The Maryland Women’s Heritage Center Board of Directors is made up of the following Maryland business and civic leaders:

Lori Askinazi
Founder and President, L.A. Interiors
Potomac, MD

Lori Askinazi is founder and president of L.A. Interiors, a creative design company specializing in Fung Sui and sophisticated style. Lori was co-chair of her husband Bill`s Maryland Senate and House of Delegates Campaigns. She was also a member of the Maryland-China International Trade Mission and an attendee of the World Expo in Aichi, Japan. She is very involved in local Synagogues as a board member, traveling to Israel on Women’s Missions with continued study. She is also the former Outreach Coordinator for the Maryland Commission for Women.

Diana Bailey
Career and Tech Education/Workforce Development and Transition Coordinator, Juvenile Services Education, Maryland State Department of Education
Baltimore, MD

Diana M. Bailey has been an educator and administrator for more than 30 years. She has extensive experience working with a broad range of special populations in education, occupational training, employment and career progress. Several of her roles have focused on educational equity as well as community organizations supporting gender equity. Ms. Bailey has worked with Correctional Education for over 10 years with an emphasis on program development and implementation of services providing career development, workforce development and transitional skill information for inmates returning to their community and employment.

Currently, Ms. Bailey serves as the Career and Tech Education/Workforce Development and Transition Coordinator for Juvenile Services Education, as part of the Division of Career and College Readiness. In this role, she provides leadership and support for successful transition for students from detention and treatment to post release success. Ms. Bailey has facilitated local, state, and national professional development activities and resources for multidisciplinary staff and agencies working with people who have been incarcerated. She holds numerous degrees and certifications related to career and workforce development such as Global Career Development Facilitator/Instructor certified by National Career Development Association/CCE. She also holds several National Institute of Corrections certifications including Offender Workforce Development Specialist (OWDS-I) and Master Trainer/OWDS. Ms. Bailey was selected by a national interagency committee for a national award for leadership and policy changes supporting Offender Workforce Development in April 2009.

Sarian Bouma
Annapolis, MD 

Sarian Bouma is currently a Congressional Legislative Fellow at Brookings Institute, assigned to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. She received the National Council of Negro Women, Inc., award, the National “Women in Enterprise” awarded by the Avon Corporation and the 2006 "Maryland Top 100 Women" by The Daily Record. She was a "Maryland Top MBE" in 2007 and 2009. Sarian Bouma is also a motivational speaker and author of “Welfare to Millionaire: Heart of a Winner.” A cum laude graduate of Sojourner Douglass College with a bachelor's degree in management and administration, she attended and completed a leadership program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2007.

Lynne Brick is the co-founder and owner of Brick Bodies and Lynne Brick’s Health Clubs, one of the largest women-owned businesses in Maryland. Considered an internationally acclaimed fitness expert, she has presented lectures, workshops, master classes and fitness instructor trainings in over 25 countries. Brick has been featured in more than a dozen fitness videos and has also appeared in radio and television advertisements. She is the author of Consumer Guide's Step Into Shape and Fitness Aerobics by Human Kinetics. The recipient of many awards and honors, she was inducted into the Baltimore County Chamber Business Hall of Fame, appointed to the Maryland Commission for Women, given The Daily Record’s Maryland’s Top 100 Women award three times qualifying for “The Circle of Excellence,” and named “Maryland’s Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst and Young. Her extensive charity work includes serving as a board member of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Board and and formerly served on several other boards. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Towson University, and is a former nurse at Maryland Shock Trauma.

Linda Busick
Board of County Commissioners, Worcester County
Berlin, MD 

Linda Busick has been the Vice President of the Worcester County’s Board of County Commissioners since December 2009. She began her career as a detective within the Criminal Investigative Division of the Baltimore County Police Department, a position that she held for 20 years. After moving to Worcester County, she became heavily involved in politics, serving as Secretary of the Worcester County Republican Central Committee, President of the Worcester County Republican Women’s Club, Vice President of the Lower Shore Republican Women, President of Arcadia Questers, and Executive Board Member of the Maryland State Questers, before being elected to the Board of the County Commissioners. 

Currently, she is involved with many organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, Safe and Sane Route 113 Coalition, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Order of the Eastern Star. She was named one of "Maryland’s Top 100 Women" by The Daily Record in 2006 and 2009.

Rita R. Colwell
Professor, Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD

Rita R. Colwell is a renowned scientist and educator, who was the first woman to serve as Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). She is also an advocate for women, especially those in science. A pioneer in the emerging field of biotechnology, Colwell is a professor in the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and founded the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) in 1985. Dr. Colwell has been inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame and the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Catherine R. Gira
Columbia, MD

Dr. Catherine R. Gira is a highly regarded university administrator. She is the former president of Frostburg State University. Prior to that, she served as provost at the University of Baltimore. She has held leadership positions in numerous national and state professional associations, including President of the American Association of University Administrators, Vice-Chair of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, Chair of the Maryland Humanities Council, and the President of the Maryland Association of Higher Education. She was elected to the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 1997. She is also an accomplished Shakespearean scholar and a respected teacher.

Joanne T. Goldsmith
Owings Mills, MD

Joanne T. Goldsmith is currently third vice president at Har Sinai Congregation in Owings Mills, Md. She serves on the Executive Committee of Women of Reform Judaism and as secretary of the Federation of Jewish Women’s Organizations of Maryland. She is a board member for Doctor’s Community Hospital in Lanham, Md., and a member of the Council on Legislative and Regulatory Policy of the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA). She is also a member of the Workforce Investment Board in Prince George’s County where she is chair of the Business Industry Committee.  She was the first woman to chair the Maryland State Board of Education and the first woman to chair the National Association of State Boards of Education. In addition, she has served on the Boards of the Prince George’s Mental Health Association, hospice of Prince George’s County, and as a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland. Goldsmith was the Executive Director of the National Coalition for Public Education and Religious Liberty, Vice President for John Hanson Savings Bank and Director of Community Relations for Doctors Community Hospital. She is included in the books, “Women of Achievement in Maryland History” and “Women of Achievement in Prince George’s County History.”

Artis G. Hampshire-Cowan
Senior Vice President and Secretary, Howard University
Washington, D.C.
 
As Senior Vice President and Secretary at Howard University, Artis G. Hampshire-Cowan manages the affairs of the University’s Board of Trustees and all official functions of the University.  A sought-after speaker and trainer, she has provided training for many organizations and companies, including the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Executive Business Women, National Black MBA Association, the National Bar Association, the National Medical Association, Junior League of Washington, the Urban League, D.C. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of State. After graduating with honors from Morris Brown College, she earned her Juris Doctorate degree at Temple University Law Center in Philadelphia. She is the President of the Community Foundation, Girls Inc., and the Girl Scouts. Her most recent awards include the “100 Most Powerful Women Award” by the Washingtonian Magazine (October 2009), the 2008 “Women Who Mean Business Award” by the Washington Business Journal and the “Power 150-People Who Make Things Happen” Award by the Washingtonian Magazine (2007). 

William "Brit" Kirwan
Chancellor, University System of Maryland
Adelphi, MD 

William “Brit” Kirwan is the third chancellor of the University System of Maryland. A widely respected academic leader, he served as president of Ohio State University and the University of Maryland, College Park. He was a faculty member at the University of Maryland for 24 years. Dr. Kirwan is also a nationally recognized authority on critical issues shaping the higher education landscape. He was appointed to serve on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and became co-chair of the commission in May 2007. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation; chairs the College Board's Commission on Access, Admissions, and Success in Higher Education; and is a member of the Business-Higher Education Forum. He is past Chair of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges' (NASULGC) Board of Directors and of the American Council on Education's Board.  He is the current Chair of NASULGC's Committee on Student Learning and Accountability. He was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a member of the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century and chaired the National Research Council's Commission on the Mathematical Sciences in the Year 2000. President Bush appointed Dr. Kirwan to the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Juanita Tamayo Lott
Silver Spring, MD

Juanita Tamayo Lott has lectured and written on demographic changes for over thirty years for both public and scholarly audiences. She retired in 2008 after serving in the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Committee on National Statistics, and the National Academy of Sciences. She is the author of "Filipinos in Washington, D.C.," with Rita Cacas, "Common Destiny: Filipino Identities," and co-editor of "Spotlight on Heterogeneity: The Federal Standards for Racial and Ethnic Classification" with Barry Edmonston and Joshua Goldstein. Other recent articles include “Population Shifts and Demographic Methods” with C. Matthew Snipp, Journal of Official Statistics (March 2009) and “Beyond Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Bias in Education Statistics” with Claudette Bennett for the International Encyclopedia of Education (2010).  She co-founded the first college of Ethnic Studies and the Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University in 1969 and the Filipino Studies Program at the University of Maryland, College Park.  She is included in Outstanding Young Women of America (1979) and the Asian American Almanac (1995). 

David H. Nevins
President, Nevins & Associates
Hunt Valley, MD

David H. Nevins is the founder and president of Nevins & Associates, a “boutique” style marketing and public affairs firm with a national and regional client base. He has also served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Constellation Energy Group, Inc. in Baltimore and was tapped by the CEO of Comcast to head Comcast SportsNet. Other career highlights include serving as a consultant to numerous national corporations, and working in marketing roles at Towson University and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He currently serves on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, the governing board for 13 public universities in Maryland. He has also served in many other community leadership posts, including a 4-year term as the Chairman of Maryland Public Television and regional President of the Jewish National Fund.

Jo-Ann Mayer Orlinsky
Baltimore, MD

Jo-Ann Mayer Orlinsky served in various positions during her 23 years with the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, including Chief Administrator of the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) program and Executive Assistant to the Commissioner of Labor. She is the current Chair of the MOSH Advisory Board. Active politically, she has worked as a staff member of the Democratic National Committee and as Special Assistant to then U.S. Senator Joseph D. Tydings. A former Chair of the Maryland Commission for Women and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Rape and Sexual Offenses, she has also served on the National Boards of WEAL (Women’s Equity Action League) and the American Jewish Congress. She is currently the Chair of Voices of Jewish Women, an email network of more than 150 progressive Jewish women, and is on the boards of the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, the Baltimore Jewish Council, and the Greater Baltimore Chapter of Hadassah.

Rita L. Robinson
Director, Creative Learning Enterprises, Inc.
Clinton, MD

Dr. Rita L. Robinson is Director of Creative Learning Enterprises, Inc., and a retired administrator of Prince George's County Public Schools. She is a licensed professional counselor, educator, and consultant. Her past positions include public school teacher, counselor, pupil personnel worker, vice principal, principal, Director of Pupil Services, Director of the Office of Equity Assurance, and Director of Staff Development. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her outstanding leadership and service in the field of education. Currently, she is an adjunct professor of graduate courses at Bowie State University, and an independent contractor for the Anti-Defamation League.

Deborah R. Rivkin of North Laurel, Maryland, has been with CareFirst since December 2010. She is responsible for state legislative and regulatory activities in Maryland.

Deborah is very familiar with CareFirst’s legislative and regulatory issues, serving as Executive Director and chief lobbyist for the League of Life and Health Insurers of Maryland, Inc., the state trade association for commercial life and health insurers who operate in Maryland, for the past 21 years.
She also has served as retained counsel in Maryland for America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the national association representing nearly 1,300 member companies providing health insurance coverage (including CareFirst). Among her clients was the AMERIGROUP Corporation, a managed care organization specializing in the delivery of service to Medicaid recipients and the Children's Health Insurance program.

Deborah is a graduate of the University of Maryland (B.S., cum laude, 1984) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude, 1987).
Deborah came to CareFirst after serving as Of Counsel to the Baltimore law firm of Funk & Bolton P.A. since 1993, where she concentrated in the firm's Government Relations Practice Area, with particular emphasis on the regulation of the life and health insurance industry. From 1987 to 1989, she was associated with the Baltimore law firm of Piper & Marbury. From 1989 until joining Funk & Bolton, Deborah was associated with the Baltimore law firm of Shapiro & Olander.
Deborah has been active in the community, serving as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce, the only regional chamber in Maryland. She also served on the board of HC Drug-Free, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower the community to raise drug-free teens.
Deborah has been nominated to serve on the Howard county Community College Foundation Board starting this fall. She will also be serving as Chair of Health Care Committee for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce next year.

Carole Sibel  
Lutherville, MD

Carole Sibel has served as the founder and president of FANS (Friends Assisting New Stars) at the Baltimore School for the Arts since 1981. She is also actively involved with THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore as the chair of the board from 2004 – 2006 and the current chair of the Jewish Community Center’s Maccabi Sports/Art Fest. She has been involved with numerous charitable galas, including MPT’s 40th anniversary gala, Elijah Cumming’s Israel Project gala, Lifesongs for AIDS, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Symphony Rocks, and Baltimore Zoo’s Zoomerang, as well as fundraising events for LifeBridge, CollegeBound, Baltimore Opera Company, and the Health Care for the Homeless. In addition to the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center, she serves on the boards of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital, and the Elijah Cumming’s Israel Project. She was named the Association of Fundraising Professionals Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year in 1992 and received the American Jewish Committee’s Hilda K. Blaustein Humanitarian Award in 1997. In both 2003 and 2004, she was named one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women” by The Daily Record, and was inducted into The Daily Record’s Circle of Excellence in 2005. She is included in the book, “Women of Achievement in Maryland History.”

Nancy Lindberg Sloane
Director of Membership, The Center Club
Baltimore, MD  

Nancy Lindberg Sloane is Director of Membership at The Center Club, Baltimore’s premier private business dining club. Previously, she worked at The Daily Record where she spent nearly 20 years as Assistant to the Publisher and Community Relations. In her position at The Daily Record, she co-founded The Daily Record’s highly regarded Maryland’s Top 100 Women award, which recognizes the achievements and community service efforts of professional women throughout Maryland. To date, nearly 900 women have been honored with the distinction of being one of Maryland’s leading women. 

Carolyn B. Stegman  
Faculty, Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD

Dr. Carolyn B. Stegman is author of Women of Achievement in Maryland History, which has been placed in libraries, public schools, and universities throughout the state. Five years in the making, this non-profit  project utilized 100s of volunteers to uncover the missing puzzle pieces and capture the spirit of Maryland’s heroines, often unsung, who have made a difference in our communities, state, and nation. Dr. Stegman has lectured extensively throughout the United States, in Europe, Japan, and Africa. Her column on diversity and interpersonal relationships appeared in The Daily Times for seven years. She is a consultant faculty at Salisbury University, where for many years she taught Psychology of Women and Psychology of Aging, and is currently teaching  Psychology of Death, Dying and Bereavement.

Rhonda J. Tomlinson
CPA, President/CEO of RJ Tomlinson and Associates
Columbia, MD

Rhonda J. Tomlinson, CPA, has over 25 years of experience in corporate accounting operations of government contractors and is currently the President/CEO of RJ Tomlinson and Associates, LLC. She spent three years working with a Big 8 accounting firm in New York and in Washington, D.C. She has an undergraduate degree in mathematics and a MBA in accounting from C.U.N.Y.

Tomlinson was the first African-American chair of the Baltimore/Washington Corridor Chamber (BWCC)’s board of directors and is the founder and co-chair of the BWCC Women in Business Group. Through the Women in Business, she serves as a mentor in the STARS program at the Woodland Job Corps Center, which is a no-cost education and career technical training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that helps young people ages 16 through 24 improve the quality of their lives through career technical and academic training, and she sits on the board of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. Her awards and recognitions include the BBWCC Presidential Award (2005), the BWCC's Small Business of the Year Award (2008), Top 100 MBE (2009) and The Daily Record’s Maryland’s Top 100 Women (2010), and SmartCEO SmartCPA award (2010).

Carmen Delgado Votaw
Bethesda, MD

Carmen Delgado Votaw is a national and international leader in the field of civil rights, particularly promoting equal opportunities for Hispanics and women. She retired as Senior Vice President for Public Policy from the Alliance for Children and Families, a nonprofit organization that serves over 400 agencies that provide services to children and families, at the end of 2006. Her previous job was Director of Public Policy for United Way of America where she served in the Community Impact Service Area linking public policy advocacy to community outcomes. Formerly, she was the Director of Government Relations for the 3.5 million member Girl Scouts of the USA and also served as a member of the National Board of Directors of the Girl Scouts for nine years. She served as chief of staff to U.S. Member of Congress, Jaime B. Fuster of Puerto Rico for six years. Previous positions, both volunteer and staff, include serving as Vice President of Information and Services for Latin America (ISLA, Inc.); President of the Inter American Commission of Women of the Organization of American States; Co-Chair of the National Advisory Committee of Women (presidential appointment); Commissioner on the International Women’s Year Commission (IWY); Federal Programs Specialist, Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C.; and others.

Sue Ward
Upper Marlboro, MD

Sue Ward is the former Secretary of Aging in Prince George’s County. She served as the Director for the Department of Aging in Prince George’s County for nearly 10 years, as well as the Director of the Department of Family Services within Prince George’s County. 

Her compassion and desire to better the quality of life for others has led her to become actively involved in many organizations and councils throughout the State of Maryland.  Her commitments include the Governor's Executive Council, Domiciliary Care Facilities Board, Task Force on Personal Care, Interagency Committee on Aging Services, Task Force on Quality of Care in Nursing Facilities, Subcabinet for Children, Youth, and Families, Oversight Committee on Quality of Care in Nursing Homes, Innovations in Aging Services Advisory Council and the Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness. She is a Board Member of the Maryland Women's Heritage Center.

Kathy Wilmot
Owner, Wilmot Modular Structures, Inc.
White Marsh, MD

Kathy Wilmot is the owner and Vice President of Wilmot Modular Structures, Inc., a supplier of mobile office trailers and a General Contractor specializing in modular construction. She also owns and operates Allender Self Storage in White Marsh, Maryland, and is the founder and Chair of the Maggie’s Light Foundation, which supports families caring for special needs children.  She has served on the Board of Directors for Associated Builders and Contractors and has been involved in many programs promoting the construction industry as a career choice for women and young ladies entering the workforce. She has served on several boards including the Johns Hopkins Corporate Advisory Board and the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center and was named "Woman Entrepreneur of the Year" in 2005 by the Baltimore Business Journal.