Aryani Ong, Esq. has served on the MCAEL board since 2005 and as board president since 2007. A nonprofit consultant, Aryani has worked with several national community organizations and universities. She also was a tutor of ESOL abroad and in the U.S.

Prior to consulting, Aryani served as Deputy Director for the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national membership organization with over 50 chapters. At OCA, she was involved with a $3 million capital campaign, strategic planning, capacity building, among other things. She was a project manager and contributing author for the award-winning Voices of Healing: Spirit and Unity after 9/11 in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community and managing editor and lead writer of Responding to Hate Crimes: A Community Action Guide.

Additionally, Aryani worked as a staff attorney at a national civil rights organization that engaged in public policy advocacy, community education and litigation, on behalf of Asian Pacific Americans. She has spoken before several audiences, including as a designated U.S. Expert before the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva. Aryani has clerked on the Hill, at the National Women's Law Center and several government agencies - EEOC, DOJ, FTC and the Human Rights Commission in San Francisco - as well as freelanced at print media as Newsweek.

In her volunteer time, she is involved with Nonprofit Montgomery, the Organization of Chinese Americans - D.C. chapter, Association of Fundraising Professionals-DC chapter, BoardSource, Asian American Political Alliance, Dining for Women and the Racial Diversity Collaborative. She serves as an advisory member of the post 9/11 Betty Ann Ong Foundation, and has served as a board member of the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County and as facilitator for the Study Circles Resource Center around race relations in public schools.

Aryani holds a law degree from George Washington University Law School and a B.A. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. She is a graduate of the Georgetown University's Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and ChevronTexaco Management Institute-sponsored training program, which partnered with the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management.

Dr. Clarice Somersall has been passionately involved in education for nearly four decades. As a resident of Bermuda for 17 years, she taught English at the secondary level and functioned as a reading/resource specialist at the elementary level. Subsequently, she served as a lecturer at the Bermuda College.

In 1988, she relocated to the United States with her family. Since 1989, she has served in various capacities at Montgomery College. Prior to her role as the Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Services, Dr. Somersall served as the Interim Vice President for Academic Initiatives and Partnerships, the Vice President for Learning and Academic Effectiveness, Director of Academic and Student Services (central administration roles), one of the deans in Workforce Development & Continuing Education, a faculty member in the Department of Reading, ESL, Foreign Language and Philosophy, and the first coordinator of the Rockville campus Assessment Center.

During her one-year stint as the Interim Vice President and Provost of the Takoma Park campus, Dr. Somersall had total responsibility for the leadership of the campus, including the management of the capital campaign. As the Director of Academic and Student Services, Dr. Somersall's responsibilities included the oversight of the curriculum approval process, the production of major academic publications, and linkages with the Universities at Shady Grove and the Maryland Higher Education Commission. As manager of the community education division within Workforce Development & Continuing Education, Dr. Somersall supervised non-credit programming in many multi-disciplinary areas, including career development/work skills, developmental education, English as a Second Language, outcomes assessment for nonprofits, and programming for youth and seniors. She also collaborated with external agencies in the establishment of the Hispanic Business Institute, the Health Sciences Institute, the Diversity Management Institute, and the Graduate Transition Program. Moreover, she worked with program directors to offer coursework at governmental sites such as NIST and NIH.

In her present capacity, Dr. Somersall collaborates with the senior vice president for academic and student services on high profile assignments. Dr. Somersall has also retained many of her previous functions. She continues to provide overarching leadership for relationship building with the local school system, the Universities at Shady Grove (University System of Maryland), government, business, nonprofits, and civic organizations. She also has responsibility for the management of all articulation agreements, both domestic and international.

Her efforts as one of the founding board members of MCAEL (the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy) is especially rewarding to her because of her professional experience as a reading specialist for over 25 years.

Dr. Somersall is an avid reader. In her spare time, she also loves to spend time with her family, travel, and garden.

Dr. Muñoz is the founder and CEO of Language Matters, a consulting company which deals with language, communication, and diversity issues in the fields of education, anthropology, medicine, and the law.

Dr. Muñoz received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from Georgetown University.  Her Masters degree, in Sociolinguistics, is also from Georgetown University. Her Bachelors degree, in Linguistics and Spanish, is from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
    
Between 1993 and 2004 she was an Associate Professor in the Graduate Speech Language Pathology Program in the Department of Languages and Communication Disorders at University of the District of Columbia, where she also held the title of Director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program from 1993-1998.

From 2006 until 2008, Dr. Muñoz was Academic Affairs Consultant to the Secretary of Education of Puerto Rico. 

Dr. Muñoz has published and lectured extensively at the local and national levels on the intersection of the fields of education, communication disorders, English as a Second Language, and sociolinguistics, and how these impact the culturally and linguistically diverse populations in the US.  Most recently she has focused on the areas of translation, interpretation, and editing.  

Her volunteer activities center around the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy (MCAEL), where she has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008, and the White Oak Branch of the Library Advisory Committee and the Friends of the Library. 

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dr. Muñoz has been living in Silver Spring for over 25 years.

Farrah Jolly has over eight years of public health project management expertise with strong Federal contracting and document production knowledge. Her experience includes management and training and technical leadership in Government health contracts (clients have included CMS, NIH, CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA, Department of Education and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), PMI Project Management methodology, proposal development, knowledge of Federal Healthcare, and Information Dissemination Center inquiry response methodology. Domain expertise includes tobacco cessation and control, women's health, maternal and child health, weight management, substance abuse and mental health, and major national initiatives such as World AIDS Day, World Health Day, and National Conference on Tobacco or Health coordination.

Currently, Howard Covin is Deputy Director for Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery County Campus in Rockville, Maryland. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University, Mr Covin worked more than 25 years for General Electric Company in Maryland and Bechtel Corporation headquarters in California focusing on corporate budgeting and organizational development activities. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Mr Covin has lived in Montgomery County for more than twenty years. Mr Covin received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts and his Masters degree in Organizational Development from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School in Baltimore, Maryland.  Mr Covin is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery, class of 2008. In addition, Mr Covin is actively involved in non-profit community organizations including member of the Board of Directors for local Chamber of Commerce, CrimeSolvers of Montgomery County and interPLAYcompany Band at Strathmore Music Center.

Jeff Waldstreicher was elected as a State Delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, a part-time legislature in 2006. He serves on the Judiciary Committee and its Criminal Justice Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Education Caucus and Veterans Caucus. His legislative district includes Chevy Chase, Kensington, Wheaton, Silver Spring, and portions of Rockville and Bethesda.

Professionally, Jeff is a practicing attorney. He represents clients in complex litigation matters in both state and federal courts at the pre-trial, trial, and appellate stages. Before striking out on his own, Jeff practiced at a large, international law firm.

Jeff is a volunteer and active member of the community. He serves on the board of the Jewish Social Services Agency. He has also served as Chair of the NAACP's Legal Redress Committee, Pro Bono Counsel to the Sierra Club, and Director of Operation Understanding DC (a Black/Jewish coalition).

A member of multiple bar associations, Jeff received his B.A. Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University in Political Science and History. He received his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where he was an editor of the law review.

He currently lives with his wife Joanna and their year-old twins, Kate & Eli, in Kensingtonn. They are active members of Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, where Jeff served on the Social Justice Committee and as a substitute Hebrew School teacher. On evenings and weekends, you can find Jeff and Joanna riding their bikes along the Capital Crescent trail, kayaking along the Potomac, and visiting family. A lifelong resident of Montgomery County, Jeff Waldstreicher joined the MCAEL Board in 2009.

Joshua Jeffries, a principal of Arkin Youngentob Associates, LLC, runs the firm's group insurance practice. His areas of expertise include the design, financing and administration of corporate health and welfare programs, executive insurance planning, human resources consulting, compliance, organizational design, business development and community outreach.

After beginning his insurance career in the Pittsburgh office of Northwestern Mutual, Joshua joined the Employee Benefits Group, Inc. (EBG) where over five years he built a substantial group practice. Josh left EBG and started his own firm, IHR Advisors, Inc., to focus on a more holistic solution to client needs encompassing human resources, employee benefits and HRIS technology solutions. IHR Advisors eventually merged with Arkin Youngentob Associates in 2009.

Mr. Jeffries graduated from Washington & Jefferson College with a bachelor's degree in business management and psychology. In 2007 he earned his Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification from the Certification Institute of the Society for Human Resource Management. Joshua also earned his Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Committed to community service, Joshua has served as an officer, board member and volunteer for numerous philanthropic, community and professional organizations including the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy, The Mercy Health Clinic, RescueGroups.org, Montgomery County Society for Human Resource Management and The Rotary Club of Potomac.

Marcos Pesquera is the Executive Director of the Adventist HealthCare Center on Health Disparities. Adventist HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery organization based in Rockville, Maryland, is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland. In his current position, he creates and implements initiatives that eliminate barriers to enable health equity in health status, health care access, treatment, and outcomes within the

Prior to joining Adventist HealthCare, Pesquera served as senior director of Diversity Programs for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States in Rockville.

Under his leadership they implemented initiatives that aided in bridging the gap between Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients and their providers of care, including initiatives around ethnicity, race and language preference data collection. He was also responsible for overseeing training of healthcare providers and support staff around provision of culturally competent care and awareness of healthcare disparities, and educating communities concerning the importance of health insurance, prevention and a healthy lifestyle. Under his leadership the Diversity Programs Department received several awards for initiatives including serving the uninsured on Martin Luther King Day, The Latino Center of Excellence, and the NCQA Disparities Award for the Qualified Bilingual Staff Program. From 1996-2002, he also served as a Medical Center Administrator at Kaiser Permanente where he oversaw the operations for four ambulatory medical centers located along the 270 Corridor; Rockville, Shady Grove, Gaithersburg and Germantown. In this role he helped plan, develop and implement "Centers of Excellence" in culturally competent care to address health disparities in minority populations, as well as managing and overseeing the delivery of primary and specialty care to health plan enrollees. Mr. Pesquera has also held numerous clinical and managerial pharmacy positions in managed care and retail pharmacy.

Marcos has been living in Montgomery County for 17 years with his wife Kinny of 25 years and two wonderful teenagers, Mason and Marisol. He serves as Vice-Chair for the Commission on Health, Advisor to the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs, National Quality Forum; Cultural Competency Expert Panel, Board member for the Montgomery Coalition for Adult English Literacy, Maryland Health Care Commission HIE Policy Board and Disparities Work Group, and Montgomery County Church of Christ. He is also a graduate of the 2009 Leadership Montgomery class.

Mr. Pesquera has a Master's of Public Health from Loma Linda University; a Bachelor's of Science in Pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and completed his pre-pharmacy curriculum at the University of Puerto Rico.

Richard J. Thometz owns and operates Hailey Development, L.V., a land development company based in Burtonsville, MD. Hailey Development focuses on developing residential and mixed use communities in the DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas, with a varied portfolio of residential and mixed use projects ranging in size from small in-fill projects to larger PUDs.

Mr. Thometz also co-owns and operates Efficient Home, LLC, a home performance energy-efficiency services and contracting firm. Efficient Home provides energy-efficiency auditing and improvements contracting services for a variety of residential, commercial, government and utility customers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Customers include the Maryland Energy Administration's Assisted Home Performance program, Alleghany Power, BGE, and SMECO, as well as a number of national and regional builders.

Prior to starting Hailey Development in 1998, Mr. Thometz was Vice President-Land and Legal Counsel for Winchester Homes, Inc., a subsidiary of the Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company, one of the region's largest builder-developer companies. At Winchester, Mr. Thometz was responsible for lang acquisitions and for all corporate legal and regulatory risk management. Prior to Winchester, Mr. Thometz got his start in the real estate business as an employee of, and later a partner in, a number of residential projects developed by Kenn Roberts and Tom Munz.

Mr. Thometz is a past president of the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association. He is also a past president of the Maryland State Builders Association and serves as a member of its executive committee. He has been involved with numerous crisis shelter related nonprofit organizations, and is a founding board member of MCAEL. Mr. Thometz was appointed to serve on the founding board of the Howard County Green Business COuncil, and was recently appointed to serve on the advisory board of the Maryland Clean Energy Center.

Tiffany L. Heath is currently on staff in the AFL-CIOs Political Department. She arrived at the AFL-CIO in 2006 from the Children's Defense Fund where she served as the Deputy Manager of the National Field Department. Her rich work experience also includes serving as the Director of Issues and Action of Interfaith Worker Justice in Chicago, Illinois and as the national Legislative Director for Church Women United in Washington, DC.

Raised in Hillside, New Jersey, Ms. Heath now resides in Silver Spring, Maryland. She currently serves on the board of Montgomery County Adult English Literacy (MCAEL) and the National Gray Panthers Board of Directors, and she is the President of the Catholic Labor Network. Her educational background includes degrees and professional certifications from Trinity University and DePaul University and she is currently pursuing a degree in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola University of Maryland. She recently became an Associate with the Adrian Dominican Sisters (Adrian, Michigan).

An international education specialist and ESOL teacher, Heather has taught ESOL, locally and abroad, to students of all ages from around the world. She has held positions as Director of Evening Programs for an ESL school (Maryland), Activities Coordinator for ESL students (Virginia), ESL trainer for new teachers (Prague) and ESL teacher (DC metro area/Czech Republic). She has taught students of all ages from around the world in a variety of subjects including conversation, writing, pronunciation, American History, TOEFL, and for the Cambridge Tests (KEY/PET).   Previous to Heather’s work in ESOL education, she worked in a variety of program management, communications and business development positions. Heather has two degrees from Virginia Tech, one in Communications and the other in Theatre Arts, and holds a Master’s in International Training and Education from American University.