Marcus Jones, NVA’s Governing Board President, has deep experience in community leadership, finance, public policy, and human relations. He is a former manager at Wells Fargo Bank and currently works for the US Department of Agriculture. A resident of Baltimore, Mr. Jones has deep roots in the Annapolis and South County areas. As a product of Anne Arundel County Public Schools, the mission of the New Village Academy resonates especially strongly with Mr. Jones. Jones graduated from the University of Baltimore (B.A., Government and Public Policy) and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (M.A., Public Policy Concentration in Public Management).

Morgan Stroud is a proud mother of six, with four children embarking on an exciting journey as part of the inaugural classes at New Village Academy. She is also the CEO of Simplified VA, LLC, a marketing boutique specializing in brand and marketing strategy development and project management for small business owners and nonprofit organizations.

Sergio Polanco serves as State Public Engagement Officer for New American and Latino Communities with the Comptroller of Maryland.

He previously served as Multicultural Affairs Officer for Anne Arundel County, a member of the County Executive leadership team responsible for steering strategic vision, planning, implementation, and communication with the Hispanic/Latino, immigrant, and other communities living within the County. His previous roles include acting Executive Director of Centro de Ayuda and Editor in Chief of Conexiones Bilingual Magazine.  His role as an Annapolis community leader includes organizing and emceeing the regionally renowned Dia de los Muertos Festival and other community events celebrating our rich cultural heritage. He is also the proud parent of an AACPS student.

Haley Waltner is a 2024 graduate of Annapolis High School who aspires to found her own project-based learning boarding school someday.  She now attends Morgan State Univerity. 

Ms. Waltner has been an active member of the New Village Academy Youth Advisory Board, helping to design the school, determine marketing strategy, and advocate for the founding of New Village Academy.  

Will Rowel is senior advisor to the Mayor of Annapolis and Director of Public Engagement and Community Relations. Rowel is a journalist, poet, actor, playwright, project manager, political strategist, and change agent who brings personal experiences, as well as, critical and strategic thinking to bear on pertinent social issues. From his work in philanthropy and community-based advocacy, to policy initiatives and prose, Rowel seeks to increase equity and awareness through any and all mediums. He recognizes that his own experience in an innovative/progressive educational program greatly impacted his ability to think differently from his Annapolis peers in high school, and helps him understand the importance of New Village Academy’s outside-of-the-box approach.

Dr. Blaxall is a retired economist with a lengthy professional career in economic policy and economic development. She served in the federal Office of Management and Budget in health policy and international trade, taught health policy at G.W. University, and was a Senior Scholar at the National Academy of Medicine.

Since moving to Annapolis, she has focused on non-profit work, serving as Treasurer of Anne Arundel Women Giving Together, as a Vice President of the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County and as Treasurer for the Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation. She is currently a member of the “Rise Up” Committee at The Banneker-Douglass Museum, formed to raise private funds in support of the Museum’s many educational programs and art exhibitions.

Mari Fernandez has been a progressive educator in a variety of contexts in Puerto Rico and the US. She founded Puerto Rico’s first Sudbury school. Since moving to the US in 2007, taught Spanish at Monarch Academy Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County’s first EL Education charter school, where she honed her skills as a project-based learning facilitator and curriculum designer. Most recently, Ms. Fernandez teaches ESOL at Annapolis High School, where she has developed a program to support long-term English learners to transition to independence from the ESOL program.

Laura Gutierrez is the Manager of the Office of Community Services of the City of Annapolis. With a background in community and political organizing in the US and Argentina, Gutierrez has brought together stakeholders to better serve Hispanic communities in her role as the Hispanic Liaison for the Office of the Mayor of Annapolis and to connect and enrich the entire Annapolis community as Community Services Manager.  She also serves as chairperson of the Anne Arundel County Immigrant Affairs Commission, and a board member of the Anne Arundel County Commission for Women.  

Karen V. Johnson, D.Min, Senior Pastor, co-founded First Christian Community Church (FC3) in 1991 with her husband, the late Apostle Richard Johnson, III.  Beginning with only eight people, the congregation has grown to over 500 members. Under her leadership, FC3 provides pastoral and outreach services to Fairfield Nursing Home, the Light House Shelter, Heritage Harbor Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Hope House and the Chrysalis House for Addictions Rehabilitation. 

“Pastor K” is former co-chair and currently serves on the strategy team of Anne Arundel Connecting Together (ACT). ACT is a non-partisan organization made up of 28 faith and community-based organizations and businesses building the necessary power to enable people in our communities to have a place at the tables of power where decisions are being made that affect this generation and generations to come. 

Emanuel Fernández is the new Exectuive Director of the Organization of Hispanic Latin-Americans (OHLA).  Fernández joined the OHLA team in 2022 with the vision of helping to restore the organization and grow in its capacity. Of Argentine nationality, he arrived in the US four years ago with his family and worked in agriculture. In Argentina, he worked for the City of Lanus in the Communications Department and later in the Department of Athletics. He also served in the City Council as an advisor, and later joined the Department of Protection of Citizen’s Rights as one of the three advisors to the department.

Rotunda Floyd-Cooper leads the education leadership as vice president of the Wallace Foundation and oversees the Equity-Centered Pipeline Initiative. Dr. Floyd-Cooper has served as associate superintendent of the Montgomery County Public School and as director of curriculum innovation, school improvement specialist, and principal in AACPS and elsewhere. Floyd-Cooper has also been executive director for the Maryland Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement initiative at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. She holds an Ed.D. from the University of Maryland, an M.S. in applied mathematics from Virginia Tech, an M.Ed. from Virginia State University, and a B.S. from Hampton University.