The AA County Commission for Women
The Commission is comprised of sixteen women appointed by the County Executive to
serve a two-year term. These Commissioners are a diverse group of women living
in various parts of the county. Together they bring a wealth of expertise and
dedication to helping enrich the lives of the women and families of Anne Arundel
County.
Lee Ann Blazejewski - Chair
Lee Ann Blazejewski has a Master’s Degree in Business
Administration from Brenau University, a Bachelor’s Degree in
Health Education and Nursing from Western Michigan. Lee Ann is a
licensed Registered Nurse and is currently pursuing a PhD in
Public Health with a specialization in Community Health. She has
over 12 years of experience in nursing. The majority of Lee
Ann’s career has focused on women’s health issues and community
health, particularly with women at risk. Lee Ann currently works
for Johns Hopkins Community Physician in Annapolis. She is the
Practice Nurse of the facility. Lee Ann is also a mother of two
small children who attend Anne Arundel County Public Schools.
Lee Ann resides in Glen Burnie.
Vice Chair - Vacant
Secretary - Vacant
Tracey Warren - Finance Officer
Tracey
Warren, an Anne Arundel County native, resides in Odenton with
her son and husband. In addition to her work on the Commission,
she serves on the Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and
Disabilities Advisory Council, which advises the Department of
Aging and Disabilities on various social, economic, legal, and
environmental matters and she too serves on the Board of
Directors as the Secretary for U.S. Kids, a child development
center in Washington, DC. Tracey earned a bachelor’s degree from
Morgan State University, and she graduated cum laude from the
University of Baltimore School of Law. She subsequently served
as judicial clerk to The Honorable Arrie W. Davis, the most
senior judge on the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland and,
through the United States Attorney General’s Honors Program, she
served as attorney advisor to The Honorable Gail A. Randall,
Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Office
of Administrative Law Judges. Tracey’s experience includes work
as a staff attorney for a women’s center where she primarily
focused on obtaining protective orders for women victimized by
domestic violence. Her practice at the women’s center also
involved resulting family law matters, including divorce and
child custody and support proceedings. Tracey currently
practices as an attorney at the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA), Office of the General Counsel, in Washington, DC. Her work
includes drafting proposed legislation, drafting regulations for
publication in the Federal Register, reviewing for legal
sufficiency regulations drafted by other VA components,
litigation matters filed in the Federal courts (primarily the
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), and
matters involving fee agreements and the accreditation of
attorneys, claims agents, and representatives. Tracey also
serves as a mediator for employment-related disputes arising
within VA. She is a member of the bars of Maryland, the District
of Columbia, and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Elizabeth Matienzo Bray - Member-at-Large
Judy Pham
- Member-at-Large
Lynn Campbell - Immediate Past Co-Chair
Lynn
Campbell is retired from the Department of Defense after 33
years of service with most of her career spent as a manager of
people and projects. During her career she received numerous
awards including the Meritorious Civilian Service Award and
awards for her contributions to the Baltimore Federal Women's
Council and NSA's Federal Women's Program. Her
assignment as manager of the Office of Diversity Programs and as
Federal Women’s Program Manager at the National Security Agency
provided her with extensive background in workplace equity and
career development issues for women and minorities. She earned a
B.A. in Management Studies from University of Maryland
University College and is a member Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
Since retirement, Lynn has focused her interests on maintaining
the quality of life of our county’s senior citizens. She has
worked for the Department of Aging and Disabilities as staffer,
consultant and volunteer. She is a free lance writer,
editorial assistant and community correspondent for Generations
Newspaper – Active Lifestyles for the 50+ Generation, which has
a distribution of about 30,000 copies in Anne Arundel and Howard
Counties. Lynn is a life-long resident of Anne Arundel County
and lives in the Elmhurst community in Severn with her husband,
Richard.
Mary Cohn
Mary Cohn has had a lifelong
involvement with healthcare. Trained as a registered nurse, the majority of
Mary’s working life was in the specialty of psychiatric nursing but has also
worked in the areas of medical/surgical services, orthopedics, and drug and
alcohol rehabilitation. Mary is currently employed at Anne Arundel Medical
Center on the Special Care Unit.
When Mary wasn’t working as a nurse she has worked as a teacher’s aide at Temple
Beth Shalom Nursery School and as a substitute teacher at Indian Creek School
(Lower School). She enjoyed doing research and consulting with callers regarding
parenting questions at Tot’s Line in Anne Arundel County.
Her volunteering efforts include serving as secretary on the Annapolis Youth
Services Advisory Board and serving on the Board of Girls on the Run. Mary is
currently enrolled as a Graduate student at the College of Notre Dame of
Maryland pursuing a Master’s in Nursing Administration. Mary has lived most of
her adult life in Anne Arundel County and is very proud of her two children Zac
and Eva.
Ashleigh Davenport
Phyllis Marshall - Immediate Past Co-Chair
Phyllis Marshall, M.S.W. has worked in the
Health and Mental Health field for thirty years. She has headed
a psychiatric hospital, a state mental health agency, a landmark
mental health demonstration project, a national managed
behavioral health education and advocacy project, and most
recently, a national women's health information project. Ms.
Marshall has consulted on health policy, management and advocacy
issues with professional care providers and consumers of Mental
Health, Mental Retardation and Chemical Addiction services in
the United States, Canada and Europe. She and her husband,
Randy, live in Edgewater, MD. Phyllis serves on the Board of the
Anne Arundel County Mental Health Agency, is a member of the
Advisory Board for Anne Arundel Community College’s Aging
Studies Program, and is involved with the New Annapolitans
organization.
Tonja McCoy
Tonja
McCoy has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the
University of Hawaii, a Bachelor’s Degree in International
Studies and Business from Chaminade University of Honolulu,
a Management Certificate in Community Economic Development
from San Diego State University and a Mediation Certificate
from Loyola Law School Center for Conflict Resolution.
She has over seven years of experience in entrepreneurship
training and first-hand experience in business development,
international and national; in business plan writing; grant
research; youth entrepreneurship; youth development; mediation;
arbitration; community economic development and non-profit
management. Her success can be measured by the fact that 99% of
the disadvantage youth attending her programs have gone on to
college.
Tonja currently works for the Anne Arundel County Board of
Education as a School/ Community Engagement Liaison. She works
to establish community partnerships and community based and/or
sponsored academic and social options for targeted students. She
provides leadership and facilitates meetings between school and
central office staff, community representatives and parents. She
also assists AACPS with meeting their Office of Civil Rights
Memorandum of Agreement goals. Tonja lives in Glen Burnie.
Debi L. Meeks
Debi
Meeks is a vice president at Goldman Sachs and has been with the
firm for ten years. She has operations oversight for offices in
Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; Wilmington, DE and Bermuda.
She is a project manager for Goldman’s signature volunteer
program, Community TeamWorks, and works closely with a number of
non-profits. She was previously in a regional leadership
role with Ernst & Young and managed Mobil’s Government Relations
office.
Debi holds a B.S. Degree in Business Administration from
Salisbury University. She earned a Human Resources
Certificate from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and
Labor Relations and a Facilities Professional Leadership
Certificate from the Building Owners and Managers Institute.
Debi is an advocate for affordable housing and has served on the
Board of Directors with Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake
(formerly Arundel Habitat) since 2007. She survived a
pulmonary embolism and works with the Vascular Disease
Foundation to promote educational programs on blood clots.
Debi has lived in Anne Arundel County most of her life, is
happily married and very proud of her three children – an
elementary school teacher and two honor roll athletes.
Judy Pham
Judy Pham has a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from UMBC and
completed the Physician’s Assistant Program at Howard University
in Washington D.C. Upon graduation, she worked in the federal
prison system and at Howard Hospital, Sibley Memorial Hospital
and George Washington University Hospital. Judy currently works
at the Anne Arundel Medical Center. Prior to becoming a
Physician Assistant, she volunteered at Meal on Wheels, Holy
Cross Hospital and Howard Hospital. She also disseminated
research information on HIV to underprivileged hospitals and
public health facilities in South Africa and Zimbabwe through a
program organized by the National Minority AIDS Research Program
at Howard University. Judy resides in North County.
Ellen Ponder
Barbara Taylor
Judith Duncan Tomelden, Ed.D
Judy
Tomelden is the Executive Director of the Maryland Society for
Educational Technology, a nonprofit that advances excellence in
learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of
technology. She works closely with the Maryland State
Department of Education, representatives from the 24 school
districts in Maryland, corporate partners and sponsors to: (1)
advance opportunities for professional development aligned with
Maryland’s standards, (2) advocate for policies and resources to
support the effective use of technology to improve teaching and
learning, and (3) grow a, self-renewing 21st century learning
organization. She retired from the Prince George’s County
Public Schools as the Chief of Instructional Technology and was
recognized by the Senate of Maryland for her 32 years of
dedicated service as an educator. Judy received the Judith
Ruchkin Research and the Team Leadership awards from the
Maryland ASCD for her dissertation work and for a cohort program
she developed collaboratively with staff members from Towson
University.
Judy serves as the Treasurer for the Anne Arundel County
branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW),
and was their Public Policy Chair for a two-year term. She
participates in the AAUW Book Sale each November in Anne Arundel
County. Proceeds for this event provide scholarship monies
for young women completing their studies at AACC as they
continue their education at Maryland 4-year colleges.
As the mother of two grown sons, she is the very proud
grandmother of three. Her older son is an accounting
director in the UK and her younger son, a major in the United
States Army, recently returned from a one-year tour in Bagdad.
Judy enjoys participating in the 9:30 Music Ministry at Holy
Family Church in Davidsonville and attending Navy football games
in Annapolis.
Rhonda S. Ulmer
Rhonda
Ulmer is a mother of three, Leadership Anne Arundel graduate, and parent
involvement consultant for the Maryland State Department of Education and
National PTA.
When Rhonda is not volunteering, she enjoys photography and
traveling abroad. She has traveled to countries in Africa,
Asia, and Europe. Rhonda is passionate about causes
affecting children, youth, and families. She received the
AmeriCorps Alum Eli J. Segal Entrepreneurship Award,
to create University for Parents, an organization that
provides parent education, resources, and support to
strengthen families in the community.
Rhonda was honored as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women. She
has received the YWCA of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
Honorary TWIN Award, North Arundel County Alumnae Chapter of
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. - Dr. Thelma T. Daley Pearl
Award and the highest National PTA Award for her leadership
and excellence in community partnerships performed in Anne
Arundel County. Rhonda and her family reside in
Odenton. She is employed by Johns Hopkins HealthCare.
Associate Members
Alexis Henderson
Tammy Malinich
Ruth A. Milazzo-Knox
Ruth
Milazzo-Knox is an Annapolis resident and retired
teacher. She earned a BA from Marywood University, Scranton, Pa,
a Master's in Education from the University of Maryland, College
Park, A National Defense Education Act Fellowship and a Johns
Hopkins Achievement Award for developing technology for
handicapped students. She is currently Secretary of the Arts
Council of Anne Arundel County, a member of the Anne Arundel
County Commission on Disability Issues and secretary for
Accessible Resources for Independence.
Tracey Pribble
Student Associate Member
Rachel Roth
Rachel
Roth is a resident of Harwood, Maryland and attends Southern
Senior High School. She is entering eleventh grade as an honor
student and is enrolled in numerous advanced placement courses.
She is involved in her school’s drama program and is a member of
the county’s Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Program. She has
danced for the past ten years with Ballet Theatre of Maryland
and has progressed to the advanced level. Through her church,
Grace Evangelical Presbyterian, she serves the community and is
a teen leader in her youth group. She is looking forward to
working alongside the Commission to encourage her peers to
improve their scholastic potential and self esteem. Through her
interest in government and politics, she anticipates tracking
legislation that affects women in the county.