About the Miriam's House Board
Over the past three years, this Board of Directors has carefully created a structure that emphsasizes a sound organization and accountability at the individual, committee, and Board levels. Each member belongs to at least one of six committees -
* Executive
* Board Development
* Program Excellence and Growth
* Fundraising
* Audit
* Public Relations
- which take their challenge statements and annual work plans from the Strategic Plan. Committees are asked to meet at least twice between the bi-monthly Board meetings, and to submit a written report 2 weeks before each meeting. The Executive Committee, which meets one week before the bi-monthly meeting, reviews these reports and flags concerns.
Communication is important to our Board. Our yahoo!group site has been instrumental in keeping us well informed and connected:
* members can easily email the group with reminders, updates, sharing, and information
* all reports, meeting minutes and documents are posted one week before each meeting
* vital legal documents, such as the by-laws, are posted and available at all times
* polls are conducted between meetings for time-sensitive voting matters.
The Directors are on the Board because something in their hearts has been touched by the women and children at Miriam's House. Board work can sometimes seem remote from the daily lives of our residents. To help mitigate that, we created the annual State of the House event, co-led by Board members and residents and designed to celebrate Miriam's House at the end of one fiscal year and start of the next. Additionally, members participate in various House activities such as the Holiday Party, the Fannie Mae Walkathon, and the Community Celebration / Talent Show.
Barbara Clark, MSN, CRNP
Barbara Clark is a Nurse Practitioner with over 30 years experience working with underserved communities. In addition to clinical practice, since 1990 she has been a member of the senior management teams at clinics in three different cities, all targeting homeless, indigent, and HIV-infected women and men. She is currently the Clinical Director at Mobile Medical Care, Inc. in Montgomery County. She has been a member of the Ryan White HIV Planning Councils in both Baltimore and Cleveland, and is experienced in conducting community needs assessments and in program planning. Barbara has written grants that were successfully funded by a variety of funders, including federal and state agencies as well as private foundations and organizations. She has international experience and considers culturally sensitive care to be a priority for all health care consumers. Barbara has been a member of the Miriam's House Board since September 2005, serves as President, and sits on three committees: Executive, Public Relations, and Program Excellence and Growth.
Chris Clover
Chris Clover has a passion for serving others and has been using his background in accounting to do that for the last 10 years. Chris graduated with a BS in Accounting from Grove City College in western Pennsylvania, and worked nine years at a local, DC, public accounting firm before forming his own business, Ace of Clovers, in 2007. His background includes nonprofit accounting, tax, and audit work along with assisting individuals and small businesses in bookkeeping and tax needs. Chris is active in his church with donating time to projects such as Soaring over Seven and Turkey Outreach. He is currently excited to be celebrate his marriage in December 2008. Chris has been a Miriam's House board member since January 2008; yet he has been a long-time special friend - Miriam's House was his first non-profit client when he was fresh out of college. He serves as Board Treasurer.
Michael S. Cooley, PMP
Michael Cooley is a Principal at E3 Federal Solutions, LLC and consults as a Project Manager at the Department of Homeland Security within the Chief Financial Officers organization. He previously founded and chaired the Charitable Action Committee for CompuShearch Software Systems, Inc. Michael managed Compusearch's annual budget for charitable activities, gathered donations and led the committee in various charitable works and events throughout the year with DC-based or local chapters including: Teardrops to Rainbows, One World Youth Project, and Hearts & Hammers. He is an active member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the National Contract Management Association (NCMA). Michael has been a member of the Miriam's House Board of Directors since September 2007 and is Chair of the Board Development Committee.
Marina Colby, JD
Marina Colby currently serves as Special Assistant to the Director of the International Labor Organization Washington Office - a specialized agency of the U.N. Previously, she served as a Rule of Law Legal Specialist in Uzbekistan for the American Bar Association's Rule of Law Initiative. Here she worked with Uzbek lawyers to open the first human rights law firm in Uzbekistan.
Marina's other professional experience includes managing a multi-million dollar corporate funding initiative supporting domestic violence and legal service providers across the United States and in several countries abroad at the National Network to End Domestic Violence; serving as a Policy Analyst at the US Department of Justice; and working as a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill.
Marina received her B.A. in International Studies at the University of Wisconsin/Oshkosh; her J.D. at the University of Wisconsin Law School; and has completed graduate course work at the Unviersity of Groningen in the Netherlands and at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, DC. She has been a member of the Miriam's House Board of Directors since July 2006, and sits on the Fundraising Committee.
Carol D. Marsh, Founder/Executive Director
Carol Marsh has been with Miriam's House since its origins in December 1992, beginning as project coordinator during the purchase and renovation stages, and becoming E.D. with the beginning of the formal organization. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education, and graduate course work in Opera Performance. Prior to Miriam's House, Carol worked at Samaritan Inns, as a residential manager in their program for pregnant homeless women, and at Jubilee Jobs, as a job counselor providing employment preparation and job placement for the unemployed. She has volunteered in the buddy program at Whitman-Walker Clinic. In 2001, she completed the certificate program at the Non-Profit Leadership Development Institute presented by The Support Center and Georgetown University. Recently, Carol has made workshop presentations about her work with Miriam's House staff on confronting racism and celebrating diversity at an annual conference for Organizational Development consultants, and at the annual conference for the Catholic Network for Volunteer Services, of which Miriam's House is a member. She has also participated on nonprofit management panels at conferences such as the Private/Nonprofit annual conference here in Washington, DC. Carol sits on the Board of Directors of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement. She is an ex-officio member of the Miriam's House Board, and sits on three committees: Executive, Public Relations, and Program Excellence and Growth.
Opal-Dawn Martin, MBA
Opal-Dawn Martin is a Contracts Manager with Corporate Results, Inc. in Vienna, VA. She has worked in government contracting for over twelve years managing multi-million dollar government contracts. Opal-Dawn earned both her MBA and undergraduate degree from Hofstra University. She is a former volunteer with Whitman-Walker Legal Services and has volunteered for over ten years with Food and Friends, a D.C.-based organization that provides specialized meals and groceries to individuals living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses. Opal-Dawn has been a member of the Miriam's House Board of Directors since July 2006, and currently serves as Secretary. She sits on three committees: Executive, Audit and Program Excellence and Growth.
Mark Neidig
Mark Neidig joined Miriam's House board just months before accepting the role of Chief Development Officer at SOS-USA in January 2008. He brings with him a passion for change as exemplified in his life. While VP of Administration for the Indiana based ITAMCO, he was actively involved on numerous not-for-profit boards and initiatives. His desire to make a greater impact on the world prompted relocating to The Gambia, West Africa to serve as Interim National Director for a US NGO. Since returning to the USA, Mark has spent the last fifteen years serving his communities and directing fund raising endeavors in medical centers in the Midwest (Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center and Community Hospital of Bremen) and in the District of Columbia (Washington Hospital Center). Today, in harmony with a talented staff of committed professionals, Mark orchestrates the delivery of lead gifts from passionate individuals, corporations and foundations. Miriam's House is the first board he carefully selected to serve on since moving to The District with his wife Debbie of 26 years. In his words, "Time is something we cannot create. With what I do have to spare, I want to give life and hope to others." He sits on two committees: Board Development and Fundraising.
Tony Lee
Miriam's House welcomes our newest Board member, Tony Lee, elected this Fall. Already, he is Chair of the Public Relations Committee, and providing much-needed guidance in this area. Tony has dedicated both his career and spare time to the development of non-profit organizations. Since April 2008, Tony has served as the Database Administrator for SOS Children's Villages-USA, where he is developing SOS-USA's information systems and marketing efforts. Tony has nearly 8 years experience in direct marketing, fundraising and event managment. Prior to SOS, he worked for the Humane Society of Washingon County in Western Maryland and the National Breast Cancer Coalition in Washington, DC. Outside business hours, he has worked with a variety of organizations, including NARAL and Amnesty International. He has served as an organizer for the March for Women's Lives (2004) and as a member of the Metro DC Steering Committee for NARAL. Tony continues as a volunteer leader with Amnesty International, where he has held multiple Board-appointed and community leadership roles over the past 5 years. Tony is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He chairs the Public Relations Committee.
Amy Nelson, JD
Amy Nelson is a supervising Attorney at the Whitman-Walker Clinic Legal Services Program. Since earning her JD fro George Washington University in 2001, she has represented individuals, for-profit entities and non-profit groups in a variety of settings both civil and criminal. At Whitman-Walker, Amy represents HIV+ and LGBT individuals from around the DC metro area in cases concerning medical care, insurance, debt, estate planning, local and federal public benefits, discrimination and immigration. Amy served as a volunteer attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless for nearly five years providing direct representation to clients on a broad range of civil legal issues. Before coming to DC, she served as a volunteer team leader for several housing rehabilitation programs in Houston, Texas. Amy has been a member of the Miriam's House Board of Directors since July 2006; currently she serves as Vice President and sits on two committees - Executive and Fundraising.
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