2024 Main Street Maryland Conference

Secretary of Housing and Community Development since March 2, 2023. Acting Secretary of Housing and Community Development, January 18 to March 2, 2023.
Member, Governor’s Executive Council, 2023-; Commerce Subcabinet, 2023-; Governor’s Subcabinet on Infrastructure, 2023-; Smart Growth Subcabinet, 2023-.

Member, Maryland Affordable Housing Trust, 2023-; Interagency Committee on Aging Services, 2023-; Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Board, 2023-; Behavioral Health Advisory Council, 2023-; Maryland Building Rehabilitation Code Advisory Council, 2023-; State Children’s Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council, 2023-; Interagency Disabilities Board, 2023-; Commission on Environmental Justice and Sustainable Communities, 2023-; Financial Education and Capability Commission, 2023-; Maryland Efficient Grant Application Council, 2023-; Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, 2023-; Maryland Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 2023-; Interagency Council on Homelessness, 2023-; State Coordinating Committee for Human Services Transportation, 2023-; Law Enforcement Coordinating Council, 2023-; Work Group on Low-Income Utility Assistance, 2023-; Council on Open Data, 2023-; Rural Maryland Council, 2023-; Interdepartmental Advisory Committee on Small, Minority, and Women Business Affairs, 2023-; Two-Generation Family Economic Security Commission, 2023-; West North Avenue Development Authority, 2023-.

Member, Climate Change Commission, 2016-18; Local Government Advisory Committee, Chesapeake Bay Program, 2016-23.

President, City Council, Salisbury, 2013-15. Mayor of Salisbury, 2015-23.

Member, Natural Resources Conservation Advisory Committee, Wicomico County, 2009-11; Waterfront 2020 Design Committee, City of Cambridge 2009-12; Board of Housing Adjustments and Appeals, City of Salisbury, 2010-13; Salisbury-Wicomico Planning Commission, 2011-15.

Born in Salisbury, Maryland, July 3, 1982. Attended James M. Bennett High School, Salisbury, Maryland; University of Maryland, College Park, B.S. (architecture), 2004; Carnegie Mellon University, M.A. (urban design & environmental policy), 2007; Oxford University, M.S. (nature, society, & environmental policy), with distinction, 2008. Served in U.S. Army. President, Maryland Municipal League, 2021. Single; two children.

Jessica Fitzwater believes in a Frederick County where everyone can live, work, and thrive – a place where all residents feel a strong sense of belonging. As County Executive, she works every day to make this vision a reality for over 270,000 residents in our community.

Jessica is committed to investing in students, educators, and families. She taught music at Oakdale Elementary School for 17 years, and she held leadership positions in the Frederick County Teachers Association, Maryland State Education Association, and National Education Association. In her first two budgets as County Executive, she made record investments in public education and prioritized school construction and renovation.

Jessica previously served on the Frederick County Council, where she championed bipartisan initiatives to increase access to affordable housing, combat human trafficking, make our community more resilient to climate change, and repeal the County’s English-only Ordinance. When she was first elected, she was one of only two women under the age of 40 serving in county government in the entire state.

Jessica grew up in Smithsburg, is a proud graduate of public schools, and earned degrees from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Hood College. She is a widow and the mother of two children, Jonah and Jane. She lives in the City of Frederick and is a member of Beth Sholom Congregation.

Rodney Foxworth is an executive, entrepreneur, and investor with deep and diverse networks across economic development, impact investing, philanthropy, and venture capital. He’s advised, founded, operated, and funded multiple entrepreneurial endeavors and is currently Partner and Co-Founder of Worthmore, an impact investment studio and strategic advisory.

Prior to Worthmore, Rodney served as CEO of Common Future, a nonprofit social enterprise with a bold vision: Building a future where all people—no matter their race and class—have power, choice, and ownership over the economy. Previously, Rodney was founder and CEO of Invested Impact, a consultancy and intermediary that facilitated millions of dollars in philanthropic and impact investment capital into community economic development projects and social entrepreneurs of color. His expansive career has included roles in philanthropy, private equity, management consulting, and workforce and economic development.

Rodney’s writing has appeared in publications such as Boston Review, Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Stanford Social Innovation Review. A Skoll Awardee for Social Innovation and inaugural Ford Global Fellow, Rodney has been quoted in media such as Christian Science Monitor, Forbes, Inc., MarketWatch, The New York Times, and Vox. He’s spoken at Aspen Ideas Festival, Clinton Global Initiative, National Association of Black Journalists, and other stages, addressing topics such as monopoly power, wealth inequality, and equitable investing.

Rodney serves on the boards of Nonprofit Finance Fund, Race Forward, Rhia Ventures, Rock Health, and SOCAP Global.

Maren is co-owner of The Center . Sound . Mind . Body located in Frederick at 28 E. 6th St. The Center has been open since 2020. Maren Good is also the owner of Scent and Sound Works®, Llc, a company specializing in aromatherapy products. She has studied essential oils for over 20 years. She has been a Certified Practitioner in Acutonics® Sound Healing since 2005; and is a Senior Faculty member with the Acutonics® Institute of Integrative Medicine. She was a Nationally Certified and licensed Massage Therapist for 20 years and is a Nationally Certified Reflexologist; and a certified Aroma Acupoint Practitioner. Maren teaches classes in sound therapy, as well as classes in aromatherapy. Maren has been working in the holistic arts for over 30 years, beginning with a form of energy work called Attunement. Maren combines tuning forks, gongs, singing bowls, essential oils and other sound tools in her private sound therapy sessions and utilizes her Master of Arts in Archetypal Cosmology/Conscious Evolution to create in depth and profound individual therapeutic sessions. In addition to private sessions, she, along with her husband, Michael, offer community gong meditations and “Sound Soaks,” bringing the power of the gongs to the community. Maren and Michael have been offering community gong meditations since 2005 in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and now Maryland.

Mari’s yoga journey began at the age of six, by learning to do handstands against a wall in a small donation-based yoga studio in downtown Portland, Oregon. She continues to invert herself and sometimes even her students in carefully crafted yoga practice. Coming from a dance background, she thoroughly enjoys choreographing classes that flow, allowing students the freedom to express themselves on their mats and honor their bodies. We use poses to get in touch with our bodies, and tap into the internal innate teacher we each have inside of us.
Mari’s first 200-hour Vinyasa yoga teacher training was in New York City in 2011. In 2013, she completed a second 200-hour advanced Hatha teacher training in Chennai, India. Upon her return from India, she began her Pilates mat and reformer certification in 2014. In 2016 she graduated from Maryland University of Integrative Health with a Masters of Science in Yoga Therapy and a 500-hour yoga teacher training, and is a Certified Yoga Therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists(C-IAYT). Her next training was for the CoreAlign and then MoTR in 2019.
Mari has her Masters in Special Ed and currently teaches middle school. She is pursuing her doctorate in Leadership in Education.

Richard Griffin, AICP, CEcD is the Director of Economic Development for the City of Frederick.
In that role oversees four City Departments including the Department of Economic
Development, Downtown Parking Department, Frederick Municipal Airport, and Weinberg
Center for the Arts. Griffin is accredited economic developer and urban planner with over 30
years of experience.
During his 20+-year tenure in Frederick he has overseen major City Projects including the design
and development of award-winning Carroll Creek Park, airport expansion, and parking garage
development along with coordinating complex development projects delivering jobs and tax
base in downtown and commercial corridors. He has worked with many businesses in Frederick
including AstraZeneca, Fort Detrick, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Stulz,
Wilcoxen, Precision For Medicine, and many small mom and pop shops, and minority and
women owned businesses.
Richard has experience working at the city, county, regional, and federal level in Maryland,
Virginia, North and South Carolina and Washington State. He served on the district staff of the
late US Representative James Clarke from the 11th District of NC. He is a US Army veteran
having served as a Cavalry border guard on the East German Border during the cold war and as
a commissioned Armor officer in the NC National Guard and Army Reserves.
Mr. Griffin holds degrees from Western Carolina University and Clemson University. He is the
President of the Board for the Maryland Economic Development Association (MEDA), and
serves on the Boards of the Fort Detrick Alliance, the Frederick Innovative Technology Center,
Inc, and others. He is Rotary Paul Harris Fellow and volunteers as a scout leader and youth
mountain bike race team coach. His wife Lynne is a FCPS teacher and they live, work, and play
in Downtown Frederick.

Haley Lemieux is the Director of the Office of Policy Development at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. In her current role, Haley leads housing policy analysis and formation for the Department. Previously, Haley has served in a variety of roles focused on place-based community development in state and local government across the country, including for the State of New Jersey and the City of San Antonio. Haley earned a Master in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford.

Christiana Limniatis is the Program and Outreach Manager for Preservation Maryland, working to grow and expand dynamic and wide-ranging preservation services across the state. Originally from New York State, Christiana was previously the Director of Preservation Services at Preservation Buffalo Niagara and has also worked as a preservation consultant in Louisiana and Tennessee. In 2011 she completed her coursework towards a MA in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University and has a BA in History/Political Science from The College of Saint Rose.

James McGarvey has been performing improv and theater in the Baltimore/D.C. area since 2005. He is a company member of the Maryland Ensemble Theatre since 2009, performing and instructing improv. He has been a speaker and giving improvisational instruction in the region. As a registered nurse working as clinical instructor for Frederick Community College since 2015, he understands the importance of utilizing the unique skills of improv to effectively communicate and demonstrate to other leaders and students in the professional community.

Christine McPherson serves as the Assistant Director of the Community and Economic Development Partnership Team and the State Coordinator of the Main Street Maryland Program at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) . In this role, she works collaboratively with local governments and nonprofit organizations across the state to provide technical assistance, program support, and professional development.
With over a decade of experience in the Main Street field, Christine brings a wealth of expertise in place-based economic development, small business support, and nonprofit leadership. Prior to her work in downtown revitalization, Christine spent five years in community development, including a dedicated service as an AmeriCorps member.

Mary Means is best known for leading the team that created the National Main Street Center, now known as Main Street America. She is the author of Main Street’s Comeback and How It Can Come Back Again, published in 2021 in the height of the pandemic that overnight changed everything for small businesses.

Main Street America is a network of 44 states and more than 1600 communities with active Main Street organizations that actively assure vitality of their town centers. Frederick and Ellensburg MD are two nearby Main Street communities.

Mary was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design. For 30+ years her small but mighty planning firm helped communities and other public interest organizations create strategic plans with wide public support, sparking momentum that overcame inertia. Her work has been honored by the American Planning Association with its 2018 Planning Pioneer Award, and by the National Trust for Historic Preservation with the 2020 Crowninshield Award, the highest honor in historic preservation.

2019 APA Awards Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70TyrwSgYbc

Q&A video: https://youtu.be/96tDClt3a8c

Kara has served as the Executive Director of Downtown Frederick Partnership since October 2002. The Partnership is a historic preservation based economic development nonprofit that works to enhance, promote and preserve the vitality, livability and diversity of Downtown Frederick. Prior to joining the Partnership, Kara spent 5 years in San Antonio working as a neighborhood planner and a special projects coordinator. Kara also has worked in North Carolina, Iowa and Missouri. She has a bachelors from Iowa State University and a masters in planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kara has more than 25 years of experience in the planning field, working for nonprofits, government agencies and consultants.

Early Life & Education
Michael O’Connor was born in Frederick. He graduated from Saint John’s at Prospect Hall High School (now Saint John’s Catholic Prep) in 1984, and Saint Bonaventure University, with a double major in history and mass communication, in 1988.

Employment
Michael spent nearly 20 years in local media as a reporter, news director, talk show host, senior producer, and moderator with WJEJ, Hagerstown (1988 to 1989), WFMD-WFRE, Frederick (1989 to 1997), and Comcast (Adelphia, GS Communications) Cable Channel 10, Frederick (1997 to 2006). Prior to becoming Mayor in 2017, Michael served as the business manager at Saint Katharine Drexel Roman Catholic Congregation in Frederick. He also spent nine years as adjunct faculty at Frederick Community College (2000 to 2009).

Community Services
Michael was first elected to the Board of Alderman, in 2009, and re-elected in 2013. He has been the chair of the Streets and Sanitation Committee, and the aldermanic liaison to the: Airport Commission, Celebrate Frederick and Delaplaine Visual Arts, Center Boards, Historic Preservation Commission, and the Parks and Recreation Commission. He also represented the Alderman on the Blight and Vacant Property Task Force.

Board Membership
Michael is a member of the Community Action Agency and Tourism Council Boards, the Maryland Municipal League Board of Directors and Legislative Committee, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors.

Volunteer
In the community, he has been a volunteer with various organizations including: Aspire Frederick, The Frederick County Workforce Development Board, Frederick Jaycees, Friends of Catholic Education, Knights of Columbus, Saint John’s Catholic Prep, Saint Katharine Drexel

Personal Life
Michael resides in Neighborhood Advisory Council 6 with wife, Tammy, their two daughters, and two dogs.

Manuel T. Ochoa is Principal and Founder of the Ochoa Urban Collaborative, a planning, community and economic development firm with an equity lens that provides strategy, policy, and implementation services to help people, neighborhoods, and communities revitalize and thrive. Manuel has worked around the country on issues of gentrification and displacement, disaster recovery, and housing policy. With 30 years of experience, Manuel brings a unique mix of experience in both the non-profit and government sectors. Manuel served as a senior official at the US HUD for seven years. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Ilana is the Founder of Recast City, and author of Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing (Island Press, 2021). Preuss works with local leaders, real estate developers, city and other civic leaders to integrate space for small-scale producers into redevelopment projects and place-based economic development through its premier program, Recast Leaders. She is passionate about making great places and sees that small-scale manufacturers are a missing piece to local success. Ms. Preuss is a TEDx speaker with, “The Economic Power of Great Places,” and gives keynote speeches nationally at planning, main street, and downtown conferences.

Jess Rimington is a leading voice in the next-economy movement. With two decades of experience as a small-business practitioner and organizational strategist, she advises organizations and businesses in efforts to transform their work practices to be in alignment with an inclusive economy. Her practice is informed by her experience leading three nonprofit organizations and a small business, place-based activism for economic justice, and advising philanthropy to direct capital toward enterprises and groups building a more just economy. Jess served as a visiting scholar at Stanford University’s Global Projects Center and, most recently, co-director of the Beloved Economies research initiative, learning alongside more than sixty organizations and companies that were boldly breaking out of business as usual and generating forms of success that audaciously prioritized well-being, meaning, connection, and resilience. Based on this research, Jess co-authored Beloved Economies: Transforming How We Work (Aug 2022), named the Management & Workplace Culture Book of the Year by Porchlight Business Book Awards. Currently, she is co-lead of a national collaborative of 13 organizations at the forefront of shifting work culture that will launch a shared media and communications project in January 2025.

Laura Stark is an improvisation instructor, performer, and trainer with over 25 years experience. She has performed on stage in Washington DC, New York City, and throughout the United States. She has been an improvisation instructor for over 20 years, with regular classes at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick, and Frederick Community College. She has taught seminars for Frederick county Public schools, Montgomery County Parks and Recreation, the Maryland Office of Defenders, and in retirement communities and private companies throughout Maryland and the United States. Laura believes the improvisational concept of “Yes, And” can allow people to be a better listener, a better communicator, and a better leader.

I have been playing trumpet since I was seven years old and boy are my lips tired.But seriously folks.. A multi instrumentalist, post production audio engineer and music producer and composer for jazz/rock records, dozens of children’s songs, and television themes I have been doing it all for a long time.

After graduating Dartmouth College and studying production and electronic music at the Bregman Electronic Studio where I insisted on putting a pitch bend knob on the newly invented and first of its kind digital synthesizer and sampler called the Synclavier, I began my professional career by building my own studio for music production and innovation. Needing some extra cash one summer I found myself cutting dialogue (yes with a real razor blade) for the original Thundercats Cartoon. This led to a long stint at Howard Schwartz Recording, an advertising based studio in NYC which then led to building an audio post production facility for Broadway Video and Lorne Michaels. There I, along with my new partners, mixed thousands of commercials, promos, SNL skits,TV shows and more. After leaving Broadway Sound, we created a studio of our own in Midtown NYC where we continue our creative and business journey together.

In 2019 Maren and I moved to Frederick. I used all my accumulated studio building know-how to create an amazing space here for Maren and Mari’s Center . Sound . Mind . Body. There 20 gongs, along with singing bowls, chimes,frame drums and much more, occupy a virtually soundproof and acoustically specific space creating the perfect environment for performances and uses of all types.

All this and I still have some time to play tennis a few times a week!

KIKI WILSON is here to make a difference. As the CEO of OUT40, Frederick urban media that highlights the arts, the streets and the people of Frederick, our mission is to build a regional platform that broadcasts the artistry, life, and legacy of underrepresented communities in our city. OUT40 is the first local media outlet that houses art, entertainment, news, and storytelling through the POC lens. She is a local pioneer and passionate supporter of culture and community – currently serving on the Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s Board of Directors, the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, the City of Frederick’s Public Art Commission, Needle’s Eye Academy Advisory Board, RISE Coalition Advisory Committee, the Community Foundation of Frederick County’s Grants Committee, and a member of the International Association of Professional Writers & Editors.