PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• 1977 – 1989 Member of the Maryland Judicial Professional Training Team
• 1980 – 1983 Consultant: Offenders' Aid and Restoration Program (OAR) 
• 1980 – 1985 Member of the Maryland Association of Professionals Society (MAPS)
• 1981 – 1986 Board Member of the Maryland Association of Affirmative Action Officers.
• 1982 – 1984 Member of the Governor=s Commission on Black Males in Criminal Justice
• 1983 – Present, Member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
• 1983 – 1985 President of Blacks in Government (BIG) representing State Employees
• 1985 – 1987 Member of the Baltimore County Foster Care Review Board
• 1985 – Present, Lifetime Member of the NAACP
• 1985 – 1988 Business Trainer and Developer in Lusaka Zambia, Central Africa,
• 1985 – 1987 President of the International Personnel Management Association
• 1987 – 1988 Member of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce
• 1988 – 1993 Member of the Employee Assistance Professional Association (EAPA)
• 1988 – Founding Member of the Maryland Health Care Providers Consortium
• 1989 – Co-founder of the Minority Women Business Owners Assoc., D.C., Md., & VA.
• 1990 – 1992 Board Member – the William Smith Outreach Center –Bethel AME Church
• 1990 – 2003 Radio Talk Show Host on WEAA Radio, Morgan State University
• 1995 – 1996 Board Member of the Md. Assoc. of Minority Women in Contracting, Inc.
• 2004 – Present Board Member of the Sisters4Sisters Network, Inc.
• 2004 – Present, Board Member of the Martin Pollack Project, Inc.
• 2005 – Founding Member and Board Chair of the Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce  
• 2006 – Present, Member of the National Council of Negro Women
• 2006 – Present, Board Member of the FBI Citizen=s Academy Alumni Program
• 2007 – Present, Board Member of the Black Writer’s Guild of Maryland
• 2008 – 2013, Board Member of Learning, Inc.
• 2008 – Present, Board Member of Digit All Systems Inc.
• 2008 – Founding Member and Board Chair of the LITSOM Coalition
• 2010 – 2011, Board Member of Empowerment Temple, Inc.  
• 2012 – Present, Member of the Associated Black Charities Baltimore Small Business Development Ecosystem Advisory Committee
• 2013 – Founding Member of the State of Md. Black Chamber of Commerce
• 2015 – Present, Board Member of the Innovation Village Steering Committee
• 2016 – Present, Interim President of the Friends of Reservoir Hill Communities Coalition

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING EXPERIENCE

Using material and curricula I developed, from 1986 to 1990, I was a professional trainer & instructor at the Employee Management Development Institute. For more than eight years I designed and facilitated job readiness seminars and workshops to incarcerated male and female inmates. For more than 25 years I traveled nationally and internationally developing and facilitating seminars and workshops. I wrote the curricula on such topics as the following: Live Your Dream* Creating Wealth, Building a Legacy* Dream, Design Do * Time Management * Dealing with Domestic Violence and Child Abuse * Workforce Development * Economic Development in Community-based Facilities * Management Development * Techniques of Supervision * Women Leadership and Empowerment Techniques * First-Line Supervision 101 * How to Start and Operate a Business * Effective Communication Styles and Practices * Working with Difficult People * Motivation Techniques for Success * Delegation * Progressive Discipline, a Positive Approach * Team Building for Success * Job Readiness and Retention * Employee Assistance Program Development * Conflict Management and Strategic Planning * Effective Techniques of Decision Making and Problem Solving.

A PARTIAL LIST OF MY LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS

My interests focus on several areas: education, public safety, senior issues, and economic development to include jobs. Below are references to my legislation that focus on those issues

1. Included in the minimum wage bill was my bill that expands the minimum wage salary to include 501(c) 3 non-profit health care organizations.

2. I have sponsored and co-sponsored more than 1,000 bills during my three terms in the   Maryland House of Delegates.

3. I was successful in bringing more than $2,000,000 in bond bills to the community.

4. I introduced and passed legislation that provided more than 800 million dollars to MBEs- WBEs-DBEs (HB48) and expanded opportunities for minority and women-owned   businesses; thereby creating more jobs in the community.

5. I introduced and passed legislation to prevent liquor stores that are located near schools in Park Heights from opening before the schools in Park Heights opened.

6. I sponsored and passed legislation to provide ex-offenders the opportunity to obtain   employment in the casino industry. It was an emergency bill so that ex-offenders could be immediately hired at the Rocky Gap Casino

7. I sponsored legislation to provide sex-trafficking awareness training to entry-level police   officers.

8. I sponsored and passed legislation (HB-1401), which designated $3 million dollars keep   the Enoch Pratt Libraries opened seven days a week for extended hours

9. I sponsored legislation (HB-264), to study and collect data for future legislation to provide more opportunities for and eliminate disparity treatment of minority businesses in Maryland. This was in response to minority franchisees of Kentucky Fried chicken, Taco Bell, and Dominoes being forced out. We discovered this is a national problem and the LBCM has made it one of our priorities

10. To be a voice for the voiceless, I sponsored legislation requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop and implement an Abuser Registry Work Group to identify abusers of vulnerable populations of people in hospitals, group homes and assisted living facilities.

11. I cosponsored legislation to raise the minimum wage of Maryland employees

12. I sponsored the Grandparents’ Rights Act.

13. I sponsored the Senior Center Residents Protection Act

SOME REASONS WHY I WAS ELECTED TO THE MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES IN 2006 AND APPOINTED SENATOR IN 2016

1. A Woman of Achievement and Integrity 
I am proud of having brought integrity, honesty and a spirit of overcoming to the decisions I made in the House of Delegates.  I believe in responsible government and I do not tolerate the lack of ethics that some take to be “business as usual.” I promised there would not be any influence-peddling or shady deal-making under my watch and that I would remain un-bossed, un-bought, and unafraid to speak out for the people whom I represent. I am proud to say I kept that promise. 

2. Economic Empowerment and Business Development 
I am a strong supporter of developing our economy by increasing the number of Maryland small businesses and enhancing the legal infrastructure that oversees these businesses. I supported and introduced legislature that increased jobs, opportunities for businesses and individual growth.  I have experience with proven methods of helping people move from welfare to work and I have worked to successfully implement those methods.  As a successful business owner, I learned how to help businesses thrive.  I took a close look at how existing laws and proposed legislation affect small businesses and I introduced legislature to reform that process. As a representative of the 40th legislative district I facilitated town hall meetings to learn the concerns of small business owners and advocates and I used data derived from those meetings to develop legislation designed to address those concerns.

3. Pro-Choice
I am an advocate for the right of privacy and choice as prescribed by law. I support legislature that provides women the right to choose what happens to their own body.

4. Quality of Life Enhancement
I have supported legislature to increase affordable housing and quality health care for families and seniors.  I have introduced and supported legislature to create safe havens for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and date violence

5. Education
Education was critically important in helping me survive as an adult survivor of domestic violence and child abuse. As a member of the Baltimore City Delegation, I cosponsored legislation to provide Baltimore with 1.9 billion dollars to renovate 25 existing schools and build 15 new schools. I also cosponsored the “locked box” legislation to ensure that money allocated for education would not be used for other purposes.

6. Open Lines of Communication
Since becoming an elected official I have constantly communicated with my constituents.  I have attempted to keep abreast of their issues and concerns by attending community meetings, meeting individually with constituents and other people of interest and responding to all email and telephone messages.  I have visited schools, churches, senior centers and listened to the voices of community residents.  

A PARTIAL LIST OF AWARDS

• 1984 Awarded the Mayor William Donald Schaefer Repeat Offenders Program  Experiment (ROPE) Citation
• 1989 – 1990 Featured in the 4th Edition of Personalities of America
• 1993 Presented the Key to the City in Memphis, Tennessee
• 1993 Presented the Key to the City in Watertown, South Dakota
• 1995 Presented the Key to the City in Alexander City, Alabama
• 1993 Presented the 100 Black Women Achievement Award
• 1993 Presented the Ujma Society Achievement Award
• 1995 Presented the Avon/SBA Women of Enterprise Award
• 1996 Inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame
• 1996 Elected Baltimore City WBE/MBE of the Year
• 1996 National Business League Honoree
• 1996 Honored at the White House by President Bill Clinton
• 1998 Presented the SBA Small Business Advocate of the Year Award 
• 1999 Presented the SBA Welfare to Work Entrepreneur of the Year
• 2002 the African American Women in Business (AAWIB) Visionary Award
• 2002 the Workforce Development Coalition Creating Self Sufficiency Award
• 2003 Breast Cancer Awareness Association Tree of Life Award
• 2003 African American Real Estate Professionals, Inc. Passing the Torch Legacy Award,
• 2003 National Public Housing Resident’s Association, Inc. Achievement Award
• 2004 Black Professional Women, Inc. Distinguished Service Award
• 2004 U.S. Department of Justice FBI Black History Month Citation of Achievement
• 2005 J.U.G.S. National Achievement Award
• 2005 SmartWoman Magazine BRAVO Entrepreneurial Award
• 2006 Zonta International, Inc., Woman of the Year Award
• 2009 Daily Record Top 100 Women in Maryland
• 2012 Minority Washington Minority Companies Association Legislator of the Year  
• 2016 Winner of the Black Wall Street Award

LEGISLATIVE LEADERSHIP

• 2007 – 2014  Economic Dev. Committee – Legislative Black Caucus of Md.
• 2007 – 2009 Executive Board Member of the Legislative Women Caucus
• 2010 – 2012 Secretary of the Legislative Women Caucus
• 2013 – 2015 Treasurer of the Legislative Women Caucus
• 2007 – 2016, Member of the Baltimore City Delegation
• 2007 – 2016, Member of the Appropriations Committee
• 2007 – 2014 Member of the Public Safety and Administration Sub-committee
• 2007 – 2016, Member of the Pension Oversight Sub-committee
• 2010 – 2012, 2nd Vice Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland
• 2010 – Present, Member of the Governor’s MBE-WBE-DBE Stake-holders Committee
• 2010 – Present, Appointed Member of the Senate and House Joint Committee on Fair Practices and State Personnel Oversight
• 2011 – Present, Host/Founder Annual MBE-WBE-DBE Legislative Night in Annapolis
• 2012 – 2014, First Vice Chair of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus
• 2012 – 2014, Chair the Legislative Black Caucus= Legislative Review Committee
• 2013 – 2016, Member Special Joint Commission on Public Safety and Security in State   and Local Correctional Facilities
• 2012 – 2016, Appointed Member of the Mayor’s Minority Business Advisory Council
• 2013 – Present, Appointed Member Coppin State University Review Committee
• 2014 – 2016, Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland
• 2014 – Present, Appointed Member of the Pimlico Community Development Authority
• 2014 – Present, State Director of the National Organization of Women in Government
• 2014 – 2016, Maryland House of Delegates Deputy Majority Whip
• 2014 – 2016, Member of the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee
• 2015 – Present, Appointed Member of the Senate and House Joint Committee on Ending Homelessness
• 2017 – Present, Member of the Senate Education, Health and Environment Committee