Organization ends another successful year of regional initiatives
Doreen Harwood of Leidos and Steve Tiller of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston
The Fort Meade Alliance (FMA) appointed a new president, executive committee and board members to lead the organization’s continuing effort to support Fort Meade and the surrounding region at the FMA’s Annual Meeting and Cocktail Reception on June 14.
Doreen Harwood of Leidos was appointed to a three-year term as FMA President beginning July 1. Harwood replaces current FMA President Steve Tiller of Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. Joe Pacileo of IronNet Cybersecurity was re-elected as Vice President/Treasurer. Northrop Grumman’s Will Metts was elected as Secretary. Anne Arundel Community College’s Dr. Dawn Lindsay and Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp.’s Julie Mussog was also elected to the Executive Committee. They join Executive Committee members Hubert Braithwaite III of Energy Network, Penny Cantwell of Howard Bank and Deon Viergutz of Lockheed Martin.
Three new board members were appointed to the Board: Paul Gentile of ManTech, Diane Gresham of Bridges Consulting and Jen Haverman of Deloitte.
Five board members were re-elected to serve another three-year term: Ken McCreedy, Maryland Department of Commerce; Dr. Maureen McMahon, Anne Arundel County Public Schools; Jenny Smith, Raytheon; Larry Twele, Howard County Economic Development and Anne Wagner, Wavestrike.
“The FMA is in good hands with the addition of the new and returning executive committee members and board of directors,” said Tiller. “I am honored to have served as FMA president and am confident that Doreen and the team of leaders behind her will continue to have an incredible impact on the Fort Meade region.
The FMA would also like to thank retiring Executive Committee and Board members for their dedication to the organization’s mission: Lisa Decker of the Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., Stuart Title of A.J. Properties, Cathy Ward of Corporate Office Properties Trust and Spencer Wilcox formerly of Exelon Corp. Decker will continue to serve as FMA Military & Family Committee Char. Title will continue to serve as FMA Transportation Chair.
The Fort Meade Alliance Board of Directors consists of 23 members, representing a diverse group of industries in the Fort Meade region. The remaining Board is made up of: Dr. Michael Cataldo, Kennedy Krieger Institute; Kevin Crain, University of Maryland Medical System; Bill Dunahoo, Praxis Engineering; David Mazzuca, NTC Mazzuca Contracting, Inc.; John McBeth, Next Century Corporation; Gregory Prossner, Corporate Office Properties Trust and Steve Zotti, Ciena Government Solutions. Steve Tiller and Tim O’Ferrall are Ex-Officio members.
The Annual Meeting also included a recap of another busy and successful year for the Fort Meade Alliance.
Education and workforce development remained a top priority for the organization, which worked together with Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation’s Military Corp Career Connections (C3). The C3 grant provides effective employment and training assistance to military personnel transitioning out of the service. FMA also expanded Project SCOPE to help military personnel and veterans transitioning into the workforce understand the security clearance process. As part of the Department of Defense Education Activity Tapestry Grant, the FMA created a professional development seminar for the administration at the Anne Arundel County public schools that serve Fort Meade to help them better understand the experiences and challenges of a military family.
The FMA Military and Family Committee updated the Resiliency Campus map, which identifies all the current programs and services at Fort Meade. The committee is also developing an information kiosk that will be located in the new Resiliency and Education Center in Kuhn Hall on Fort Meade. This kiosk will have valuable information on services for the military, their families, DoD employees to access on the post and in the greater Fort Meade Region.
This year’s FMA Meade Business Connect (MBC) programs included a sold-out Industry Day on March 27 with panelists from the National Security Agency, Defense Information Systems and U.S. Cyber Command. MBC also off the Understanding Business at Fort Meade Series targeting FMA’s small business members. In addition, the FMA once again partnered with the NSA Office of Small Business Programs to host Business in a Minute, where nearly 900 meetings between 200 small businesses and government and prime hosts were conducted in the span of one day.
The FMA Foundation has committed to raising $3.6 million to establish the Fort Meade Resiliency and Education Center and has almost competed its Ready, Strong and Connected Campaign. To date, more than $3.5 million has been raised. Designed to serve 160,0000 people on post, the center will provide information, programs and services on all five areas of resiliency (physical, emotional, social, family and spiritual) as well as host education courses by several colleges and universities.
About the Fort Meade Alliance
The Fort Meade Alliance is a 501(c) 4 non-profit independent community membership organization created to promote and support Fort George G. Meade, its more than 115 government agencies and organizations and surrounding areas as an economic asset; to promote the well-being of the region with programs that support FGGM priorities; and serve as a resource to help facilitate connections that make a difference. The Fort Meade Alliance is supported by membership dues and through a grant from the Maryland Department of Commerce. For more information, please go to www.ftmeadealliance.org
