of technology to improve health outcomes. Prior to joining the Health Department, Dr. Dzirasa worked at Fearless Solutions (Fearless), a Baltimore based digital services firm that builds custom software solutions for local and federal government clients. As the Fearless Health Innovation Officer, Dr. Dzirasa was responsible for managing the Healthcare IT portfolio for the company and provided clinical subject matter expertise. Dr. Dzirasa trained at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in pediatrics and worked as medical director for school-based health and quality at Baltimore Medical System from 2013-2016. In addition to holding a B.S. from University of Maryland, Baltimore County in biological sciences, Dr. Dzirasa graduated from Meharry Medical College, Summa Cum Laude, in 2007.
Richard Silberstein
Managing Partner
SIG
Richard Silberstein is the Managing Partner of SIG, an Alera Group Company. Richard founded SIG in 1999 to offer personalized and cost-effective employee benefit solutions that meet the unique insurance needs of of SIG’s clients. SIG has grown to become one of the leading employee benefits brokers in the country. SIG serves more than 400 corporate clients in 45 states. Richard is a founding member of Alera Group, a firm that was formed in 2017 with 23 other like-minded, high-performing independent firms across the United States.
Richard began his career in the insurance industry in 1981. In 1984, he joined Franklin/Morris Associates, Inc. He holds a BA degree in Economics from Washington and Lee University and earned several designations (CLU, ChFC, RHU) from the American College. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of Regional and National health plans, leads the East Region of Alera Group as well as the Benefit Advisors Network’s Analytics Peer Group and is a member of their Marketing Peer Group. He is a member and past president of the Baltimore Estate Planning Council; member of the BOD for Lexington National Insurance Company; past president of the Society of Finance Professionals; past president of the McDonogh School Alumni Association and a member of the Board of Trustees. Richard is also very active with the SIG Community Service Committee and enjoys working with area nonprofits.
Seema D. Iyer, PHD
Associate Director
Jacob France Institute, Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore, Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance
Seema D. Iyer PhD is associate director of the Jacob France Institute in the University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business. Dr. Iyer oversees the award-winning Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, which is also the Baltimore partner of the Urban Institute’s National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership of sites that provide longitudinal, community-based data on demographics, housing, crime, education and sustainability. Her research focuses on the role of data sharing in collaborative public innovation processes. Academically, Dr. Iyer is the director of the undergraduate program in Real Estate & Economic Development. In 2019, she helped create the Pitch for a Million competition that helps student and alumni entrepreneurs establish community oriented real estate development projects in Baltimore’s underserved neighborhoods. She is the 2021 recipient of the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents faculty award for Excellence in Public Service. Prior to joining UBalt, Dr. Iyer served as Chief of Research & Strategic Planning for Baltimore City’s Planning Department. She holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan.
