These Maryland leaders will head up TEDCO’s board in the coming year

For 2023-2024, Maryland state funding and investment agency TEDCO has appointed a new board of directors who collectively represent wide geographic swaths and industries within the state’s startup and technology scene.

TEDCO recently announced this cohort of board members and leaders, which includes the reelection of many alongside a few new faces. In its annual election, the investment entity reappointed Chair Omar Muhammad, director of Morgan State University’s Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center; Vice Chair Ellen Flowers-Fields, vice president of the College of Southern Maryland’s Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development; Treasurer Jeffrey Rhoda, a retired executive who most recently served in a position overseeing IBM’s operations in China; and Assistant Treasurer Eben Smith,  president of Three|E Consulting Group in Prince George’s County. Newly elected is Secretary Kathie Callahan Brady, who replaces Johns Hopkins University’s Jennifer Elisseeff.

Callahan Brady is the president and CEO of the Frederick Innovative Technology Center — a role she’s held since 2016. She also founded four companies and spent 30 years in IT, real estate and business development. Callahan Brady is the latest member of a board whose members span Baltimore, the DC suburbs, the Eastern Shore and western Maryland.

This year, Muhammad said that he looks forward to pushing forth the Cultivate Maryland initiative, which he hopes will support an innovation economy in the state. With the program, TEDCO plans to increase the state’s competitiveness and support worker attraction and retention.

“Our work has focused on supporting TEDCO’s mission of creating an enhanced, diverse and inclusive ecosystem throughout the state, and we look forward to continuing this mission through the various resources and programs TEDCO has to offer,” said Muhammad in a written statement.

TEDCO’s board is managed by 19 members, with 14 of those roles appointed by the state’s governor and confirmed by the Maryland State Senate. The president of that legislative body appoints two of the remaining members, and two are appointed by the speaker of Maryland’s House of Delegates — all for staggered, four-year terms. The final member is the Maryland Secretary of Commerce.

The remaining board members for 2023 are:

• Rondall Allen, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• John Bohanan, Cornerstone Government Affairs
• Clifford Coppersmith, Chesapeake College
• Kevin Anderson, Maryland Department of Commerce
• Matthew Lee, FASTech
• Myra Norton, Arena Analytics
• Amita Shukla, Vitamita
• Chung Hei Sing, Applied Derivative Research
• David Tohn, BTS Software Solutions
• Robert Wells, Baker Donelson
• Thomas Bundy III, Lawrence & Bundy

Bundy is the newest member of the board and regularly represents Fortune 500 companies in his law practices.

“Our board continues to bring invaluable experience and perspectives to TEDCO,” said Troy LeMaile-Stovall, TEDCO CEO. “We thank last year’s executive officers for the service and dedication they offered. To returning members, we cannot wait to continue working with you — together, I know we can achieve a more diverse and sustainable innovation ecosystem in Maryland.”