Board of Directors

MDCEP is seeking individuals interested in serving on our Board of Directors. Learn more about board member responsibilities and the benefits of board service. 

Officers

Chair – Colin Richard

Colin C. Richard’s career has focused on understanding business and policy issues arising from innovation. He is an advocate for inclusive economies and regularly writes on issues of policy and emerging technologies.

Colin is Sr. Associate General Counsel at a financial technology company. He has previously been the General Counsel of a technology company and was in private practice for nine years, advising fintech companies and other financial institutions on strategic, regulatory, and transactional matters.

Colin studied political science at the University of California, Berkeley and law at Georgetown, and then was a Fulbright Fellow researching business and policy efforts to increase financial inclusion. He was later a Fellow with New Leaders Council’s Maryland chapter.

Colin lives in Montgomery County, Maryland with his wife and their four children.

Vice Chair – Brandon T. Jones

Brandon T. Jones is the Chief Information Officer of WAEPA.  Mr. Jones is responsible for executing existing and developing new technology strategies for WAEPA as well as ensuring the security of regulated and unregulated data of WAEPA members and WAEPA corporate systems handling PHI and PII.  He has over 18 years in Business Management, Cybersecurity, Strategy and Information Technology across the DoD, Commercial and Non-Profit sectors.

Mr. Jones has published various technology articles and holds a B.A. in Computer Science from the St. Mary’s College of Maryland and is a certified Project Management Professional and SCRUM Master.

Secretary – Kevin McHugh

Kevin is an experienced healthcare consultant working in the privatized Medicare arena. A New Englander at heart (Go Pats!), Kevin lives in Frederick, Maryland, with his wife, son, and temperamental cat. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and Policy from American University, and serves on the board of the Maryland Philanthropy Network, where he Co-Chairs the Policy Committee, as well as the Helen J. Serini Foundation.

Treasurer – Nikia Sankofa

Nikia Sankofa is Executive Director of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee. Focusing mainly on reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, Nikia’s public health work encompasses a broad range of functions, including, multi-site project management and team leadership; program design, monitoring and evaluation; data management and analysis; advocacy; and delivery of training and technical assistance.

As the director of an infant mortality reduction initiative in Baltimore City, Nikia oversaw the provision of intensive case management services consisting of recruitment, home-visiting, and parenting education to improve the health and wellness of women and families. Most recently, Nikia served as Project Director for breastfeeding at the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

She received her Bachelors of Science in Chemistry at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania. She later matriculated through the Master of Public Affairs program at Indiana University, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where she concentrated on Environmental Policy. Nikia also has a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she concentrated in Women’s Reproductive Health and earned certificates in Health Disparities and Health Communication.

General Board Members

Sable D. Frazier

Sable Frazier is from Upper Marlboro, MD. Her passion is to advance the African American community through education, political empowerment and strategy. Currently, she is a Senior Account Manager for a political consulting firm in Washington, DC managing clients across the country with strategic outreach. Most recently, she worked with a Capitol Hill consulting firm assisting with fundraising and strategic planning of events for high-profile political and corporate clients. She has volunteered and interned with various gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns. She is, also, the Founder of Political Brew, a platform created to educate youth and millennial African Americans on the importance of being politically empowered. Sable has appeared on ABC 7/CH.8News as a political commentator and advocate on behalf of African American millennials. She has hosted and has been featured as a panelist for multiple community outreach events that are geared to bringing political awareness to the African American community. Sable graduated from the illustrious Morgan State University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Psychology.

 

Alana R. Glover

Alana R. Glover is currently an Associate at Jackson Lewis PC. Her practice is concentrated on labor and employment matters.  Prior to entering private practice, Alana gained experience as a law clerk for the Hon. Andrea M. Leahy at the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, drafting opinions based on an array of legal matters, from administrative appeals to complex civil and criminal matters.

During law school, Alana served as an intern for the Hon. Paul W. Grimm and the Hon. Paula Xinis in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. She also participated in the Thurgood Marshall Clerkship Program at the Maryland Office of the Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division, where she worked as a mediator operating in direct contact with consumers, businesses, medical providers, and insurance companies to settle disputes. In addition to her civil background, she gained criminal experience as a student attorney for the University of Baltimore School of Law Innocence Project Clinic.

Before attending law school, Alana graduated with honors from Virginia Commonwealth University majoring in criminal justice and African American studies with minors in Political Science and Homeland Security.

Alejandro Gutierrez 

Alejandro is an Admin and Onboarding Specialist and a business mentor with Baltripeneurs Accelerator. He is also the CMO and co-founder of Shareable Innovations and CACEROLA Growth Marketing. He is a Pennsylvania native, and currently resides in Baltimore. He has a Psychology degree from Loyola University-MD and a Masters in Organization Development and Change from Penn State University. He has a passion for data-driven social and organizational change to make things work better for all of us. His hobbies include travel, good food, health and nutrition, and copious amounts of soccer, snowboarding, and coffee. He has a particular interest in small businesses, culture change, and DEI at larger organizations.

 

Natasha Ramberg

Natasha has over 20 years of Public Health experience in nonprofit, governmental, and community-based programs. She is the Director of Business Operations for Accent Care Hospice and Palliative Care of Maryland.  

She has served as the Branch Director for AARP Foundation’s Experience Corps Baltimore program. the Chief of Community Services for the Baltimore City Health Department’s Division of Aging Services, the Montgomery County Infants and Toddlers Program Director, and the Community Program Officer for the city-wide implementation of the B’more for Healthy Babies (BHB) initiative. 

She serves as Board Chair for Community Advocates 4 You (CAFY), Board Chair of Banner Neighborhoods. She is a board member for Bridges to Housing Stability, Maryland Center on Economic Policy (MDCEP), and the Memory and Aging Community Advisory Board (MACAB).

She received her MSW from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and her BA in Early Childhood Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership at Creighton University. She is the proud mom of two (Alyssa and James) and resides in Odenton, Maryland.