2025 Main Street Maryland Conference

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

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.

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.

Erin Barnes is a leader at the intersection of civic technology, community organizing, place, and inclusion. For 15 years, Erin was CEO of ioby, an organization she cofounded, designed to mobilize neighbors who have good ideas to become powerful civic leaders who plan, fund, and make positive change in their own neighborhoods.

Prior to co-founding ioby in 2008, Erin was an environmental writer with a background in water management. From 2007 – 2008, she was the environmental editor at Men’s Journal magazine, was a freelance writer on climate change and other environmental issues, and was a contributor to Al Gore’s book Our Choice. From 2003 – 2005, she worked as a community organizer and public information officer at the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition in Portland, Oregon.