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ChesMRC appoints 6 new board members

Easton, Maryland, February 20, 2017 –The Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center (ChesMRC) has appointed six new members to its Board of Directors: Ramon Gras, Constance Hope, Robert Kelly, Dr. John Hawkins Miller, Samantha Parker and Harvey Zendt.

Ramon Gras lives in Easton and presently provides legal counsel, direction and representation to businesses and individuals throughout Maryland’s Midshore. Fluent in Spanish, Ramon serves the Eastern Shore’s Hispanic community at large. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Mr. Gras received his law degree in 2001 and began practicing law in the state of Maryland in 2004. He is currently a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, the Talbot County Bar Association and the California Bar Association. Mr. Gras previously has served on the board of directors for several local organizations including the Easton Rotary Club, The Avalon Foundation and Audubon Center of Pickering Creek.

Constance Hope currently resides in St. Michaels, MD and brings over 35 years of experience in leader development, corporate governance, and organizational communication in international and multicultural workplaces. Constance is an active organizer and facilitator in the ongoing “Conversation on Race” in Talbot County, Maryland and has had professional experience in 36 countries and has also lived, studied and traveled in 22 others. Ms. Hope is passionate about learning about different cultures, both local and global and is driven by a desire to promote greater understanding among people of diverse backgrounds.

Bob Kelly (Ph.D. Rutgers University) is Professor Emeritus at Le Moyne College where he held the Fallon Endowed Professorship and served as the Acting Dean of Arts & Sciences. He taught courses in research design, law & social science, marriage & families, and demography, and conducted research on the uses of social science knowledge in family court matters, the legal representation of children in child protection cases, alternatives to foster care, and custodial and spousal-support outcomes of divorce. Bob is Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Board of Child Care, a large not-for-profit provider of residential, educational, and clinical services to children and their families in Maryland, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Bob has volunteered with ChesMRC since 2014 and currently heads the Easton High School group mentoring Hispanic students preparing for college.

Dr. John H. Miller, PhD, co-facilitates literature classes at the Academy for Lifelong Learning at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum where he previously served as the museum’s VP of Advancement. Prior to this he was a major gifts officer at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to his administrative roles he has taught at Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh, Washington College, and American University.

Samantha Parker is the Owner of Parker Consulting, LLC with 19 years experience through the ranks, from support to oversight, of health and education programs to youth and adults. She is an active community member and avid learner.  Parker Consulting delivers her talent for organization through programmatic evaluation, data mining, strategic planning, group facilitation, training, and evaluation of tangible space to groups and individuals.

After 35 years in education, which included running schools in Pennsylvania, Oregon and Delaware, Harvey Zendt has recently moved to the area and is active in a number of peace/social justice initiatives, most importantly Mayors For Peace. Harvey’s current commitments include serving on the Boards of the Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center and the Talbot Interfaith Shelter. He also works as an ESL teacher and volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. He is a member of Third Haven Friends Meeting in Easton. Harvey, like Bob Kelly, also heads the Easton High School initiative mentoring Hispanic students preparing for college.

Said Robert Etgen, President of the ChesMRC Board, “We are thrilled to have such diverse and extremely qualified individuals join the board. All of these new members are long-time residents of the Eastern Shore and extremely active and dedicated members of our community. Their experience and knowledge of the locality are integral to furthering the ChesMRC’s communication and outreach mission, and we are excited to bring their expertise to our organization.”

Founded in November, 2012, The Chesapeake Multicultural Resource Center (ChesMRC) empowers people from different cultures to become successful and engaged members of our community by coordinating educational and informational programs. Since its inception, ChesMRC has provided services to more than 2,000 non-English speakers in Talbot and surrounding counties, involving over 4,000 separate requests for information and referral. For more information, please visit our website at www.chesmrc.org.