Organizational Leaders and Vision, Mission and Values
Brenda Donald
Secretary
Brenda Donald is the Secretary for the Maryland Department of Human Resources (DHR). She provides leadership to nearly 7,000 employees who provide foster care, adoption and protective services to children; collect and distribute child support payments; and administer temporary cash, food stamps and medical assistance to families. Last year, DHR served 638,000 people in need.
Prior to her appointment by Governor Martin O`Malley in February of 2007, Ms. Donald served as Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, Families and Elders for the District of Columbia. She directed nine agencies that provided an array of social services to more than 200,000 residents. She was also the director of the District`s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), with 950 employees serving 6,000 abused and neglected children. Ms. Donald originally joined CFSA as chief of staff in 2001.
Ms. Donald has over 25 years of senior management experience in both the public and non-profit sectors. She earned a bachelor`s degree in journalism from George Washington University and a master`s degree in public administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is a graduate of the Harvard University Executive Leadership Institute, and a 1995 fellow of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's prestigious Children and Family Fellowship program.
Stacy L. Rodgers
Deputy Secretary for Programs
Stacy Rodgers is responsible for the Child Support Administration, the Family Investment Administration, and the Office of Grants Management at DHR. In addition, she oversees programs at nearly all of the 24 local departments of social services. She has also led DHR`s strategic planning and accreditation processes.
Prior to becoming deputy secretary, Ms. Rodgers managed the office of planning, accountability and customer service for the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services and served as Deputy Director for the Department of Human Services in the District of Columbia. She also was a member of DHR's executive staff from 1990 to 2000.
Ms. Rodgers has more than 20 years experience in managing federal, state and local government agencies and non-profit organizations. She earned a bachelor`s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a master`s degree in public administration from the University of Baltimore. She graduated from the Harvard University Executive Leadership Institute and the National Forum for Black Public Administrators' Executive Leadership Institute.
Brian L. Wilbon
Deputy Secretary of Operations
Brian Wilbon oversees DHR`s $1.5 billion operational budget, all human resource development, training, facilities management and technology infrastructure. He also serves as DHR`s chief financial officer.
Prior to becoming deputy secretary, Mr. Wilbon served as interim director of the Department of Human Services in the District of Columbia and chief of staff in the office of the deputy mayor for Children, Youth, Families, and Elders in the District of Columbia.
He is a result-oriented executive with more than 15 years of experience in the financial, operations and healthcare industries. He specializes in project management, staff supervision and training, federal revenue maximization, accounting and finance, procedural compliance review and auditing, budget planning and execution, and Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. He earned a bachelor`s degree in accounting from Hampton University.
Nancy C. Lineman
Communications Director
Nancy Lineman is responsible for long-term and strategic day-to-day communications operations for DHR. She interfaces with local directors, coalition partners and policy experts to communicate complex social services practices and procedures to the public.
Prior to becoming communications director, Ms. Lineman served a variety of communications positions in state and local government. She also served as executive director of Maryland`s reproductive rights organization from 1999-2002.
Ms. Lineman has nearly 12 years of communications experience. She earned a bachelor`s degree in mass communications from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and is currently earning her law degree from the University of Maryland.
Carnitra White
Executive Director
Social Services Administration
Carnitra White oversees the state`s foster care and adoption system, adult services and child protective services. She has successfully secured over $2 million in grant funding for various social services programs.
Ms. White started her career at DHR in 1993 as a Purchase of Care (POC) worker at Baltimore City DSS. She was formerly the Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Programs for Maryland Department of Human Resources and manager of the Office of Strategic Management at the Baltimore City Department of Social Services.
Ms. White has a bachelor`s degree in communications from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland and a master`s degree in social work from the University of Maryland. She resides in Baltimore and is active with numerous community and social organizations.
Kevin McGuire
Executive Director
Family Investment Administration
Kevin McGuire is responsible for administering food stamps, temporary cash assistance, disability assistance and energy assistance to Maryland`s economically disadvantaged residents. Since his tenure began, Maryland has been millions of dollars in grants, incentives and high performance bonuses from the federal government and has one of the highest TANF work participation rates in the nation.
Prior to becoming executive director, McGuire worked in New York City`s Human Resources Administration where he helped plan and implement the state`s successful welfare reform efforts reducing the public assistance caseload from over 1.1 million persons to under 400,000.
Mr. McGuire earned a bachelor`s degree from the State University of New York, College at Oneonta and completed the post-graduate program in social work and training at Hunter College. He also serves as Vice President of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA).
Joseph Jackins
Executive Director
Child Support Enforcement Administration
Joe Jackins is responsible for working with hospitals and other health care providers to establish paternity when babies are born; petitioning the court to set child support amounts and finding and delivering child support monies to custodial parents.
Prior to becoming executive director, Mr. Jackins worked for 23 years as a certified public accountant for Air Cargo, Inc. and was the company`s secretary/chief financial officer for 12 of those years.
Mr. Jackins has worked to improve child support processes for DHR by focusing on internal and external customers and making child support policies and procedures more customer-friendly while meeting the performance standards set by state and federal lawmakers. Mr. Jackins holds a bachelor`s degree in personnel management from the University of Maryland.
VISION
We envision a Maryland where people independently support themselves and their families and where individuals are safe from abuse and neglect.
MISSION
We will aggressively pursue opportunities to assist people in economic need, provide prevention services, and protect vulnerable children and adults.
Our Mission is based on the following principles:
- Work is indispensable for achieving independence.
- Partnerships and alliances with business and the community are critical to our customers' ability to achieve and maintain independence.
- Families should be the first resource for the emotional and financial support of their children and other family members.
- Assistance is provided to people while honoring individual and group differences.
- Empowerment is essential to the provision of human services.
ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES
- Valuing and acquiring knowledge for the development of staff and for making informed decisions.
- Basing behavior on ethical principles and working with integrity.
- Measuring outcomes and being accountable for results.
- Investing in teamwork to accomplish our mission.
- Valuing each other and respecting different views, opinions, and experiences.
- Seizing opportunities for organizational excellence through innovation and creativity.
- Learning from our experiences and celebrating our accomplishments.
- Promoting employee well-being.