the ones
who make
it happen.

Mike geppi

Executive Director

Mike Geppi is an experienced and accomplished leader in the private and public sectors. As a serial entrepreneur, former commercial banker, and former elected and appointed official, Mike has the ability to look at problems and issues through a unique lens. He focuses on technology and unleashing the full potential of people and processes as a means of achieving superior scalability and profits.

Throughout his career, Mike has served in the public and private sectors. He served on the transition team for Maryland Governor Larry Hogan as Chair of the Subcommittee on Health and Human Services Information Technology and also as Maryland’s Deputy Secretary of Health. As Deputy Secretary, Mike was the Chief Operating Officer for the Maryland Department of Health with its 8,500 employees and nearly $14 billion budget.

Mike serves on the faculty at the top-ranked Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He teaches negotiations, business strategy, economics, industry analysis, ethics, managing people and organizations, and business communications to MBA, Masters, and undergraduate students.

His undergraduate degree was earned at Towson University in Political Science and Communication Studies. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Delaware and an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.

CLAUDINE ADAMS

Claudine Adams, CEO and founder of Bravura Inc., has 30 years of professional experience, with increasing responsibilities throughout her career building operations and businesses. She was ranked number 1 in the nation for her performance at Xerox, and was the executive responsible for building Adams Communication to currently over $200M in annual revenue. Since founding Bravura in 2014, her company has been recognized as one of the fastest small business companies, and has been awarded the Best of Belcamp for Computer Support and Services for 2015-2017, 2019, and 2021.

Ms. Adams was given the Athena Leadership Award in 2022, an award given to women who achieve the highest level of professional excellence in their field. She also received the Visionary Award in 2019 for significant contribution to the wellbeing of the community.

Born in Philadelphia, PA, Ms. Adams graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She then received a Master’s of Theology from Calvary Christian College in Waldorf, Maryland. She is a member of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution.

Chair

Kaitlin Corey

Secretary

Kaitlin is a partner at Goodell, DeVries, Leech & Dann, LLP, Baltimore, and a member of the Maryland bar, with a strong focus on litigating and licensing copyrights and trademarks, resolving unfair competition matters, and negotiating business transactions and agreements.

Kaitlin most recently was voted to The Daily Record’s Leading Women Under 40, is the immediate past Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Maryland State Bar Association, and is an adjunct professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law teaching Trademarks and Unfair Competition Law each year since 2018.

She also serves as General Counsel for the Annapolis Police Foundation and as the Co-Chair of the Legislative Committee on the Board of the American Advertising Federation of Baltimore and is a prolific author with numerous articles published in national and state law journals.

Karen Holt

Karen Holt is director of the Harford County Office of Economic Development (OED). She oversees business retention and attraction efforts focusing on defense, technology, healthcare and manufacturing. Karen leads a team committed to facilitating business investment, entrepreneurial development and job creation to foster a diverse economy and expand the local tax base, enhancing quality of life for those who live, work, play, learn, invest, serve, and stay in Harford County.

Additionally, she serves as the County’s liaison to Aberdeen Proving Ground and the 100+ defense contractors located in Harford. Karen coordinates regional initiatives of the Chesapeake Science & Security Corridor (CSSC) Consortium supporting installation resiliency and workforce development efforts. She is also president of the Association of Defense Communities (ADC), a national organization dedicated to advancing issues that build strong defense communities and strengthen the ability for service members to defend the nation

Director, Harford County Office of Economic Development

kaitlin ridgway

Treasurer

Katie Ridgway, MBA has served as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at HCPS since July 2021, where she plays a pivotal role in systemic planning and problem-solving under the Superintendent of Schools. In this capacity, she leads significant strategic efforts, including the implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future, actively engaging in statewide advocacy and providing leadership in navigating the complexities of public school policy.

Ms. Ridgway holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in History and Political Science from The Johns Hopkins University, graduating Magna Cum Laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa in May 2002. She earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland Global Campus in June 2022. Currently, she is pursuing a Doctor of Public Administration (DPA) at West Chester University, with her dissertation expected to be completed by 2026.

DR. MARY WAY BOLT

Dr. Mary Way Bolt, the fifth President of Cecil College brings thirty years of practice in the field of higher education to her office. Dr. Bolt demonstrates leadership and an institutional commitment to student success while supporting the needs of faculty, staff, and external stakeholders.

Dr. Bolt is known as a staunch advocate for higher education and economic development at the state, local and national level. She currently serves on the Maryland Association of Community Colleges legislative committee and executive committee. In this role, Dr. Bolt keeps a watchful eye on bills that could affect educational outcomes in the state and determines the best course of action to ensure that Maryland’s community colleges remain affordable and accessible for our students.

Dr. Bolt is a proud Cecil College graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She subsequently was awarded a master’s degree in community health nursing from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and received a doctorate degree in higher education and leadership from Widener University. Dr. Bolt is also a graduate of the Harvard University Management Development Program, Aspen Institute, and the Cecil Leadership Institute.

Chris carr

Christopher Carr is the Founder of BSC Technology LLC, a small business headquartered in the Aberdeen Proving Ground area providing Tailored Business Development Services to clients. Chris’ roles as a business leader, client relationship manager, project delivery, personnel/staff cultivation, and team leader enable him to coordinate multiple efforts based on business needs. Using his Business Development and Software Tools experience coupled with his Program Management expertise and techniques, he assesses, prioritizes, reviews, and wins through adept scheduling of resources and strategic just-in-time activities that successfully pre-position business opportunities for long-term sustainable efforts.

Chris’ formal education includes a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Technology
Management and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Technology. He has been a
credentialed project management professional (PMP) since 2008 and a certified capture manager. Chris holds numerous volunteer roles: AFCEA Aberdeen Chapter, IRA, NDIA Aberdeen, NMTC, and AOC Susquehanna Chapter.

nicole funk

Nicole Funk is a Managing Director in Deloitte’s defense business with a current focus on Army clients and systems engineering. Prior to joining Deloitte in July of 2019, Nicole worked in support of the U.S. Defense missions, with an emphasis in Army, for 27 years.

Nicole has a B.S. in Biology and an M.S. in Biotechnology. She also has a certification in business strategy. Nicole began her career with a focus in weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including long range planning against threats in the areas of biological, chemical, nuclear and radiological weapons. 

Dr. Theresa Felder

Dr. Theresa B. Felder, is Harford Community College’s 10th President. Previously, Dr. Felder served as Senior Vice President for Student Success at Clark State Community College and Administrative Dean for Clark State’s largest branch campus, and a Workforce Development Coordinator.

Dr. Felder started her professional career in corporate accounting and later became an Independent Consultant,specializing in job readiness and employment training. Dr. Felder completed her doctoral degree in Higher Education Leadership at Northeastern University; she holds a Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University; and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Syracuse University.

dondre lawson

Dondre Lawson is the CEO of Emerald Technical Solutions and the Founder of Defense Interns, a non-profit organization focused on supporting community initiatives. With a dynamic background in technology, business, and leadership, Dondre actively contributes to technical education initiatives and student engagement in Harford County. Passionate about creating opportunities for youth, he serves on multiple local boards to drive community development.

His company, Emerald Technical Solutions, is also developing MILRES, an AI tool aimed at helping transitioning service members build civilian resumes and secure job placements. In addition to his entrepreneurial work, Dondre serves as a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer in the Maryland National Guard, fulfilling his duties in an M-Day status.

dr. michael o'leary

Dr. Michael O’Leary, Professor and Chairperson, Dept. of Mathematics, Towson University was also Director & Founder of the School of Emerging Technologies at Towson, Prior to that, he was the director of the Center for Applied Information Technology (2007-2012) and the graduate director of the Integrated Homeland Security Management Master’s program (2008-2012).

His sought-after expertise and research interest is in the development of improved mathematical algorithms for the geographic profiling problem, which is the problem of estimating the location of a serial criminal’s home base from the known locations of the crimes. This work has been sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. In addition, he coaches student teams on cyber security, and cyber security competitions, leading the Towson team to the finals of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) in 2010 and 2012; and he also coached the team that won the Maryland Cyber Challenge in 2011.

bill sorenson

Bill Sorenson has over 25 years of directorial experience. Before working in the public sector, Bill Sorenson worked in IT for ten years as the Vice President at DELL before serving as the Managing Director of Mid-Atlantic Sales for Hewlett Packard Enterprises.

Semi-retiring from the corporate world, Bill sought public service to share his experience helping businesses grow. He joined the Maryland Department of Commerce as a Director of Regional Business Development in 2017 before leaving to serve as the Director of Economic Development in Cecil County.