Danista E. Hunte currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Maryland Philanthropy Network. She has a wealth of experience spanning over three decades in the philanthropic and non-profit sector.

Prior to joining the MPN team in 2023, she served as the Executive Director of Child First Authority in Baltimore, where she championed a network of community schools, after-school and summer learning programs; led a diverse team of staff to live out their values and take action to prioritize racial equity; and increased and diversified the organizations budget and board. She has also worked at the Baltimore Community Foundation as a Program Officer, Senior Program Officer, and as Vice President of Community Investment. While there she provided support to family foundations, developed an evaluation and grants monitoring system, and was solely responsible for the foundation's education portfolio. Danista has also held several positions in public health and is a certified Birth Doula.

Danista is a member of ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities and was an ABFE 2007-08 Connecting Leaders Fellow. She was honored in 2019 as one of The Daily Record’s Most Admired CEOs, and she currently serves as a board member for Baltimore’s Promise and the Baltimore City Charter and Operator-Led Schools Advisory Board.

Liz Briscoe has worked in human services and healthcare throughout her career. Most recently, she was the Division Chief of Advocacy and Special Projects along with managing the Baltimore City Health Department Division of Aging & CARE Services MD Access Point (MAP), a no wrong door point of entry for older adults and their families to access support services. The prior eleven years, she was executive director of Action In Maturity (AIM), a Baltimore City senior center ‘without walls’, a unique model which provides activities, education, and senior-friendly transportation programs. 

Liz is a native Baltimorean and attended both Towson and Johns Hopkins Universities. She received Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry/Medical Technology and Mechanical Engineering. She recently graduated from University of Baltimore’s Certified Public Manager Program and is a Weinberg Fellow. She serves on the Boards of Maryland Gerontology Association, Baltimore Transit Campaign, Myerberg Senior Center, Keswick Multi-care; and the Advisory Boards of Comprehensive Housing Association, Inc. (CHAI)’s Aging in Community, Civic Works’ Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors, and Access HEARS (Hearing Equality through Accessible Research).

Elaine Carroll joined MPN in October 2024 as Program Manager for the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative. Working with the Director of the BWFC, Elaine will facilitate the formation and implementation of the new Baltimore Climate and Infrastructure Workforce Hub (The Hub).

The Hub is a coalition of public and private partners established to ensure that coordination, research, planning, and flexible worker supports are available so that high-quality, publicly funded infrastructure jobs are accessible to Baltimore City residents. The work prioritizes pathways to family-sustaining employment for individuals who reside in underinvested neighborhoods, are underrepresented in the trades, and those who are unemployed or currently employed in low-quality jobs.

Elaine comes to MPN after providing over 9 years of local leadership for the Jane Addams Resource Corporation’s (JARC-Baltimore) Careers in Manufacturing programs. Elaine holds Master’s in Social Work and brings a focus on behavioral health and trauma-informed care to the complex issues of workforce development.

Linda provides support to Maryland Philanthropy Network on matters related to workforce development. Her primary role is to staff the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative, a group of public and private funders that convenes to develop strategies and invest resources to advance equity, job quality, and systems change in the greater Baltimore region's workforce ecosystem. She also staffs MPN's statewide Workforce Affinity group.

Linda formerly served as the Executive Director of the Garment Industry Development Corporation – one of the first nationally recognized sector-based workforce partnerships, and as Senior Consultant to the Aspen Institute's Workforce Strategies Initiative. Her work has helped to define the field of sectoral workforce development. Additionally, Linda brings to Maryland Philanthropy Network experience gained through her work with a number of national and regional organizations. Linda holds a Masters Degree from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a post-graduate certificate in Non-Profit Management from the Columbia University School of Business.

Jessye Grieve-Carlson (they/she) serves as the Program and Data Associate at Maryland Philanthropy Network, supporting the development and implementation of impactful learning programs, affinity groups, and collaborative activities across the organization. Jessye has a rich background in the nonprofit and education sectors, most recently serving as the Associate Director of External Affairs & Affiliate Relations with the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Originally from Central Pennsylvania, Jessye moved to Baltimore to earn their bachelor’s degree in Peace Studies from Goucher College, and they have committed themselves to the Baltimore community ever since. Outside of their professional work, Jessye is a hospice volunteer, artist, and photographer.

As the Communications Manager, Charlotte oversees all of MPN's communication platforms and provides support to our member engagement and programming efforts. She leads the continuous development of MPN's integrated website and membership database. Charlotte is MPN's representative for the United Philanthropy Forum's Knowledge Management Collaborative and a member of the Collaborative's Advisory Committee.

Throughout her professional career, Charlotte has worked with various organizations to strengthen branding, improve communications strategies, and leverage technology to streamline processes. Most recently, she served as the Director of Food and Farm Programs for Civic Works, a skills-building service organization. Charlotte earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communication from Christopher Newport University, where she was a Bonner Service Scholar. She grew up all over the U.S. and spent some time living in Nairobi, Kenya before deciding to call Baltimore home. These days she can regularly be seen enjoying Patterson Park with her family or checking out the seasonal offerings at Baltimore’s many farmers' markets.

Elisabeth is currently serving as Vice President of Programs and Engagement for Maryland Philanthropy Network. She manages MPN’s Affinity Groups and 100+ educational programs with a focus on moving funders from learning to actions that support equity and justice.  Elisabeth is the point person for partnerships focused on programming with colleague organizations, and provides members with peer connections and assistance related to a wide variety of philanthropic initiatives and community issues. Building on the collaborative culture established among the team, Elisabeth leads with intentionality to honor all voices and perspectives. Prior to joining Maryland Philanthropy Network in 2007, she worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation as the Leadership Development Program Assistant and was the Administrative Coordinator for a residential treatment facility for chemically dependent women and their children.

With a Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning from Morgan State University, Elisabeth has a great interest in the relationship between people and the natural and built environment. She has a BA in English and French and a minor in Women's and Minorities' Studies from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has served on the Board of Directors of City Neighbors Hamilton as Director of Family Participation and on the board of Blue Water Baltimore. When not at work, she can be found assisting with school and church activities, and spending time outdoors.

As Fiscal Portfolio Transition Consultant, Linda is providing day-to-day support to Maryland Philanthropy Network’s fiscally sponsored organizations as well as managing the transition process for organizations that do not directly support the mission of MPN. Linda is also coordinating and collaborating with external partners and fiscal sponsors to improve the fiscal sponsorship ecosystem in Maryland. She has worked over the past few years to reduce and repair the harm caused by fiscal hosting and will continue to do so in partnership with FSOs over the next year. At the end of 2023, Linda step off the MPN Board of Directors to take on this role.

Linda is founder and trustee of RAW (Redistribute Agency & Wealth) Trust, a private operating foundation. She advocates for the decolonization of wealth and provides resources for the Black community to self-organize. 

With over twenty years of experience in federal, state, and local agencies, Linda actualizes the reform of institutional policies, practices, and perspectives so all people have the equal opportunity to thrive. In her role as the Executive Director of the Baltimore City Office of Child Support Services, she built a culture of trust and accountability. Her work resulted in transformative client experiences, demonstrated by changing feedback from “This place is the absolute worst place in the world” to “Best service I had in 16 years.” Linda has changed institutional culture and created more effective services in multiple roles and geographies: as the Human Services Deputy Director for Wake County, North Carolina; as the Deputy Program & Operations Manager for the Federal Administration for Children & Families in Washington, DC; and as the Technical Director for Family Self Sufficiency for ICF International based in Virginia. 

Her work is enhanced by her formal education, which includes a Bachelor of Science in Information & Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from the University of Baltimore. In Linda’s personal time, she can be found enjoying motorcycle rides on open country roads, seeking adventure in distant countries, white water, or caves, photographing and painting landscapes that stir her soul, and discovering new ways to stay mindful while continuing the work of advancing racial economic justice.

Shanetta Martin serves as Director of Public Policy and Government Relations. In this capacity, Shanetta directs member engagement and learning in public policy, while also creating opportunities for MPN members and leaders to work together to support effective and equitable public policy, for the nonprofit sector, and for all residents of Maryland. Shanetta facilitates member learning, action, and investment through aligned and collaborative efforts for MPN members. In addition, Shanetta plays a leadership role in developing organization-wide strategy and goals. Shanetta is also currently serving as Chair of the United Philanthropy Forum's Public Policy Peer Community.

With over twenty years of experience, Shanetta has worked throughout her career at the national, state, and local levels to build broad-based partnerships that work towards systems change for children, youth, and families. She has worked extensively with family and community foundations in the southwest as well as with our colleagues at the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers. Shanetta’s expertise includes capacity building, nonprofit collaboration, organizational development, and research along with advocacy and public policy. Shanetta holds a Master's Degree in Family Studies from Michigan State University as well as dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Humanities Pre-Law also from Michigan State University. She resides in Baltimore, Maryland.

Megan McSwain is currently serving as Member Engagement Manager with Maryland Philanthropy Network. Through this role, Megan supports efforts to grow and sustain MPN's statewide philanthropic membership. She oversees member data and records to help strengthen relationships with current and prospective members and connect them to the activities of the Network. Megan joined MPN as Program Associate and was part of the 2022-2023 cohort of Baltimore Corps Fellows, a position made possible through the generous general operating support of our members.

Megan is a communications professional with experience in project management, coordinating community outreach, and planning events for non-profits. Megan possesses the ability to build and maintain strong partnerships to help reach organizational objectives while bringing awareness to an organization's collaborative efforts within a community. Megan enjoys long walks with her dog Tinsley at local parks and hitting up Baltimore's foodie scene for brunch.

Marlo Nash is a multi-systems strategist and public policy advocate who centers the well-being of children and families in her work. Throughout her career, Nash has worked on improving outcomes for young children and their families. In her part-time role with Maryland Philanthropy Network, Marlo will serve as content and capacity support and facilitate the meetings of the Prenatal to Five Affinity Group which was created to help funders who are interested in supporting expectant parents, and children from birth through age five and their families improve their grantmaking by learning more about initiatives, educational research, and best practices.

Marlo began in the military child care system at the Presidio of Monterey, led a local child care resource and referral agency in her home state of Oklahoma, worked with corporate leaders and legislators to build a statewide hub and network of public-private early childhood partnerships, served on the Governor’s Task Force for School Readiness, and later led the United Way of America’s Success By 6 initiative and Born Learning Ad Council campaign. Over the years, she has been a participant in the national BUILD Initiative’s network of practitioners, most recently to build bridges to better support young children and their families who struggle to navigate stressors caused by insufficient economic and family support policies.

As an outgrowth of her involvement in helping to shape the federal child welfare system reform law, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, she consults with states and localities in support of developing systems of child and family well-being that are based on a public health model. For this and all of her work, she draws on her training and experience with the Results-Based Accountability model to support leaders in focusing on dismantling systemic racism and its effects, and in making collaborative decisions that lead to population-level results.

In her role as advisor to the board of directors and volunteer co-chair of the National Trauma Campaign, she works with the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy & Practice (CTIPP) to advance neuroscience and knowledge of the science of trauma, developmental adversities and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) into policies, practices and approaches. At the moment, her work with CTIPP is focused on helping early childhood leaders become equipped to respond to the population-level trauma experienced through the COVID-19 pandemic, and the particular ways it has impacted young children, their families and their caregivers.

She brings an extensive network of relationships focused on child and family safety, financial security, health and wellness, particularly for young children and their families. Her high standard for excellence and results is solidly balanced by a belief in nurturing well-being and joy for those around her. She enjoys roller skating and playing games with her young adult daughters, doing crossword puzzles and cooking with her husband, and going on daily runs with her dog.

Elyse provides administrative support to Maryland Philanthropy Network on a day-to-day basis as receptionist, secretary, administrator of financial and other records, office systems, and human resources. She works closely with all senior staff in support of the association's operations, board of directors and committees, data entry and event logistics. Her duties also include calendar scheduling, conference room scheduling, program logistics, ordering office supplies just to mention a few.

Elyse enjoys working at Maryland Philanthropy Network because of the close team/family-like setting and being a part of a team that works hard to inform and better our communities. In her spare time, she likes to spend time with family & friends, play board and card games, and visit her pup-nieces, Miss Yoko, pug mix and Millie, poodle/pug mix.

Kathy Shulman is a mission-driven social justice advocate. Kathy serves as a content expert and facilitates the work of Funders Together to End Homelessness - Baltimore, a local network of a national organization and movement.  Funders Together-Baltimore  engages private and public funders to collaborate and fund solutions to end the structural and racial inequities related to housing instability, homelessness, and supportive services. The ultimate aim of this funder network is to prevent and end homelessness and increase the supply of affordable and safe housing in the Baltimore region.

Most recently, Kathy served as Director of Healthy Food Access for St. Vincent de Paul of Baltimore. For a decade, she built the capacity of its social enterprise, Good Harvest, that serves 5,000 nutritious meals daily to low-income children, homeless families, and senior citizens. Previously, Kathy served as Executive Director of the Governor’s Office on Service and Volunteerism and the Public Justice Center. She started her career in Washington D.C., organizing activists around the country on national political issues.

In 2022, Kathy ran for State Delegate in Baltimore’s 40th District. She and her team learned so much from residents while knocking on 12,500 doors. Residents urged Kathy to work on dramatically increasing the supply of affordable housing, ensuring schools are high quality regardless of zip code, an effective transit system, equitable investment in economic development, jobs paying a living wage, and subsidized childcare.

Ms. Shulman co-founded Harriet’s List, a statewide PAC that raised early money for women running for statewide office in the 1990s. She has been Vice Chair of the Baltimore Orchard Project and Hampden Village Main Street, a Baltimore Peace Challenge Ambassador, and on the board of the Wyman Park Community Association. Shulman is a graduate of Leadership Baltimore. Kathy has a B.A. from Brown University and a master’s degree from Princeton University’s School for Public and International Affairs.

Kathy lives in Baltimore with her husband, Jack Boyson. She loves to cook, spend quality time with friends, be in nature, travel, and sit on her rowhouse stoop.

Jessica joined MPN in April 2024 as the organization’s first Managing Director of Finance and Administration. She has nearly 20 years of wide-ranging accounting and operations experience, holding leadership positions at both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Regardless of industry or job title, her roles have focused on building accounting systems, strengthening internal controls, and championing efficiency. As a resident of Baltimore City, it has become a priority for Jessica to be part of an organization that is improving the community she lives in, and the state that she has always called home.  

Jessica earned a bachelor’s degree from Towson University with a double major in accounting and economics. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Maryland and a member of the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA). Her home is filled with unread books and unlistened to records, but that never discourages her from adding to the collections. She also has a dog, rescued from BARCS, and a husband, rescued from the early days of internet dating.