Maryland Humanities Council Welcomes Five Leaders to 2015 Board of Directors
The Maryland Humanities Council welcomed five new leaders to its Board of Directors at its recent annual fall retreat on October 17, 2014. New additions include a communications and public relations professional, Chamber of Commerce president, a private equity analyst, a retiree with a business and public policy background, and a recent retiree with extensive library science and humanities programming experience.
Dr. Lenneal Henderson, MHC Board President remarked “We are thrilled to welcome this new mix of superb individuals eager to help MHC make the humanities central to Marylanders’ lives.”
Board members’ primary responsibilities include strategic planning, approving and monitoring the organization’s programs and services, ensuring effective fiscal management, fundraising, selecting and orienting new Board members, allocating grant funds, fundraising, and promoting MHC’s activities. Members serve without pay and are eligible to serve up to three three-year terms.
New Board Members:
Barb Clapp: Founder, President & CEO Clapp Communications
Clapp brings more than 30 years of advertising, marketing, and business development expertise to her award-winning company, which she founded in 2001. The agency grew immediately with the addition of several national accounts including the retail chain Water, Water Everywhere, the healthcare company FutureHealth Corporation, and Comcast Corporation. She serves as the strategic compass for all accounts. Clapp is a graduate of Mercy High School and Loyola University (formerly Loyola College).
Married to Jon Clapp for twenty-nine years, she is the mother of two daughters and spends much of her free time volunteering in the community and serving on several local boards including The Humane Society of the United States 2013, Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, The Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore County Social Services, Top Brass for the Baltimore Symphony, Baltimore County Horse Show Association, Baltimore County Homeless, YWCA of the Greater Baltimore Area, Inc., Maryland SPCA, House of Ruth, Mercy High School, and the Signal 13 Foundation 2014.
Elizabeth Cromwell, President and CEO of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce
Since August 2014, Elizabeth Cromwell is the President and CEO of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. Previously, she worked at Frederick County Public Libraries, where she was responsible for programming, publicity, and corporate partnerships. She also co-founded Frederick’s literary celebration, Frederick Reads. Earlier, she served in global marketing capacities for several dot-com firms including e-commerce pioneer egreetings.com.
She began her career coordinating corporate sponsorships and event management for several professional sports properties across the U.S. Cromwell is a graduate of Tulane University. She currently serves on a variety of boards including the Frederick Reads Committee, the San Francisco Marathon Board of Directors, the Rotary Club of Frederick Board of Directors; and Living Grace Lutheran Church Council.
Dr. Nancy Rogers, retired Humanities Professional
Dr. Rogers, who is recently retired, was the Director of the Division of Public Programs at The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) from 1996 to 2006. This division of the Endowment makes grants for museum and library exhibitions, television and radio documentaries, community-based programs, reading and film discussion programs, and Internet-based humanities programs. During her career at the NEH, she also served as a regional officer in the then-Division of State Programs, working with many state humanities councils on such issues as strategic planning, board development, financial oversight, programmatic initiatives, and a special grant opportunity, called Exemplary Awards, a program that she created and managed. At the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), she served as Senior Project Director for a four-year, multi-faceted initiative on collections care, called “Connecting to Collections: A Call to Action,” and as a special assistant to the director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships. Since retirement, Rogers has consulted with cultural organizations in Washington, DC. Rogers holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in French literature from the George Washington University. She received a year-long Fellowship in Residence Grant at Princeton University and two Independent Study and Research awards from the NEH. She was an Assistant Professor of French and Humanities at Howard University and in American English at the University of Tuebingen in Germany. She also received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Coker College.
Rogers is a specialist on the work of the French novelist George Sand and has published widely on 19th-century French literature; she serves on the editorial board of the academic journal George Sand Studies. She is also the author of two textbooks on style in American English. She served a two-year term as co-chair of the Washington chapter of ArtTable, a national organization for women in the visual arts, and is currently a member of the board of Arden Seminars in Cambridge, MA. She lives on a farm with her husband in Montgomery County, MD, and is currently translating George Sand’s novel Nanon.
Keith Stone, Private Equity Analyst, Brown Advisory
Stone holds a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation. Prior to joining the firm, he attended Loyola University Maryland, receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance, and participated in the study abroad program at the Universidad de Alcalá in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Stone is a member of the Pratt Contemporaries, Emerging Leaders United (United Way of Central Maryland), and the Young Professionals Group (Jhpiego). Stone is also and a member of the Private Alternative Strategies Committee at Brown Advisory.
David W. Wise, Retired CEO
Wise is the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of The Genetics & IVF Institute (GIVF) of Fairfax, Virginia, a mid-size international women’s healthcare company with operations in the United States and China.
His thirty-year business career included fifteen and a half years of C-Level experience as well as heading corporate development (M&A) for BDM International (NASDAQ:BDMI), the first portfolio company of The Carlyle group to go public and to be sold. Mr. Wise was also on the IPO team and co-managed the sale of the company in a $1 billion transaction.
Today he volunteers mentoring companies, primarily in medical technologies, in the greater Baltimore area. He is also a member of the Anne Arundel Minority Business Commission. Wise is active in foreign and national security policy. He is an elected member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London) and a member of the US Navy Strategy Discussion Group. He has published over 70 articles on public policy. He holds a graduate degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and graduated with highest honors from The University of Dayton.
The five new members join the existing 22 members of MHC’s 2015 Board of Directors. They are: Lenneal J. Henderson, Jr. (Chair), Baltimore City; Diedre Badejo, Baltimore City; Elizabeth Cannon (Vice Chair), Garrett County; Rhonda Dallas*, Prince George’s County; Monique Dixon, Baltimore City; Albert Feldstein, Allegany County; Michael S. Glaser; St. Mary’s County; Lauren Dugas Glover*, Prince George’s County; Silvia Golombek (Secretary), Baltimore County; Pete Lesher*, Talbot County (Government Liaison); O.F. Makarah, Prince George’s County; Hilary Miller, Montgomery County; Adrianne Noe, Montgomery County; Dr. Maarten L. Pereboom, Wicomico County; Matt Power, Prince George’s County; Cynthia Raposo, Montgomery County; Thomas B. Riford, Washington County; Heather Sarkissian, Baltimore City; Stephen Sfekas, Baltimore City; Davis Sherman (Treasurer), Baltimore City, Lindsay Thompson, Baltimore City; Yolanda Maria Vazquez*, Howard County.