Our People
We are leaders with a vision for community arts, entrepreneurship, and positive youth development.
Are you interested in joining a mission-driven group of like-minded professionals?
Christopher Barclay
Executive Director
Chris Barclay is an education advocate, management professional, and working artist-photographer, with a notable public service record in Montgomery County. He served as the District 4 representative on the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Board of Education, twice as president in 2010 and 2013, and twice as vice president in 2009 and 2012. Barclay’s community leadership roles have included the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, the NAACP Parents’ Council, the Takoma Foundation Board of Directors, and the Takoma Park Department of Recreation Advisory Committee. He is a member of Leadership Montgomery’s Core Class of 2014, a graduate of Columbia College of Chicago and worked in telecommunications prior to public service.
Jason Hofberg, CPA
Board President, Tax Principal
Jason Hofberg is a tax senior associate at BDO, USA LLP and graduate student at the University of Baltimore’s school of public administration. He obtained his undergraduate degrees in accounting and government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. In Jason’s years at BDO, he has worked on and managed a variety of client engagements including several well-known local nonprofits. Additional experience includes work on large public company audits, partnership tax returns, and individual tax filings.
Beth Perell
Board Vice President
Beth Perell has her own strategic communications consulting practice leveraging more than 20 years of communications and management experience. Ms. Perell has held a variety of positions in knowledge management, e-learning, event management and communications at Goodwill Industries International, Mercer Human Resource Consulting and A.T. Kearney. Beth holds a B.A. from Miami University and a Master’s degree from Dominican University.
John Griffin
Board Treasurer, Assurance/Audit Principal
John Griffin is an assurance director with BDO’s Assurance Department within the Nonprofit Industry Group and a local office champion for the Employee benefit plan practice. John has more than 20 years of experience serving nonprofit organizations including public charities, trade organizations and private foundations. He holds a B.S., Accounting from University of Maryland at College Park, and is a member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Greater Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Idris Agüero
Board Secretary
Idris is a UX designer, web product specialist, and artist. They work to be part of a future where human-centered design is the rule, not the exception, for mission-driven businesses and organizations. Idris enjoys demystifying the website design and maintenance process to help movement builders focus on the harder work of changing the world.
Adebowale Asaya
Board Member
Adebowale Asaya, a Sr. Product Lead at Amazon, brings over thirteen years of enterprise experience in procurement, strategy, and product management, where he develops software solutions to enhance internal buying experiences. He is deeply committed to mentoring emerging leaders and promoting tech education through various university partnerships and entrepreneurship programs. Drawing from his extensive experience in technology and innovation, Adebowale serves as an angel investor and limited partner in venture capital, where he dedicates his resources and expertise to nurturing startups and fostering innovation, with a particular focus on emerging markets and next-generation entrepreneurs. Adebowale holds a BA from Winston-Salem State University, and an MBA from Howard University. LinkedIn
Roxana Beyranvand
Board Member, AOB Alum
Roxana is a Multicultural Communications Specialist and Program/ Project Management professional with over a decade of experience. She is the Program Manager for the Innovation Team within the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation (OPI) for the City of Baltimore. Roxana devoted nearly a decade of Strategic Communications and Public Involvement work for transportation planning projects and programs including the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration’s I-495/ I-270 P3 Program, Baltimore Collegetown Network’s Shuttle Program, and the Maryland Transit Administration’s Baltimore Red Line Project. Roxana earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Communications and Spanish from Notre Dame of Maryland University in 2009 and went on to get her master’s in contemporary communications in 2012, also from Notre Dame. She has worked in Washington, DC and Baltimore with nonprofits, government agencies, and the private sector. Some of her additional previous experience includes working for the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), Comcast SportsNet, Baltimore Clayworks, and Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts (BOPA). In her spare time, she enjoys creating mosaic art
Wendy Dinova-Wimmer
Board Member
Wendy Dinova-Wimmer works for Adobe’s Public Sector CTO supporting customers across the federal government. She has over thirty years of expertise in the field of visualization, design and multimedia forensic analysis in the public and private sector. She leads various committees in the multimedia forensic community. Wendy earned her Bachelor of Science in Art and Design from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. In her spare time, she is a fused glass artist.
Dr. Shari Garmise
Board Member
Shari Garmise, Ph.D., has over 20 years of experience providing leadership at the intersection of workforce development, higher education and community and economic development. For the past ten years, she served as Senior Vice President, Office of Urban Initiatives for the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and Executive Director for the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities where she led a national urban agenda. She just assumed a new position as Executive Director, Urban and Regional Impact at VCU.
Dr. Garmise published People and the Competitive Advantage of Place: Building a Workforce for the 21st Century, with M.E. Sharpe Publishers, as well as numerous articles in national and international publications on workforce and economic development throughout her career. Previous jobs include Vice President of the International Economic Development Council and Assistant Professor at Cleveland State University. She received her Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, her M.A. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and her B.A. from Tufts University
Rose Jaffe
Board Member, AOB Alum
Rose Jaffe is a visual artist, with mediums spanning mural painting, ceramics, printmaking, and digital illustration. Born and raised in the nation’s capital, Rose earned her BFA at the The University of Michigan and has pursued a creative career full time after teaching middle and high school art in the city. She has painted over 30 murals nationally and internationally, including over 20 in D.C. Her art has been featured in over fifteen publications, including the Washington Post, City Paper, NBC and CNN among others. Her work is vibrant and often playful, with themes of political activism, natural healing and spiritual grounding. She is dedicated to harnessing the power of art to find connections, build community, spark conversation and create social change.
Shareem King
Board Member
With over 25 years of experience in professional services industries, Shareem serves as BDO USA LLP’s People & Culture Coordinator, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and drives organizational success by fostering a diverse workforce, cultivating an inclusive culture, and enhancing employee engagement related to local, regional, and national DEI events and activities. Within this role, Shareem strengthens BDO’s relationships with members of the National Association of Black Accountants, Association of Latino Professionals for America, and Ascend and represents BDO in local, regional, and national recruiting events.
Frederick Smith
Board Member
Frederick Smith is a Vice President, Software Engineering at Mastercard. Frederick has more than 10 years of management experience providing leadership and vision to various technology-related activities for B2B startups and multi-million-dollar global brands. He holds a BBA from Morgan State University and MS in Computer Systems Management from the University of Maryland University College.
June Linowitz
Immediate Past President & Arts Advisory
June Linowitz is an artist, business owner, past gallery director, and active member of the Washington Art Community. She has been working as a professional artist for more than 30 years. In 1996 Linowitz founded ArtSeen, Inc., which represents more than 300 fine artists and sells and leases artwork to businesses. In addition to her art, Linowitz works as a freelance curator, exhibitions juror and judge, and art critic.
