Commissioners President Vanessa E. Atterbeary Commissioners Leila Aridi Afas Maria Montserrat Alvarado Jennifer Cryor Baldwin  Liz Callihan Debra A. Bright Harris Chandra Walker Holloway Wilma K. Holmes Maliha Ilias Colleen Kelly Jaclyn Lichter Vincent Nick Martinez Larniece McKoy Moore Leticia Mederos Larniece McKoy Moore Manar S. Morales

Vanessa Atterbeary was elected MCCFW President in June 2011.  She is employed as the Corporate Counsel for KRA, a professional and technical services firm based in Silver Spring.  Vanessa has 10 years of experience in general civil litigation including tax, family law, estates/trusts, personal injury, and civil rights matters.  Previously, she served as Assistant Attorney General for the District of Columbia.  She also was an Associate Attorney in a Bethesda law firm and clerked for The Honorable Judge David W. Young.   Since 2008, she has chaired the Women's Legislative Briefing, previously serving on the WLB planning committee, representing the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.  She is a member of the state, county, D.C. and National Bar Associations, as well as the Montgomery County Women's Bar Association and the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association.  She served as Chair of the Montgomery County Community Advisory Committee in 2007.

Leila Aridi Afas was born and raised in Montgomery County and she currently resides in Bethesda.  She has more than 10 years experience in financial and economic analysis, international trade, capacity building, public policy and complex program management.  She is a Manager within Grant Thornton's Global Public Sector Practice.  Prior to joining GT, she served as County Manager for the Middle East and North Africa at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.  Leila earned her Master's Degree from Columbia University where she was awarded a fellowship in International Economic Policy.  She is a member of Montgomery County Business and Professional Women and was selected as the 2005 Maryland State Young Careerist.  Leila is also a member of the Women's Foreign Policy Group and Women in International Trade, among other professional organizations.

Maria Montserrat Alvarado was appointed to the Commission in July 2011. Montse has a B.A. in Political Science from Florida International University and a Master’s degree from the George Washington University’s School of Political Management concentrating in Advocacy Politics. Currently the Director of Operations for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Montse leads initiatives in development, communications, events/conference planning and administrative/financial management. Montse is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian and is a competitive classical and jazz vocalist. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Shepherd’s Table, a homeless shelter in Silver Spring, MD and contributor to the online women’s magazine AltCatholica. She is a resident of Chevy Chase, MD.

Jennifer Cryor Baldwin, a resident of North Potomac, is the Vice President of Regional Care Coordination at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.  Prior to her position at CareFirst, she held two positions at Kaiser Permanente;  the first as the Chief Nurse Executive, then, the Area Administrator for the District of Columbia and Suburban Maryland for Kaiser Permanente.  Prior to that as a Regional Nurse Executive with Kaiser, she has also held positions as the Senior Vice President for Patient Care and Services, the Chief Nurse Executive at Holy Cross Hospital, and has held nursing, administrative and policy positions at Inova Fairfax and Inova Fair Oaks Hospitals, Georgetown University Hospital, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  Ms. Baldwin holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Villanova University.    In addition to her professional career, she has completed many marathons, including the Boston Marathon.

Liz Callihan was born and raised in Washington, DC, and has lived in Bethesda since 1994. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston University in 1990. After working as an independent communications consultant for 14 years, she has just signed on as the online communications specialist for the United States Institute of Peace. Prior to her contract work, she was vice president of operations for the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. She has served on the Board of the Montgomery Country National Organization for Women since 2004.

Debra A. Bright Harris is the Director of Articulation, Transfer and Academic Services at Montgomery College.  Previously, she worked for 13 years as the Director of Admissions and Student Services at George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development.  She holds a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration from Washington University and a Masters of Education from Harvard.  She wrote her doctoral dissertation on the "leadership experiences of black women in community colleges."  She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the National Council of Negro Women - Potomac Valley Section.  She is a resident of Silver Spring.

Chandra Walker Holloway is an attorney in solo practice specializing in family, employment and injury law, with offices in Silver Spring.  She holds a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and is a resident of Burtonsville.  She has represented her sorority on the planning committee for CFW's annual Women's Legislative Briefing for three years.  As a member of the Montgomery County Bar Association, she has volunteered at the organization's Evening Pro Bono Legal Clinic and represented women on a pro bono basis in matters involving divorce, custody, and domestic violence.

Wilma K. Holmes is the principal of the Flower Valley Elementary School in Rockville, a position she has held for 16 years.  A resident of Olney, Ms. Holmes has worked for the Montgomery County Public Schools since 1964, holding positions from classroom teacher to Director of Human Relations, Equal Employment Officer, and Supervisor of Elementary Education, before returning to her first love, working with students and faculty in the school building.  She is a member of the Montgomery County Alumni Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Silver Spring Chapter of the Links, Inc., and the planning committee for the County Executive's Arts and Humanities Council Executive Ball.

Maliha Ilias holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Population, Family and Reproductive Health from Johns Hopkins University. Her doctoral thesis focused on the effect of perinatal depressive symptoms and anxiety on birth outcomes in low-income African American women. She has a great deal of work and research experience in public health in general and in women’s health in particular, including a summer 2006 internship sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at the Health Services Academy of the Pakistan Ministry of Health. She is currently working as a Health Specialist at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases where she helps manage the preclinical services contracts for the Bacteriology and Mycology Branch. Her past experience includes teaching at an Elementary School in Philadelphia and working as a journalist in Pakistan. Ms. Ilias lives in Silver Spring with her husband and two children. She is fluent in English and Urdu/Hindi.

Colleen Kelly is the Federal Compliance Counsel for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA). She has been an advocate for women's issues for over 25 years - particularly in the area of financial independence.  As the Vice President of State Government Affairs for CUNA for over 17 years, she worked to develop legislation and programs to help women and families attain financial literacy.  She volunteered over 5 years for the Commission for Women's Legal Call-Back Program and the Counseling and Career Center.  She earned a degree in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her law degree at Catholic University of America.  She currently lives in Bethesda with her husband and two teenage sons.

Jaclyn Lichter Vincent is the Senior Policy Advisor for the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, Michael E. Busch. She previously served as the Acting Policy Director at the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the Legislative Director for the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.  She taught 5th grade at Glen Haven Elementary School before starting her career in government, and interned for a semester in the office of U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski. She earned her Masters of Education degree at the University of Maryland. A resident of Burtonsville, Ms. Lichter Vincent served on the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Education Association, Board of Directors of Committee for Montgomery, and has been active the Maryland Legislative Agenda for Women.

Nick Martinez moved to Montgomery County in 2002 after completing his B.S. at Colorado State University in 2000.  Nick is a Financial Advisor and partner at Edward Jones Investments, with his office in North Bethesda.  He is the regional Growth Leader for the firm and has mentored numerous junior Financial Advisors.  Nick is a member of the Rotary Club of North Bethesda, which provides scholarships and educational materials to County students.  He currently resides in Silver Spring.

Larniece McKoy Moore is an attorney employed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a Civil Rights Specialist in the Office of Small Business and Civil Rights. She earned her law degree from Howard University and is a resident of Silver Spring. She has worked in the Legal Services Advocacy Project in Minnesota and with the U.S. Department of Justice. With the firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi, LLP in Minneapolis, she was the Diversity and Professional Development Manager. Ms. Moore is a member of the Junior League of Washington and served on the board of the Domestic Abuse Project.

Leticia Mederos is Vice President at the National Partnership for Women & Families where she is responsible for strategic direction and oversight of the organization’s work, family and workplace fairness programs. She joined the National Partnership in February 2012. Mederos brings nearly 15 years of legislative experience to her work at the National Partnership. Prior to joining the organization, she served in the office of Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.) for almost ten years, most recently as chief of staff. Representative DeLauro is a senior member of Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and ranking member of the Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related agencies. As her Chief of Staff, Mederos managed all activities related to Representative DeLauro’s leadership and committee responsibilities. She worked directly on legislation affecting women’s economic security and the well-being of America’s working families which include the Paycheck Fairness Act, the Healthy Families Act, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - the first major piece of legislation signed into law by President Obama. Before joining the staff of Representative DeLauro in 2002, Mederos served as Senior Legislative Assistant to former Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek (D-Fla.) from 1999 to 2002. From 1998 to 1999, she served as Legislative Assistant to Congressman Albert R. Wynn (D-Md.). In addition to her work in Congress, Mederos has taught American history at the College of Southern Maryland and worked as a social worker at Gaithersburg Middle School in Maryland. Mederos was born in Havana, Cuba, and lived in Miami until 1995. She has a Master’s degree in American History from Rutgers University with a specialization in 19th century women’s history and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Social Work from Florida International University. She currently resides in Poolesville, Maryland.

Manar S. Morales a resident of Potomac, is an attorney who works as the Director of Strategic Alliances for the Center for WorkLife Law.  In addition, Ms. Morales is an adjunct faculty member of Georgetown University's Paralegal Studies Program where she also serves on the Advisory Board.  Ms. Morales also serves on the Advisory Committee for the Women's Law Center of Maryland.  Prior to joining WorkLife Law, Ms. Morales worked as a litigator representing employees and unions in all aspects of labor and employment law in federal and state courts and before federal and state agencies.