Talbot Democratic Party Nominates Six Candidates to Talbot County Board of Education Redistricting Commission
At the request of the Talbot County Council, the Talbot County Democratic Party has submitted six citizens of our County for consideration by the Council to serve on the Talbot County Board of Education Redistricting Commission. Of these six, the County Council will select four to serve on the Commission.
We have put forward a strong, diverse group of Talbot’s citizens that are truly representative of the County in which we live. Further, to meet our firm belief that partisan politics should actually play as small a role possible no matter the type or level of redistricting efforts, we have also put forward candidates with strong bipartisan backgrounds, including a candidate appointed by incumbent Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan and a candidate that served in the Department of Education during the Bush Administration. Finally, I am proud to note that we have continued our tradition of nominating a current TCPS student, this time a Senior at Easton High School, to serve on the 2021 Commission.
We are truly appreciative of these individuals who stepped up to offer their time and energy to the service of our County.
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Megan Berman was born and raised in Talbot County and has always prioritized helping others in our beautiful community. In 2018, after a ten-year career in the environmental industry, Megan decided to shift her full-time job to raising and guiding her twin daughters, both of whom are now enrolled in the Talbot County Public Schools system.
Megan is very active in the volunteer community in Talbot County and follows school-related issues with great interest and attention. Megan’s daughters are both set to attend Pre-Kindergarten at St. Michaels Elementary School this Fall, and she is more than happy to volunteer her time to help determine what the school system her daughters are only just beginning their journey with will look like over the next ten years. Invested in the educational success of her daughters, Megan routinely monitors school board meetings and education-related issues in the County.
Megan is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park. From Megan: “I would be honored to be selected for this Commission and help create a fair and logical districting plan for the next ten years.”
George Dappert is a retired senior financial executive focusing most of his time on volunteering for not-for-profit organizations and initiatives. In addition to his weekly homebuilding service commitments, George also serves as Treasurer, Board Member, and Chair of the Finance Committee for Habitat for Humanity Choptank. Serving on this Commission would not be George’s first venture into civic responsibility-themed volunteerism; last Fall, George was proud to serve his community as an Election Judge for the Talbot County Board of Elections.
A detail-oriented, service-driven worker, George has 30+ years’ experience in corporate governance, strategic planning, project management, and other aspects of C-suite business structures. George received his BS in Chemical Engineering and his MBA in Finance from Cornell University. George is excited and humbled by the opportunity to serve on the Commission. From George: “Both of my children are graduates of TCPS and both benefited greatly from the experience. I will work hard to make sure the same is true for all families in Talbot County.”
Dr. Edward “Ed” Delaney is an accomplished educator, consultant and administrator with an earned doctorate and more than forty-five years of university teaching, research, and administrative experience. He is recognized for his experience in organizational development, strategic development, strategic planning, and public policy analysis. Ed’s professional experience in educational institutions includes serving as Assistant Vice President for Planning and Research at George Mason University, as well as the Deputy Director of the Institute for Educational Transformation at George Mason. At the federal level, Ed served as a Senior Fellow within the National Center for Education Statistics for the U.S. Department of Education.
Since moving to Trappe decades ago, Ed has become very active in the local community. He has served in a variety of positions on the Board of Directors for Waterfowl Chesapeake since 2004 and served a term on the Board of Directors for Shore Leadership. Ed also served as Executive Vice President & CEO of the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center for the Wildfowl Trust of North America.
Ed received his MA in Adult Education from Manhattan College, his MA in Human Relations and Social Policy from New York University, and his Ph.D in Higher Education and Organizational Studies from New York University. With a career in education administration and data analytics under his belt, Ed can provide a unique, professional perspective in advance of the Commission’s goals. From Ed: “I believe the key to success will be building consensus around the goals and objectives of the Commission. If the Council believes I have something to contribute, I am happy to serve.”
Leslie Hamburger is an experienced development-focused professional, with a focused skillset in not-for-profit development. She has also enjoyed a long career in the entertainment industry in various positions, from Executive Assistant to the President of a film division for a television-film production company. To many of Talbot County’s students and young adults, however, she is just Mrs. Hamburger – everybody’s favorite substitute teacher!
With an unrelenting passion for service, Leslie has worked across countless strands of Talbot’s wide web of charitable organizations. From the Executive Committee of the Talbot County Arts Council to serving as the school liaison to promote student participation in Talbot’s Empty Bowls organization and her work on the Program Committee for Talbot Mentors, Leslie has always had a passion for community service. In addition to her work as a substitute teacher for TCPS, Leslie has been the go-to parental volunteer. She’s worn the hat of President of the White Marsh Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization and the Supervisor of the Homework Club; she has received numerous awards and accolades from TCPS for her work and has been actively involved in the Milken Scholars program within the Milken Family Foundation.
Leslie graduated from California State University and is an active runner and music aficionado. She will bring to the Commission the important perspective of a TCPS parent with years of involvement with the local school system. From Leslie: “I am honored to be among the six fantastic candidates for the Redistricting Commission. It is my hope the Commission recommends a plan that is fair and representative of the beautiful, diverse community we live in.”
Keasha Haythe is an economic development veteran with almost twenty years of experience managing economic development organizations, structuring commercial deals, and securing financing for local and regional businesses. A native and lifelong resident of Talbot County, Keasha is committed to bringing opportunities back home and serving her community. She has worked on development-related projects across the State of Maryland and was appointed by Governor Hogan to serve on the Maryland Partnership Marketing Board. She has also served as President of the Maryland Economic Development Association. From the tens of millions of dollars in local, county, state, and federal investments she has secured over her career, there is a good chance Keasha’s hard work and dedicated efforts have helped grow the businesses and communities you personally rely upon and reside in!
The proud mother of a TCPS graduate, Keasha understands the value and importance of equitable access to a high-quality education. Years ago, Keasha established The Foundation of HOPE to serve underprivileged girls in the sixth grade attending Easton Middle School. The program covers topics such as dealing with low self-esteem, bullying, social media, workforce development, economic and community development, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and much more. Keasha has served on the Superintendents Advisory Council, the Chesapeake College Advisory Council, and has volunteered within Talbot’s schools as a Character Counts coach.
Keasha received her Associates of Arts degree in Business Administration from Chesapeake College and is expected to receive her BA in Political Science from Arizona State University in 2021. She has received numerous professional certifications and received the 2015 NAACP Harriet Tubman Medal of Honor, the 2015 Daily Record’s Top 100 Women Award, the 2014 Ministers and Citizens for Change Honors Award, and was featured in What’s Up Eastern Shore’s ‘Movers and Shakers under 40’ publication. From Keasha: “As a lifetime resident of Talbot County, it is an honor to be asked to lend my experience and knowledge of the County to the Board of Education Redistricting Commission.”
Maxwell McCall is the Talbot County Democratic Party’s student nominee for the Board of Education Redistricting Commission. When he’s not diligently studying to uphold his perfect GPA at Easton High School or helping his mother at their local small business, Chesapeake Blooms, Max is your standard Generation Z ‘jack of all trades.’ He’s volunteered at both the Waterfowl Festival, as well as the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at Horn Point Laboratory, is an experienced web developer, is a member of an investment club that has taught him valuable lessons in how to weather a storm of COVID-related stock volatility, participates in both the Debate and It’s Academic clubs in his school, and volunteered as a cameraman for the 2019 Plein Air festival.
What originated as a curiosity, morphed into a hobby, and developed into a skillset, Max has dedicated hundreds of hours to data analysis and political mapmaking. Over the past year, Max has designed 372 alternate congressional districts across 27 states with 250K population limits. He has mapped, colored, and calculated precinct-level election data on the statewide, federal, and presidential level for 4 separate elections and has done the same for county-level election date for statewide and presidential elections across 1,021 counties and 15 states.
A senior at Easton High School, Max is a member of both the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society. He will be attending Vanderbilt University in the Fall of 2021. From Max: “I've tried to make the best of my COVID-19 lockdown by learning as much as I can about politics and I've found mapping elections to be a great way to do that. I hope to be given the opportunity to continue learning, as well as offer the skills and time I can, in service of the Commission.”