Our Staff & Board

Meet the dynamic group of people responsible for championing the humanities throughout Maryland!

Our Staff

Claudia Allen (she/her)
Director of Advancement
(410) 618-5633
callen[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Isabella Altherr (she/her)
Program Coordinator
History
(410) 685-0452
ialtherr[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Lindsey Baker (she/her)
Chief Executive Officer
(410) 699-3130
lbaker[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Ellie Benedict (she/her)
Development Specialist
(410) 618-5725
ebenedict[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Stephanie Boyle (she/her)
Program Officer
History
(410) 685-4185
sboyle[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Alexandra Cenatus
(she/her/ella/elle/li)
Director of Programs
(410) 618-0753
acenatus[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Aditya Desai (he/him)
Program Officer
Literature
(410) 618-3769
adesai[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Eden Etzel (she/her)
Program Assistant
Maryland Center for the Book
(410) 685-3715
eetzel[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Robert Forloney (he/him)
Program Officer
Partnerships
(410) 541-7612
rforloney[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Lia Özizmirli (she/her)
Maryland History Day Outreach & Professional Development Coordinator
(410) 618-5429
latanat[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Emily Ross (she/her)
Program Officer, Grants
(410) 618-5017
eross[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Camilla Sandoval (she/her)
Program Coordinator
Grants & Community Engagement
(410) 762-8663
csandoval[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Emmie Schulz (she/her)
Maryland History Day Outreach & Professional Development Assistant
(410) 618-5709
emiliam[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Savannah Imani Wade (they/she)
Grants Specialist
(410) 685-1653
siwade[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Sarah Weissman (she/her)
Communications Specialist
(410) 618-5893
sweissman[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Lou Williams (they/she)
Operations Manager
(410) 564-1548
lwilliams[at]mdhumanities[dot]org

Our Board

Alicia Jones McLeod
Chair
Baltimore County

Chanel Johnson
Governance Committee Chair and Vice Chair 
Baltimore City

Ronald (Ron) H. Nowaczyk
Finance Committee Chair and Incoming Board Chair
Allegany County

Carmel Roques
Secretary
Howard County

Julia (Julie) Madden*
Government Liaison
Howard County

Mary Hastler
Harford County

Rahne Alexander, a middle-white woman with glasses and light hair, smiles. She wears a dark blue dress or shirt with white tigers on it and red lipstick. She is in front of a wall that has a combination of letters and numbers but no distinct words are apparent.

Rahne Alexander
Baltimore City

Alejandra Balcázarzar, a young or middle-aged light-skinned Latine woman, in a professional or classroom building on a college campus. She smiles and has long brown hair, wears a navy and light blue striped blouse, and navy slacks.

Alejandra Balcazar
Baltimore County

Kendra Brown
Prince George’s County

Mollie Caplis
Baltimore County

Dr. Brian Casemore, a middle-aged white man, stands outside in front of a fence with trees in the backyard and smiles. He wears a checked button-down shirt and a navy blue blazer.

Brian Casemore
Montgomery County

Tahira Christmon
Howard County

Jill Ferris
Talbot County

Dr. Kara French, a young or middle-aged white woman with dark red or brown curly hair, smiles in front of her bookshelf. She wears a cream-colored blouse with embroidery on top, and hoop earrings.

Kara French
Wicomico County

Veronica Gallardo, a young or middle-aged Latine woman with curly brown hair, poses by standing in front of her green door to a brown house. She subtly smiles and wears a white suit and light blue blouse.

Veronica Gallardo
Prince George’s County

Rachael Gibson
Programs Committee Chair
Montgomery County

Ruth Kim, a young or middle-aged Korean or Korean American woman, smiles in front of a solid gray photo backdrop. She wears a dressy tan jacket, dark grey top, and drop necklace.

Ruth Kim
Montgomery County

Shauna Knox
Montgomery County

Soo Koo
Montgomery County

Kimberly R. Moffitt
Grants Committee Chair
Baltimore County

Jeanne Pirtle
St. Mary’s County

Christian Pulley
Prince George’s County

Tamar Sarnoff
Baltimore City

Jennifer Shea
Talbot County

Saima Sitwat
Development and Communications Committee Chair
Baltimore City

Guffrie M. Smith, Jr.
Calvert County

Marshall F. Stevenson, Jr.
Somerset County

Allyson Black Woodson
Anne Arundel County

*Gubernatorial appointee

Are you or is someone you know passionate about the humanities and lifelong learning and have an interest in volunteer service? Consider nominating yourself or them to our Board of Directors.

FIND OUT MORE

  • “The enthusiasm, and preparedness of your students was impressive. I have spoken about them at different forums, as the leaders of a new generation of Americans, who will study the past, so, not to repeat the mistakes.”

    ​Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, veteran participant

  • “For the second year, my students are demonstrating an enthusiasm and effort that surpasses what they usually display. I know this is due to the wonderful opportunity you provide – a chance to write to their favorite author. Authentic communication truly inspires my students! … I am confident that this will become a significant memory in my students’ sixth grade experience. How wonderful that it should promote the beauty and the strength of the written word.”

    Letters About Literature teacher

  • “MHD illustrated the applicability of the study of history to contemporary issues and current events. It was very motivating to converse with the students about their historical topic and observe how they applied it to current events and their own life circumstances.”

    ​Maryland History Day parent

  • “[In Veterans Book Group,] I considered other perspectives both of other service members and others who did not serve.”

    Veterans Book Group participant

  • I thought the interview was gonna be boring but since it happened I had a lot of fun learning about my veteran’s experiences.

    Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, student participant

  • “Although “Fences” are down, the reverberations of our initiative are still resonating. The web of collaboration is clearly active. Many “reached across the fence.” Our community is all the stronger for it. The exhibition boasts the largest attendance of any seven week display on campus with a visitor count of over 1,050. Add to that the rich programming amounting to over 25 events which saw attendance again well over 1,000 participants. What is remarkable is the cross section of interest groups and individuals who attended from the three-county area of southern Maryland and beyond. In essence, the rich mosaic that formed attracted a broad range of people and opened a rare exchange of ideas. We witnessed epiphanies!”

    ​Mary Braun ~ Director of the Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD Host Site, Museum on Main Street

  • “This oral history experience was amazing. I learned so much and will never forget this. I LOVED IT, I was super skeptical at first. I felt like we had a lack of planning but I think everything went so great.”

    ​Standing Together: Veterans Oral History Project, student participant

  • “My participation continuance with the program comes from the great cohesiveness of our group […] everyone’s ideas and work philosophies teach me something new about how to handle my work and my own life.”

    Literature & Medicine participant

  • “We had a great experience working with Maryland Humanities. Your team was very hands on, provided clear guidelines and seemed glad to assist us throughout our process. Thank you so much for the support we received to carry out our event and do much needed social justice work in our city.”

    New Lens, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee

  • “It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project. The grant was crucial to the success of the project, and instrumental in bringing the poet (and 2016 MacArthur Fellow) Claudia Rankine to our campus. As the author of “Citizen: An America Lyric,” Rankine’s powerful reading and discussion of her work provided the anchor for our programming about public education and the role it plays in shaping the political citizen… (Maryland Humanities staff) were a constant source of encouragement and support–and we are proud to have been one of the projects that it recognized this year.”

    Dr. Kimberly Coles ~ Chair, Education and Citizenship Project Committee, University of Maryland College Park

  • “We have truly enjoyed every funding experience with Maryland Humanities – mostly because it feels like a collaborative relationship. The staff at (Maryland Humanities) is very helpful when preparing grant proposals and reports, and we love seeing (Maryland Humanities) administrators attending our performances and other programming.”

    Center Stage, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee, Baltimore City

  • “I had never done anything like this before so it was a totally new experience to write a paper, be interviewed, and defend my positions. I now really know how to do research and it has improved my writing skills.”

    ​Maryland History Day 2015 Student

  • “[One Maryland One Book] is wonderful; enlightening, explorative, innovative, [and] educational.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “Funding from the Maryland Humanities to distribute our first publication allowed Wide Angle Youth Media to expand our reach and share youth voice in a way we have never done before. With your support, this project has not only been successful in programmatic outcomes, but has inspired and empowered young people, giving them the platform to become published artists and share their voices in our city and beyond.”

    Wide Angle Youth Media, Humanities Fund for Baltimore grantee, Baltimore City

  • “[My son] became a real expert in his topic and, he says, developed a life-long love of history, especially the history of music. I cannot thank you enough for this rare and incredible opportunity.”

    Andrea LeWinter, parent of Maryland History Day participant
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