Courtesy of Sonia Alcántara-Antoine

SONIA ALCÁNTARA-ANTOINE

Incoming Director of the Baltimore County Public Library, 42

“Every great community needs a great library system in order to truly thrive,” says Sonia Alcántara-Antoine, the incoming director of the Baltimore County Public Library’s 19 branches. Although she’s originally from New York, and currently working as the director of the Newport News Public Library in Virginia, her roots in Baltimore are strong. She worked for seven years in various roles at the Enoch Pratt Public Library, including a stint as assistant to former Pratt director (and now Librarian of Congress) Carla Hayden. Alcántara-Antoine, a first-generation American whose parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic, believes that libraries are great places to break down systemic barriers to learning and technology. “Public libraries are at the forefront of bridging divides and meeting with people where they are,” she says. “Knowing that through my work I have the ability to alter the trajectory of someone’s life for the better is what gets me out of bed in the morning.”

Courtesy of Erricka Bridgeford

ERRICKA BRIDGEFORD

Anti-violence Activist, 48

The executive director of the Baltimore Community Mediation Center, Erricka Bridgeford is also, of course, one of the city’s leading anti-violence advocates and co-founder of the Baltimore Ceasefire movement, which now enters its fourth year. Her own brother, David, was murdered in 2007. Beyond her professional work and activism as a social reformer, Bridgeford has become a spiritual leader and healing presence in a city all too often in need of both. “I was born with one hand, so society treats me like I’m broken, and I’ve watched people treat Baltimore like it’s broken,” she told Baltimore last year. “These different things are identity markers for me: Having one hand, being Black, being a woman, growing up in poverty, having to face murder so much. These are my experiences, and they give me this wide-ranging emotional and spiritual wherewithal to navigate and engage with murder.”

Courtesy of Shashawnda Campbell

SHASHAWNDA CAMPBELL

Community Organizer, Free Your Voice and South Baltimore Community Land Trust, 23

Shashawnda Campbell was a student at Benjamin Franklin High School in South Baltimore when she began asking a crucial question: Why did so many of her classmates have asthma? So, she and her friends did some research. They found out that a large incinerator and a landfill were in her neighborhood, right near the school—and that an even larger incinerator was about to be built. In 2012, Campbell co-founded Free Your Voice with some classmates, and through research, marches, petitions, and direct appeals to legislators, they stopped the building of that incinerator. She now continues her environmental work with Free Your Voice and the South Baltimore Community Land Trust, a nonprofit committed to Zero Waste. “I am a community organizer because I have hope,” Campbell says. “I have hope that one day we will live in a world that does not jeopardize the lives of some people because of how much money they have, the color of their skin, or simply because of where they are born.”

Headshot by Tatiana Mullin

CHRISTINE MICHEL CARTER

Global Voice for Working Moms, 35

The conditions of teleworking combined with increased child-care demands are a perfect storm for bias against working moms—especially Black women. Enter Christine Michel Carter—herself a mom of two—who has long advocated for the working mom, pandemic or not. Carter has not only penned two books on the topic—MOM AF and Can Mommy Go to Work? (aimed at kids)—but consults with companies, clarifying misconceptions about working moms. Believing that knowledge is power, Carter also pens a bimonthly column for ForbesWomen on topics ranging from revisiting the Family and Medical Leave Act to “ditching the act and bringing our authentic selves to work.” Says Carter, “I believe women should be defined by motherhood, even at work.” There’s no shame in having both as our identities, she insists. “Women are multifaceted, and that doesn’t change once we become mothers.”

Courtesy of Iya Dammons

IYA DAMMONS

Executive director, Baltimore Safe Haven, 28

In mid-July, four bold, pastel-colored words were painted across both lanes of North Charles Street in Charles Village: Black Trans Lives Matter. With the help of artist Jamie Grace Alexander, the effort was organized by Baltimore Safe Haven, a neighborhood nonprofit that serves the transgender community founded by Iya Dammons in 2019. Just weeks earlier, Dammons helped organize the city’s first large-scale Black trans protest, with a march and rally that gathered some 200 supporters and graced, via a photograph by Devin Allen, the cover of Time magazine. But it’s the daily, frontline work that matters most to Dammons, from BSH’s drop-in center and transitional housing services to mobile outreach efforts and civic engagement, all the way up to City Hall. “This is the fight of all fights that I’m in,” she told us last summer, as she works to combat homelessness, provide harm reduction, and foster upward mobility for her community. “The highest achievement for me is just being able to help my sisters—to see them smile, and know that they have somebody.”

Headshot by Catrece Ann Tipton

CORI DIOQUINO

Founder and Co-Executive Director, Asian Pasifika Arts Collective, 36

Under the leadership of Cori Dioquino, along with co-executive director Catrece Ann Tipon, Asian Pasifika Arts Collective has become an advocate for Asian-American and Pacific Indigenous American (AAPI) voices in the arts and beyond. “In order for our stories to be heard and considered . . . we have to be loud about it,” says Dioquino. “Especially considering the fact that Asian Americans have been pegged as the ‘model minority’ who are very quiet and keep their head down and don’t speak up, I think being a loud Asian and empowering people around you to be as well, it’s surprising how much of a statement that can be.” To that end, this past year the collective produced a virtual version of their AAPI Voices storytelling series, hosted online workshops, and partnered with #RacismIsAVirus to launch #UnapologeticallyAsian, a campaign to empower all Asians and “change the conversation about belonging in America.” The group’s 2021 theme, “Crossing Borders,” will help guide its events throughout the year.

Courtesy of Rabbi Dressin

RABBI JESSY DRESSIN

Executive Director, Baltimore, Repair the World, 40

You sometimes forget Jessy Dressin is a rabbi. And that’s part of her power. She’s young, she likes to wear ripped jean shorts with leggings, bright sunglasses, and a Ravens jersey, and she sermonizes not from the bema of a temple, but from her position at a Jewish nonprofit that connects community members to volunteer opportunities. The idea of tikkunolam—repairing the world—has been Dressin’s message ever since she became an ordained rabbi nine years ago. First, as founder and director of Charm City Tribe, an initiative to engage young adults interested in Jewish culture, and now through her work at Repair the World Baltimore, which mobilizes Jews to take action to pursue a just world. “Jewish tradition teaches . . . that there are things we can accomplish together we could not possibly accomplish on our own,” Dressin says. Building relationships that are substantive and not just transactional is so important in a hyper-segregated city like Baltimore, she says. “The particular callings and imperatives of Judaism require me to work closely with those who are not like me—who don’t share the same faith, or the same skin color, or the same history—but who share in the work to build a more whole and just world for all people.”

Courtesy of Diane Fink

DIANE FINK

Executive Director, Emerge Maryland, 60

Since its first class in 2013, Emerge Maryland, which recruits, trains, and provides Democratic women with a network to run for office, has assisted more than 100 candidates. Website Maryland Matters describes the organization, which is overseen by executive director Diane Fink, as “a major powerhouse” on the political scene, with alumnae now holding offices across the state, including school board members, city and county council legislators, and state delegates and senators. “We are now electing people who have not had a seat at the table and have not had their voices heard in the past,” Fink, who previously served as legislative staff in the General Assembly, told Baltimore in 2019. “The issues they raise, about child care, increasing the minimum wage, domestic violence, for example, are not heard, not in the same way, when women bring their voices to the table. Fifty-two percent of the population is female, and our representation should reflect that.”

Headshot by Will Kirk (Johns Hopkins University)

LAUREN GARDNER

Creator, JHU COVID-19 Dashboard, 36

It’s not every day that an engineer creates something that will be used by the entire world. But Lauren Gardner, an infectious disease specialist and co-director of the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering, made history last January when she and her graduate student built the COVID-19 Dashboard that would track the novel coronavirus pandemic’s rapid spread around the globe. The online data tracker would eventually garner more than 4.5 billion views a day from public health authorities, researchers, and the general public. It also landed Gardner a spot on Time magazine’s list of “The 100 Most Influential People of 2020,” where Baltimore’s own former health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen declared the professor a leader among us. “It’s important for people to recognize that engineers can contribute to society in lots of different ways,” Gardner told us last spring, “including public health.”

Courtesy of Nicole Hanson-Mundell

NICOLE HANSON-MUNDELL

Executive Director, Out for Justice, 38

Throughout her life, Nicole Hanson-Mundell has felt strongly about the right to vote. “I took a lot of honor in walking into an elementary school or church to cast my ballot,” she says. But after spending a year in jail, she lost that power. This past year’s Free the Vote documentary from the ACLU of Maryland made it clear that denying the right to vote for those incarcerated is rooted in a deeply racist system. The documentary shared Hanson-Mundell’s story, highlighting her advocacy work as someone “leading the fight” to expand voting access. It’s just one of several battles Hanson-Mundell has taken up on behalf of Out for Justice, a grassroots organization led by former and currently incarcerated individuals working toward reform for local and statewide reentry policies. Hanson-Mundell, an expert on criminal justice policy, is also the only formerly imprisoned woman on Governor Hogan’s Task Force to Study Maryland’s Criminal Gang Statutes. “When people return home from prison or jail, they have every intent to reform their lives,” Hanson-Mundell told us. “The difference between the ones who recidivate and the ones that don’t is simply who has access.”

Headshot by Landon Mckinley

LANE HARLAN

Owner, Clavel, W.C. Harlan, Fadensonnen, Angels Ate Lemons, 34

Just a few months back, foodie industry bible Saveur called Lane Harlan “the most interesting woman in the restaurant business.” But that’s hardly news to those of us who live in Baltimore and have become regulars at her restaurants, including the James Beard-nominated taqueria Clavel, the charming W.C. Harlan speakeasy, and Fadensonnen, Baltimore’s first biergarten/ sake bar (not to mention Angels Ate Lemons, a new natural wine bottle shop). Yes, through the years, cool kids like filmmaker John Waters, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, and the cast of Veep have hung out at her haunts, but pretty much everyone else flocks to them, too. And even the pandemic has not slowed her down: Harlan took that time to launch the Pisa Y Corre carryout concept at Clavel along with her business partner, Sinaloan chef Carlos Raba. No matter how challenging this year has been for the business, Harlan continues to strive. “I’ve spent the last year transforming everything I thought I knew about my current businesses,” says Harlan. “It’s crushing and beautiful to deconstruct. I will continue to create in Baltimore.”

Courtesy of Chief Melissa Hyatt

MELISSA HYATT

Baltimore County Police Chief, 45

Melissa Hyatt’s rapid rise through the male bastion of police work has its roots in her childhood, where she soaked up information from her father, a retired Baltimore City police major. Now she’s a year into serving as the first female chief of the more than 1,900-person Baltimore County police department, after two decades of police work in the city. During that time, she rose to the rank of colonel, overseeing all nine districts. Among her goals is recruiting more female officers—studies have shown they’re better at defusing potentially violent confrontations before they become deadly. And, no, she hasn’t tired of the work. “I always loved the camaraderie that builds between officers from constantly not knowing what comes next,” says Hyatt. “I loved the adventure of it, I loved being out on the street; it made me happy.”

Courtesy of Lynn B. Kahn

LYNNE B. KAHN

Founder and Executive Director, Baltimore Hunger Project, 51

School systems place a lot of emphasis on making sure students are fed throughout the week, but what happens to food-insecure families on Saturdays and Sundays? That was the principle that led Lynne B. Kahn to start Baltimore Hunger Project in 2014. What began as a lunch distribution operation out of her garage has grown into a volunteer-based nonprofit that supports more than 600 kids in 23 local schools. And when COVID-19 hit, that output ramped up to provide groceries—complete with handwritten notes of encouragement, books, and art supplies—to 2,300 families per week. “It’s about so much more than just the food,” says Kahn, a mom of two and full-time CPA. “I want to hear how my kids are feeling and check in on their mental health. I see us expanding the number of kids we serve, but also figuring out how we can strengthen the bodies and the minds.”

Courtesy of Lady Brion

LADY BRION

Spoken Word Artist; Founder and Executive Director, Black Arts District, 30

As a spoken word artist, teacher, and activist, Lady Brion believes in the transformative power of art. “We all walk around with our own baggage—these backpacks that are full of all kinds of stress—and we need a way to unpack,” she says. “Art becomes a safe space to unpack our stuff.” To that end, she is the cultural curator for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, the think tank devoted to improving the lives of Black people in Baltimore. In 2018, she proposed the idea of turning the historic area around Pennsylvania Avenue into a designated Black arts district. It wasn’t a new idea—but she was the first to have the network, policy background, skills, and “fire” to make it happen. A year later, the Black Arts District (BAD) was officially designated. Her ultimate vision is to make BAD the choice destination for Black food, arts, retail, and culture. It’s a lot of work, she says, but she’ll always find time for writing. “Poetry is my lifeblood,” she says. “It’s what feeds me.”

Courtesy of Ginny Lawhorn

GINNY LAWHORN

Restaurant Owner and Hospitality Industry Advocate, 38

Throughout her nearly 20-year career in the hospitality industry, Ginny Lawhorn has always considered her fellow bartenders and servers her alternative family. As such, she has seized every opportunity to step up and support them—whether that means assisting the team at her aptly named Fells Point restaurant, Friends and Family, with insurance enrollment and ensuring income stability, or organizing programs to help the greater restaurant community protect their mental and physical well-being. When it comes to the next generation of female leadership, her highest hope is that, once post-pandemic rehiring happens, it starts with minority women. “Every piece of representation matters,” she says. “Especially in a city where the scene can feel small, diversification can show that you can do it—you have the idea, you have value, you can advocate for yourself. My next hope is that you see the leaders, and then you see the leaders become owners.”

Courtesy of Brooke Lierman

DEL. BROOKE LIERMAN

State Delegate, 46th District, 41

Sworn into the House of Delegates in 2015, Brooke Lierman quickly made a mark. Representing Baltimore City’s 46th District, she has established herself as one of the state’s leading voices on environmental and smartgrowth issues. In 2019, she was named Legislator of the Year by the Maryland League of Conservation Workers. “The question is not whether we will grow, but how we will grow,” Lierman says. She was also named Legislator of the Year by Maryland Hunger Solutions in 2017 for her work on food deprivation issues and remains a progressive legislator for Baltimore City in Annapolis, advocating for greater investment in public transit and equitable public-school funding. Two years ago, she championed the state’s first comprehensive gun violence initiative, the Maryland Violence Intervention and Prevention Program, continuing to push for its full funding. In December, she announced she’s running for state comptroller in 2022—if she wins, she will be the first woman to hold the office.

Headshot by Matthew Freire

KRYSTAL MACK

Founder, In Absence Of Studio, 35

Many know Krystal Mack as the multitalented culinary creative behind beloved businesses BLK//SUGAR, PieCycle, and Karma-Pop. But in recent years, the Baltimore native has emerged as a clear leader in an evolving food world, using her In Absence Of Studio to reimagine our relationship with food as more than just Instagram fodder but a tool for social change. “I realized that there are so many more ways that I could be engaging with food,” says Mack. “Food is a vehicle for storytelling. It’s a time capsule. It holds memories and emotions. It can be powerful in the way it shapes how we view our relationship to one another.” From art installations to community offerings, her innovative work speaks to topics such as race, gender, and trauma, and it has landed her on Cherry Bombe’s list of 100 influential women, in The New York Times, and as a presenter at both The Walters Art Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art. In the midst of COVID, her How To Take Care online cookbook helped raise more than $10,000 for victims of domestic violence. Her debut print publication, PalatePALETTE, launches soon.

Headshot by Jill Fannon

CARA OBER

Editor in Chief, BmoreArt, 45

Since 2007, BmoreArt editor-in-chief Cara Ober has done the seemingly impossible: created a dedicated arts publication that has not only survived, but thrived and grown from a fledgling blog to a gorgeous print and online product with a dedicated staff and contributors who deeply understand and chronicle Baltimore’s arts community. Ober’s role as curator and champion for both the city’s artists and a next generation of writers in the space is an invaluable one, and one not replicated elsewhere in the city. In a virtual commencement address written by Ober for the Class of 2020, she offered this advice: “Realize that you have power and learn to use it wisely. Be kind. Be generous. Believe in yourself and your goals for the future, but figure out how to craft a vision that benefits everyone around you.” We’re grateful she has been following it herself.

Headshot by Becky Stavely of Our Endless Adventure

TIFFANNI REIDY

Founder, Reidy Creative, 38

Think about some of the most beautiful new restaurant spaces in Baltimore and chances are that interior designer Tiffanni Reidy has created them. To wit, Wight Tea Co. and Crust by Mack, both in Whitehall Mill, with their vintage modern aesthetic, clean lines, and bold color palettes. Reidy, who founded her firm in 2018, has worked all over the D.C. metro and southern Maryland region. But locally, she’s just beginning to make her mark with projects including Layers, a new event space for Amanda Mack’s Crust by Mack, and Vegan Juiceology, a cold-pressed juice bar in Howard Row. Both are scheduled to open in early 2021. (There’s also a multi-use project and another food space for a local chef currently in the works.) Reidy, who has a background in both photography and graphic design, draws inspiration from historical residential architecture, adaptive reuse building, and nature, and likes to incorporate the work of local craftspeople in her design. “When I approach a project, I know the client is drawn to my aesthetic,” says Reidy, “but it really is about them and using my strengths to create their vision and tell their story.”

Courtesy of Melanie Shimano

MELANIE SHIMANO

Director, Food Computer Program, 30

Melanie Shimano’s Food Computer Program, like the herbs and lettuces its students produce, has quickly grown and enriched those who encounter it. The Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree and Hopkins lecturer turns code into crops for Baltimore schoolchildren with a STEM curriculum that teaches students to build and program tabletop greenhouses. Through her work with primary and secondary schools, Shimano has helped expand STEM opportunities in city schools and engage hundreds of students with citizen science and experiential learning, guiding them into careers that could benefit all our futures. “A lot of these problems that we’re facing, like climate change, are huge problems that one person or even one large organization cannot solve, even if they put all their resources into it,” she says. “We need a set of diverse minds, diverse backgrounds, diverse people to think collectively about doing better.”

Headshot courtesy of Shelonda Stokes

SHELONDA STOKES

President, Downtown Partnership, 48

With each COVID-19 surge over the past year, and the restrictions that followed, Shelonda Stokes’ job got a little more challenging. After all, as the president of the economic development agency Downtown Partnership, her mission is to get people downtown again for shopping, dining, and events; help businesses reopen and rehire; and keep commercial office and retail space filled.“Many people have learned to work from home, they’re saving gas, and they don’t have to dress up in the morning—that’s a reality,” says Stokes, “so we have to give them a reason to leave that and come back downtown and spend money.” But she’s not throwing in the towel. “The city has to find a balance between people’s health and the economy. It’s going to be a while, but we’ll see incremental progress.”

Headshot by Jess McGowan

STEPHANIE YBARRA

Artistic Director, Baltimore Center Stage, 44

Since taking the reins at Baltimore Center Stage three years ago, Stephanie Ybarra has put the city and its people at the forefront of the downtown theater’s mission, expanding community-focused programming, diversifying the works presented, and even extending a rolling invitation (emblazoned on the side of a truck) to a horde of GOP leaders in Harbor East to see a performance of Miss You Like Hell, a musical about an undocumented mother and her daughter. Ybarra doesn’t shy away from mixing art and activism, and instead actively encourages engagement and conversation through her programming choices. In announcing the 2021 Center Stage season, Ybarra reaffirmed her commitment to access, inclusion, and community at the theater. “The compounding effects of a global pandemic and ongoing racial injustice have forced a long-overdue reckoning, inspiring a renewed commitment to what we say we value,” Ybarra said. “And, in order to move toward our highest ideals, come what may, we can never go back.”