Board Members - Investment Trust

Lee Holland

Mr. Holland is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County, Maryland and a graduate of Damascus High School.

Mr. Holland is the current president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35,m which represents approximately 1600 active and retired police officers in Montgomery County. Prior to Mr. Holland’s appointment as president, he served as the Lodge corporate Vice President from 2018- 2021.

Mr. Holland is an active police officer and assigned to the 5th district (Germantown) police station.

Christine Kelleher

Christine Kelleher is chief of investments at the National Gallery of Art, where she has overseen the management of the Gallery’s endowment since September 2017. Previously, Mrs. Kelleher served as senior investment officer for Georgetown University, managing the institution’s endowment and retirement plan. She helped found Georgetown’s Investment Office in 2004 and served as acting chief investment officer in 2011. After Georgetown, Mrs. Kelleher led investment strategy, sourcing, and evaluation for Avec Capital. Earlier in her career, she served on the executive team of the Central European University, founded by George Soros, in Budapest, Hungary. She received a BA in Russian and international relations from Bucknell University and holds MAs in Russian and East European studies and in Central European history from Georgetown University.

Michael J. Coveyou

Michael J. Coveyou was appointed Director of Finance for Montgomery County in February 2020. Mike has been in state and local government budget and finance positions for 32 years, originally in the Maryland State budget department, and for the last 27 years in the Montgomery County Finance Department, where he has also been the chief of the Division of Fiscal Management and the chief of the Treasury division. A graduate of the University of South Florida, Mike also holds a master’s degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland College Park.

Barry Kaplan

Barry Kaplan is the Senior Investment Director of International Equity at the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust. Mr. Kaplan has been responsible for the International Equity and Currency portfolio since August 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Kaplan was the Trust’s Director of Absolute Return Investments and Commodities. On April 2, 2007, Mr. Kaplan joined the Trust as a Senior Investment Analyst – Private Equity. Prior to joining the Trust, he worked for Nuveen Investments, where he was involved in the execution of closed-end fund product strategies. Additionally, Mr. Kaplan worked as an Associate for Duff & Phelps, performing business and asset valuations. Preceding this role, he completed the Financial Leadership Program at AT&T, working in various business units. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2005. Mr. Kaplan is a CFA charterholder and chairs the Investment Committee of the Bender JCC of Greater Washington.

Brian Swain, CFA

Mr. Swain serves as the Public Representative of the Board.

Mr. Swain is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Howard University’s Endowment and Retirement Trust. Prior to joining the Howard University Investment Office in early 2018, Mr. Swain was Senior Managing Director/PM of Tiburon Capital Management, an event fund with investments across the capital structure and was co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Quattro Global Capital, LLC and affiliates managing at its peak, $1.1 billion in assets. Mr. Swain began his alternatives career at The Palladin Group, a multi-strategy investment advisory firm holding the titles of Portfolio Manager- Special Situations, Head of Research and Senior Analyst. Mr. Swain was hired, after interning as an undergraduate, by Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company where he received credit training in the Private Lending division prior to launching a career in alternatives. Mr. Swain graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance, is a CFA Charter holder and member of CFA Washington.

Deborah Snead

Ms. Snead serves on the Board as the member representing retired Montgomery County Government employees. She retired in 2007 and currently serves on the Montgomery County Retired Employees’ Association Board of Directors.

During her career with Montgomery County, she held several positions in both the Executive and Legislative branches of the County government. She worked as an Auditor in the Finance Department and as a Legislative Program Evaluator in the Office of Legislative Oversight. In the Office of the County Executive, she held several senior level positions, including Assistant Chief Administrative Officer and Director of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center.

Ms. Snead holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Public Administration from the University of Missouri (Accounting) and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland (Public Sector Financial Management)

Gino Renne

Mr. Renne serves on the Board as the member recommended by an employee organization.  He is currently President of UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, as well as, Vice President of United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, representing 1.3 million members in North America.

As President of Local 1994 he is responsible for negotiating and administering collective bargaining agreements on behalf of 10,000 members with the Montgomery County Government and four other public employers throughout Maryland. He also serves as Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Union Employees Deferred Compensation Plan, the Executive Boards of the Washington Metropolitan AFL-CIO, the Mid-Atlantic Political Action Committee and the UFCW Region 2 Council.

Mr. Renne holds a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh.

James Donaldson

James Donaldson is one of the Assistant Directors of Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL). He is responsible for Collection Management, Digital Strategies, Technology Management, and Data Analytics at MCPL and oversees the operation of 10 library branch locations. There are 220 employees in Mr. Donaldson’s chain of command, and he controls $8,200,000 in MCPL Operating and CIP funds. Mr. Donaldson manages all emerging technology and IT infrastructure projects for MCPL, including 21st Century Technology enhancements for building refreshes and renovations.

In FY20, Mr. Donaldson was selected to serve on the Budget Outcome Leadership Team for Effective, Sustainable Government, which reviewed budget enhancement proposals from numerous County departments and submitted recommendations to the County Executive.

Mr. Donaldson holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia and a Master of Library & Information Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Jeffrey Buddle

Mr. Buddle serves on the Board as the Fire & Rescue bargaining unit designee.

Mr. Buddle is the President of the Montgomery County Career Fire Fighters Association – IAFF Local 1664 which represents approximately 1600 active and retired career fire fighters and paramedics in Montgomery County, Maryland. Mr. Buddle also serves as the President of the Professional Fire Fighters of Maryland the State level affiliate of the International Association of Fire Fighters representing 23 IAFF Local affiliates comprised of approximately 10,000 career fire fighters across the State of Maryland. 

Mr. Buddle is a Master Fire Fighter/Rescuer with the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service assigned to field staffing at Fire Station 15 (Burtonsville) in the Division of Operations.

Jennifer Bryant

Jennifer R. Bryant is the Director of the Montgomery County Office of Management and Budget. In this role, Ms. Bryant oversees development of the operating and capital budgets, as well as all operations and programs of the office including programs that provide data analytics and administrative support to departments across Montgomery County Government. Ms. Bryant is a long-time public servant and has served in the Office of Management and Budget for nearly three decades. In her long tenure with Montgomery County Government, she has overseen nearly every budget in Montgomery County and therefore has a uniquely broad perspective of the operations of the county. In her time as Director, Ms. Bryant has played a key role in implementing racial equity and climate changes goals into the budget process, as well as enhanced community outreach and engagement with diverse communities to give residents a voice in how taxpayer money is allocated. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is a Certified Public Manager.

Jennifer Harling

Jennifer Harling was appointed as the Chief Labor Relations Officer for Montgomery County in February 2021. Prior to joining the County, Jennifer practiced federal sector labor law for approximately 10 years working on behalf of employees represented by NTEU and AFGE. Jennifer is also a former employee of the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs. Jennifer holds a Juris Doctor from the Charleston School of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee.

Joseph F. Beach

Joseph F. Beach has served as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission since June of 2016. In Mr. Beach’s 30 years in local government finance he has worked in a number of senior level positions including Finance Director, Budget Director, and Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for Montgomery County Government in Maryland. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Mr. Beach also holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs from the George Washington University and a J.D. from the University of Baltimore. He was admitted to the State Bar of Maryland in December 1995.

Marlene Michaelson

Marlene Michaelson, as Executive Director of the Office of the County Council, holds an ex-officio position on the Board.

Ms. Michaelson was appointed in 2018 as Council’s Executive Director after serving as its senior advisor on land use and development issues for 29 years. As Executive Director, Ms. Michaelson oversees the provision of analytical, legal, and management services required by the Council for its fiscal, legislative, and land use decisions. In addition, she represents the Council on interagency boards dealing with information technology and community use of public facilities and on state and regional task forces and committees.

Prior to working for the Council, Ms. Michaelson managed consulting projects related to the financing of alternative energy projects for a Washington D.C., law firm and served as a Presidential Management Intern.  Ms. Michaelson has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, with a focus in finance, and a BA from the State University of New York at Albany. She is a member of the Leadership Montgomery Class of 2001.

Eli Martinez

Eli Martinez is the Executive Director of the MCERP where he oversees the $8B+ in combined assets for the defined benefit and defined contribution plans.

Prior to joining MCERP Eli served as the Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of the Educational Employees’ Supplementary Retirement System (ERFC) where he oversaw all investment and operational activities for the 40k+ member $3B defined benefit plan, which serves Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) teachers and support staff.

Mr. Martinez has spent more than 20 years in the investment and finance fields helping investors successfully create high performing teams and investment portfolios. Before joining ERFC in 2017, Mr. Martinez managed the investment portfolio for the Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System (SBCERS) for 9+ years.

Mr. Martinez earned a BA in Economics, with an emphasis in Accounting from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Benjamin Legum

Benjamin Legum serves as the Board’s General Counsel. He is an Associate County Attorney and joined the County in 2018. Previously, he was an Assistant Attorney General with the Maryland Office of the Attorney General and counsel to a local commercial real estate developer. Ben is a graduate of Miami University in Ohio, and has a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law.