Program Development Committee

Ms. Brown is the Director of Maryland Small Business Programs and State Director of the Maryland Small Business Development Center Network (SBDC). As the Director, she oversees multiple federal programs hosted at the University of Maryland, including APEX Accelerators, Mid-Atlantic Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC), and the Maryland Business Opportunities Center (MBOC), a program that was developed under her leadership. In her primary role, she provides leadership to the Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) which is a statewide program that is comprised of more than 22 locations. The SBDC is a partnership between the University of Maryland, College Park, and the U.S. Small Business Administration to facilitate management training and technical assistance to Maryland’s small businesses. In the last 3 years, Ms. Brown has been instrumental in raising an additional $10 million to be spent over a 5-year period.

Ms. Brown joined the Maryland SBDC in 1998 as a program coordinator. She was later promoted to the Deputy Director position, where she was responsible for overseeing the Network’s operations for 20 years. In 2023, Ms. Brown was promoted to her current position. Some of her accomplishments over the years include the development and evaluation of policies, procedures, and program initiatives for the Network. Ms. Brown led the Maryland SBDC Network to prepare the ASBDC Accreditation self-study and implement organizational improvements, which resulted in accreditation without conditions. She developed a desk reference guide for the Maryland SBDC, which codified the organization’s procedures. As the Deputy Director, Ms. Brown led the annual proposal preparation and submission for a $4+ million funding package. Ms. Brown coached a specialty consulting team through the challenges of achieving results in Baltimore City after the unrest. She negotiated annual goals and objectives with agency officials in a climate of changing priorities. Ms. Brown is active on America’s SBDC Accreditation Committee, where she and other State and Associate Directors conduct peer reviews of SBDC programs nationwide. The accreditation process, funded by the U S Small Business Administration and based on Baldrige standards of excellence, drives continuous improvement for SBDC programs nationwide.

Before joining the SBDC, Ms. Brown practiced law at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia, PA, assisting low-income individuals with issues ranging from family law to Supplemental Security appeals and bankruptcy. While in business school, she began her pursuit of entrepreneurship development through the Urban Business Assistance Corporation by providing technical assistance to small businesses in New York City. Upon earning her M.B.A, Ms. Brown worked with Syndicated Communications, a venture capital firm that targets minority-owned media communications companies, and Media Communications Group, a specialty-lending group affiliated with Signet Bank as an Investment Analyst.

Ms. Brown received her B.A. in English, cum laude, from Howard University, her J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her M.B.A. in Finance from New York University.

Lora Brown joined Prince George’s Community College as an adjunct professor in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department at Prince George’s Community College in Fall 2021.

Lora Brown participates in various civic groups in Prince George’s County and the Washington, DC, area where she currently resides. Ms. Brown is a very active member of her church, where she serves on the Trustee Board, and she is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

On a rainy spring day on the campus of West Virginia University, after a year of watching a commercial construction project rise from the ground, I realized I needed to build something. At the time, I couldn’t guess how the desire would translate into a career. After sixteen years of experience in economic development at the state and local government level, I am grateful to have mapped a course that has allowed me to share in the community growth that comes from a strong, engaged and diverse local economy. I bring the knowledge and perspective from my time at the Jefferson County Development Authority and the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development to my current role with the St. Mary’s County Department of Economic Development. I am thrilled to be a part of a professional, smart and fun team.

If you are looking for me outside of normal business hours, I’ll be on the St. Mary’s River, eating a stuffed ham eggroll at Chief’s or reading a book on the front porch.

As TEDCO’s Chief Development & Marketing Officer, Tammi Thomas is responsible for the overall strategic direction, execution and management of TEDCO’s marketing and fundraising strategies. Her leadership is instrumental towards the organization’s success in identifying, investing in, and growing Maryland-based technology and life science-based start-ups. Tammi is an award-winning communicator with more than 30 years of experience in marketing, technology, economic development, higher education, and entrepreneurship. Among other awards, she recently received the Distinguished Women Award from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland (2024) and was named one of I-95 Business’ Influential Women (2025).

She serves on the World Trade Center Institute’s CEO Council, Maryland Momentum Fund Advisory Board and President of MEDA’s Board of Directors.

Tammi earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Alabama State University and an MBA from the University of Baltimore. She takes great pride in her daughter, Sydney, who’s a nuclear engineer serving on a guided missile submarine. Go Navy!

Lara Fritts is a certified economic developer with over 25 years of experience in economic development, community development and management. Her experience spans city and regional levels in both public and private sectors assisting companies to execute their location strategies or development projects while helping communities achieve their goals. She has an expertise in building economic development organizations for elected officials having started six public-private partnerships/departments.

Lara has an extensive career, having held positions in Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, and Utah. Currently, she serves as the Division Director of the Frederick County Maryland Division of Economic Opportunity which oversees economic development as well as the Frederick County Workforce Services. Prior to her role in Frederick County – Lara was the only women leading a publicly traded micro-cap real estate company trading on the OTC Markets. There she stabilized the company by securing over $12M of affordable housing assets, reducing debt and teeing up the next acquisitions which would bring additional cash-flow to the company.

Her economic development experience is expansive, and a career highlight was serving as the Director of Salt Lake City’s Department of Economic Development (SLC DED) she was the architect of developing an economic development department where she oversaw three divisions – Business Development, the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City and the Salt Lake City Arts Council. In three years, she worked to bring more than 30 new companies to Salt Lake City including UPS, Amazon, Stadler Rail, and others totaling over 9,000 jobs and nearly a billion dollars in capital investment. With her team she helped to deploy over $44 million into an affordable housing strategy creating over 3500 units throughout the city.

Known as a community vitality champion she has strengths in economic recovery, affordable housing, strategic planning, tax credits and incentives, and organizational development. She is sought-after speaker and consultant on real estate, community revitalization, and economic development finance. Lara gives back to the economic development profession by volunteering, mentoring, and advocating economic development topics.

Lara holds a master’s degree in urban studies from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and a bachelor’s degree in regional analysis from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. She is the recipient of Consultant Connect’s Top 50 Economic Developers in 2019 and was named a Fellow Member of the International Economic Development Council in 2020 which honors economic development professionals for attaining unusual stature in their field and closely related disciplines

Julia Glanz is the Assistant Secretary for Strategic Initiatives at Maryland’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Glanz is responsible for shaping new initiatives to achieve the policy objectives of Governor Wes Moore’s administration and the operations goals of department Secretary Jake Day. Prior to joining DHCD, Glanz served as the City Administrator for the City of Salisbury, managing day-to-day operations across all the city’s departments since December 2016. She was the youngest, and first female to hold the City Administrator post. She also served as Acting Mayor and led Salisbury forward through challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustices.

A native New Yorker, Glanz moved to Salisbury in 2007 to study at Salisbury University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and Political Science (2011) and a Master’s Degree in Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution (2013). Glanz has been a proud resident of the City of Salisbury for the last 16 years, but is moving to Greenbelt, Maryland this summer with her wife, Lindsey, and their four legged children.

With over 20 years of expertise across municipal, county, and state economic development, Heather holds a wealth of knowledge in transforming communities.

Heather’s career spans a range of economic development focuses, from business and community development to downtown revitalization. After graduating from Hood College with her B.A. in Business Administration, she started her career in economic development, working with the City of Frederick Department of Economic Development. She then transitioned to the Maryland Department of Commerce as Director of Regional Growth and Retention before returning to Frederick in 2017 to serve the Frederick County Office of Economic Development as Deputy Director.

Most recently, Heather served as the Assistant Secretary of Business and Industry Sector Development with the Maryland Department of Commerce.

In this role, Heather oversaw all aspects of the state’s business development efforts, including domestic and international business attraction and in-state business retention and expansion efforts; strategic industry sector development; economic development finance programs; and the agency’s advocacy and support for military and federal assets in the state.

Continuing her dedication to economic development, she became a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) in 2007 and is a graduate of the Leadership Frederick County (2011) and Leadership Maryland (2017) programs.

In 2012, Heather received the Leading Women Award from the Maryland Daily Record, which honors women under forty for outstanding career achievements. Recipients are chosen based on their professional experience, community involvement, and dedication to inspiring change.

Heather was honored by the Development Counsellors International (DCI) 40 Under 40 Awards in 2015, which celebrate the top forty economic development professionals under forty who show exceptional leadership, dedication, and innovation in their work every day.

Sarah Horta is Director of Innovation & Strategic Partnerships at Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO). She is responsible for fostering intentional relationships throughout the State and managing programs that will support growth in infrastructure, economic development, and innovation.

Sarah served as Manager of the bwtech@UMBC Cybersecurity Incubator while in graduate school. bwtech@UMBC houses 131 companies and organizations that employ nearly 1,900 people and have generated $700M in labor income and business sales. While at bwtech@UMBC she assisted in the growth of the CYNC Program, a partnership between Northrop Grumman and bwtech@UMBC, which provided enhanced technology oversight, program milestone development and integrated support with Northrop Grumman technology resources.

Sarah transitioned to Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation where she acted as Business Development Director, continuing to foster growth and offer support to IT/cyber companies in Anne Arundel County. She managed the Arundel Defense Tech Toolbox, which offered services to support entrepreneurs developing solutions in the national security space.

Sarah received both her B.A. in Political Science and M.P.S. in Cybersecurity from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). She then went on to obtain her MCFE after completing the Digital Forensics Certificate Program at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC). Sarah is currently studying and looking to receive additional cyber certifications as well as her PMP in early to mid-2023.

Sarah played for the Division 1 Women’s Soccer Program while at UMBC and is from Fenwick Island, Delaware. She lives in Maryland her husband and son and spends her free time perfecting her golf game and watching Arsenal.

Sharon Markley Schreiber serves as the Executive Director for the
Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT). With nearly
two decades serving in executive roles in education, economic and
workforce development, Schreiber provides strategic leadership for
the statewide nonprofit focused on enhancing businesses’
relationship in advancing Maryland’s workforce development and K-
12 education initiatives.
With experience working in state government, private industry and
education, Schreiber combines her skills to elevate the need for
industry to partner with schools in strengthening students’ access to
college and career pathways while building a robust pipeline of
future-ready talent for Maryland’s employers.
Schreiber holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from
Notre Dame of Maryland University. She also holds an executive
certificate from the Harvard Management and Leadership in
Education (MLE) graduate program.

As Director of the UMB Baltimore Fund, Mary engages a host of regional contacts and companies to promote and administer the program as well as support USM in the Baltimore region. The Baltimore Fund is a financial incentive for companies affiliated with University System of Maryland to relocate and expand operations in Baltimore City, including the BioPark and with other USM facilities and collaborative spaces. Additionally, Mary provides outreach and programming to support the innovation community including managing Anchor Ventures and as a member of the MIPS Review Board and TEDCO’s MII Board. Mary has been fostering economic development and technology innovation across the State of Maryland for over 20 years at the State, regional and local level.

I’ve had various roles in Economic Development since 2005. From my ten years at the Baltimore Development Corporation, several years heading up the rural Cecil County Office of Economic Development, and the past two years in suburban Howard County, I have a wealth of experiences across nearly all industries.

Yanina’s role at LEDC is to help guide clients and small businesses through the loan application process. She assists clients with underwriting small business loan transactions, including business plan reviewing, financial and credit analysis, and recommending memos for review and approval. Prior to LEDC, she worked as a universal banker at BB&T. Yanina brings leadership and marketing experience to the role through her work at the Archbishop Borders School and Univision. Yanina has a wealth of professional skills from her time working in Peru, where she served as a director of communications, journalist, and key account manager. She is highly motivated and results-oriented in sales, marketing, and public relations roles. She strives to maintain the best customer service practices through her strong background in analyzing client issues, successfully negotiating solutions, and building exceptional internal and external relationships that consistently achieve LEDC´s objectives. Her hobbies include running, biking, boxing, traveling, cooking, and reading with a nice glass of wine.

Stephen Rice serves as the Economic Development Manager for the City of Annapolis, Maryland. In this role, Stephen co-leads the Community and Economic Development Division within the Department of Planning and Zoning. He manages economic development projects, facilitates revitalization efforts and helps to recruit and retain businesses in the city. Stephen also advocates for policies that ensure that Annapolis continues to be a great place to start, grow or expand a business.

Previously, Stephen worked for American Communities Trust in Baltimore as Director of Community Development. In this role he worked with New Markets Tax Credits to revitalize challenged communities across the country. Stephen also served as Vice President of Business Development for the Howard County Economic Development Authority after a long tenure at the Greater Baltimore Urban League where he led the economic development team.

Stephen was raised in Columbia, Maryland and is a proud graduate of Wilde Lake High School. He then completed his undergraduate education at Morehouse College where he studied Economics. Stephen later completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Vanderbilt University and his Master in Public Administration (MPA) degree at Harvard University. He can often be found enjoying the wonders of Annapolis with his wife Edith and their daughter.

Cindy Stewart Rivarde serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Rockville Economic Development, Inc. She combines her extensive experience and demonstrated success in creating vibrant downtown spaces, encouraging economic growth, and promoting cultural initiatives to lead REDI in new and inventive ways that attract, grow, and retain businesses within the City of Rockville.

She joined REDI after serving as the Deputy City Manager for the City of Coral Springs, Florida—a city with 133,000 residents and more than 1,000 employees. In that role, she helped to manage a $198 million annual budget and had direct responsibility and oversight of the Economic Development Office, Community Development Services, Community Redevelopment Area Operations, Communications and Marketing, as well as other departments.

Prior to her role as Deputy City Manager for the City of Coral Springs, Cindy served as Community and Economic Developer for the City of Modesto, California. Her broad responsibilities included economic development, community development, planning and zoning, building, and engineering and road design. She excelled in bringing in new business and fostering business expansion, creating marketing and development plans for city-owned destination assets, overseeing the operation of the Convention and Visitor Bureau, and securing funding and financing for various projects.

She obtained her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, a master of fine art in painting from Towson University, and a bachelor of arts degree in dramatic art/studio art from the University of North Carolina. Cindy invests in continuous professional development through education offered by the International Economic Development Council and remains active in the profession as a member of many industry-related organizations and frequent speaker.

Having spent most of his professional life working in the tech industry, Adam Strott has a passion for exploring the intersection between economic development and innovation. Adam is a native of Annapolis and graduate of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, MD.

Adam attended Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Maryland, earning a B.S. in Film. After graduating in 2012, he worked in Baltimore for a tech startup, later moving to São Paulo, Brazil where he earned he earned his M.B.A. in International Business at Fundação Instituto de Administração (FIA) in 2016. After working for LatAm based tech companies, Adam relocated to Miami in 2018 wherein he participated in a full-time International Studies M.A. at the University of Miami, focusing on sustainable economic development, all the while also working full-time as a software delivery and localization specialist for a tech firm in the aviation space. Adam speaks fluent Portuguese and Spanish, lives in Cumberland with his wife and young son.