THE TEAM

celeste perilla, MSW

meredith dombroski

ADVOCACY DIRECTOR

Celeste is a strategic planner with expertise in project startups and inclusive community engagement. She’s been engaged in public school advocacy and capacity building for the past five years, working closely with parent leaders in public charter and traditional community schools. She engineered DBFA’s #FixTheGap campaign in 2017, mobilizing hundreds of parents in Baltimore and Annapolis to call for adequate school funding. Celeste is a native Baltimorean and Baltimore City School graduate. She lives in Remington.​

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR 

Meredith is a marketing and communications professional leading DBFA’s outreach efforts, membership, and event programming.  A big believer that it takes a village to raise a family, Meredith’s passion is connecting people.  She provides resources for new parents, and insights on city focused family friendly events.
Prior to joining DBFA, Meredith spent years working in advertising and outreach, as well as an extensive history of volunteering in her children’s schools and her community.
Meredith lives in Bolton Hill with her husband and two children.
 

MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHAIR

JON KUCSKAR, ESQ.

Jon Kucskar serves as Advisor to the President at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). Previously, Jon served as  Senior Advisor at the Maryland Public Service Commission, Deputy Legal Counsel to Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, and Senior Attorney at the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). Jon received a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, and a B.S. from Boston College. 
In addition, Jon serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and coach of a youth soccer team in the Charles Village Recreation League. He previously served as president of the law school's Alumni Board and two-time Board member of the Bolton Hill Community Association. Jon is a 2017 graduate of Leadership Maryland. He lives in Bolton Hill with his wife, two daughters (ages 6 and 2) and German Shorthaired Pointer.

​VICE PRESIDENT

SCOTT KASHNOW

Scott Kashnow is a Baltimore native employed as an application developer at the Maryland Department of Health. Scott began his professional career as a Carpenter, completing his union apprenticeship in 1998. In 2007, Scott earned his Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and his Master of Information Systems in 2010.
Scott serves his neighborhood as the Vice President of the Franklin Square Community Association. He also serves on the board of AHC Greater Baltimore, as the Vice President for the Friends of Carroll Park, and as a steering committee member for the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance. For the Southwest Partnership (which he cofounded in 2011), he is the Secretary and the Chair of the Preservation Committee. Scott lives in Franklin Square with his wife and their two sons. Two dogs and one cat also call their 150-year-old rowhouse "home" but are not much help with repairs and renovations.

GALA CHAIR

EILEEN WOLD

Eileen Wold, a Professor at Maryland Institute College of Art, is a conceptual visual artist whose research focuses on issues of sustainability in landscape, energy production, and urban environments.  Wold received her MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art and has been a professor of Visual Arts at several Baltimore Universities.   She has two children and has lived in Baltimore City for ten years. 

Allison Pendell Jones, Past DBFA President and Chair, Community Engagement Committee 
Assistant Director, Resident Services, Greater Baltimore AHC, Inc.

Dr. John Bullock, PhD Legislative Committee and past DBFA Executive Director
​Councilman, Baltimore City Council 

Christie Getman, Governance Committee
Director - Program Performance and Quality, Mercy Corps
​

Kim Humphrey, Esq., Education & Children's Programming Committee
ACLU of Maryland

Joshua J. Gayfield, Legal Committee
Associate Miles & Stockbridge

Aisha Isackson, Education Committee
​President at Isackson Design Group, LLC

Carol Ott, Legislative Committee
​Housing Policy Watch

Jeff Ratnow, Resource Development Committee
Sight-in-Site Real Estate Consulting

Sloane Whelan, Legislative Committee
Senior Vice President, KOFA Public Affairs

Hugh Bethell, Chair, Advisory Council
Port Networks

Tisha Edwards, Advisory Council
​

Brooke Lierman, Advisory Council
Maryland State House of Delegates

Bill Ferguson, Advisory Council
Maryland State Senator