Dr. Monica Goldson most recently served as the Chief Executive Officer for Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS). Student-led and community-focused, she is driven to propel scholars to their highest potential, proudly working in the same school system where she was educated.
A PGCPS graduate, Dr. Goldson began her career as a mathematics teacher at Suitland High School with long-term plans to become an actuary. However, within her first few weeks on the job, she realized that education was her true calling.
She steadily moved up the administrative ranks, serving as Associate Superintendent for High Schools, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, and Chief Operating Officer prior to becoming CEO.
A visionary leader, Dr. Goldson recognized the impact of increasing student access to dual enrollment college credit years before state legislation granted free access to such programs. Under her leadership, PGCPS gained national recognition from The College Board for higher passing rates on Advanced Placement exams. Dr. Goldson created pipelines to enhance access to the county’s premier Science and Technology specialty program and served alongside the Prince George’s County Government’s Transforming Neighborhood Initiative @ Schools team.
She led PGCPS through the COVID-19 pandemic building a virtual learning from the ground up and mobilizing the school system to provide laptops, internet service and technology assistance to families in need. At the same time, Dr. Goldson leveraged a full-scope alternative financing model to design, build, finance and maintain the internationally-recognized Blueprint Schools construction program to build six new middle schools in two years — the first U.S. public school system to use a public-private partnership for construction.
Dr. Goldson is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In March 2022, she received an appointment from President Joseph R. Biden to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). She is a member of Chiefs for Change, graduate of Leadership Greater Washington and board member of Nonprofit Prince George’s and the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce. She was a finalist for the 2023 AASA Distinguished Women Leadership Award, received the Women Who Mean Business Award from Washington Business Journal and appeared twice on Washingtonian magazine’s list of “Washington’s Most Powerful Women.”
Dr. Goldson holds degrees from three HBCUs: a bachelor’s in Mathematics from Florida A&M University, master’s in Elementary and Secondary School Administration from Bowie State University, and doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy from Howard University. Her two adult sons are both graduates of Prince George’s County Public Schools.
Gregory “Steve” Proctor, Jr. is the President and CEO of G.S. Proctor &Associates, Inc., one of the most highly respected government and privatesector advocacy organizations in Maryland, with offices located in UpperMarlboro and Annapolis.
Since its founding in 1995, Steve and his associates have provided legislative and administrative lobbying representation to a broad spectrum of clients; including institutions of higher learning, non-profit organizations, local and multinational businesses, and local and international governmental bodies on the county, state and federal levels. For the last 10 years, G.S. Proctor has been consistently ranked among the Top Ten lobbying firms in the State of Maryland.
Steve and his wife, Dianne, reside in Upper Marlboro, MD where they have raised their four adult sons, Aaron, Brian, Trey and Troy. After matriculating from Towson University, he received his B.A. in Political Science from his alma mater, George Washington University. Always the entrepreneur, he owns and operates several ventures throughout Prince George’s County and the state of Maryland. Always with a spirit of philanthropy, he is an extremely active member of the community, holding multiple terms and meaningful relationships with seats on boards for several organizations including United Way of the National Capital Area, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington, and Prince George’s Community College Foundation.
When Steve is not helping others, he serves on several leadership positions on professional boards as well, including sitting on the Board of Directors at Old Line Bank, MedStar Health, Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable, and the Greater Washington Board of Trade.
Steve regularly supports many organizations with their community initiatives and scholarship events through direct service and financial donations. He strongly believes in the value of a good education and relishes the opportunity to give back to the community, so much that he and Dianne created the Executive Corporate Partnership Committee at Bishop McNamara High School. Our goal is to help Bishop McNamara bring their vision to life for the new La Reine Science & Innovation Center, which will exponentially further the educational goals of our future leaders.
Darrell Lanier is the founder and President of Lanier Electronics Group, Inc. of Upper Marlboro, Md.
Lanier Electronics Group, Inc. has been a full service electrical/electronic enterprise providing voice, video and data network infrastructure, structured cabling, security, DAS, and audio-visual solutions in Prince George’s County and surrounding areas since 1992.
Recently, the company’s focus has been on wireless networks.
Gracelyn A. McDermott, Executive Director of Account Management at Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is an innovative and diverse executive with over 20 years’ experience in Project, Program and Account Management. Kaiser Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans.
In her role at Kaiser Permanente, Gracelyn is responsible for retention and growth of commercial accounts in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Gracelyn’s overall professional career includes sales, operations and information technology leadership in the health care environment.
Prior to joining KP, Ms. McDermott served as Vice President of Accrediting & Client Services at URAC, an independent health care accrediting organization. In this role, she oversaw all aspects of the accreditation process from applicant preparation and submission through to the
independent accreditation decision. Ms. McDermott also served as the Director, Specimen Administration for Ameritox, LLC, formerly a leader in pain medication monitoring, offering laboratory services and practice management tools to help clinicians coordinate and optimize the care of chronic pain patients. In this capacity, she built a new department within the organization, providing management oversight of over 350 Specimen Processors and 50 Third Party Collection sites.
Previous responsibilities include oversight of program and account management for The McConnell Group, Inc., a biodefense, biomedical and health science company, providing a comprehensive selection of professional and technical services to the government sector. She also held a series of roles with progressive program management responsibility, culminating as Vice President of Scientific Services for ICON Development Solutions, a contract research organization. In this role, Ms. McDermott managed a department of about 250 staff comprised of Project Management, Biostatistics, Data Management, SAS Programming, Clinical Operations, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Modeling and Simulation – all in support of Clinical Trial Management.
Ms. McDermott holds a M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a member of Leadership Maryland, Class of 2018. She is currently serving as Vice Chair for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce and as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for her undergraduate alma mater, Mount Saint Mary’s University. She is also a Board Member for the non-profit organization, Vehicles for Change.
She resides in Mount Airy, MD with her husband and two daughters.
Gary Michael is the President of NAI Michael. For over 30 years, Mr. Michael has worked in all fields of commercial real estate, including sales, leasing, property management, and development.
Mr. Michael has broad experience in the Washington DC commercial real estate market. The many thousands of transactions and projects he has participated in have given him unique market knowledge developed from years of experience
and successes.
Mr. Michael has been very active in civic and business organizations and serves
in administrative and advisory capacities to many.
Dr. Beatrice P. Tignor was born in Brandywine, MD and graduated from the Prince George’s County Public Schools. She graduated from Bowie State University with a BS Degree, and earned a Masters, Education Specialist, and Doctor of Education from George Washington University, while being a single mother to daughter Patricia and working in the education sector of Prince George’s County.
Dr. Tignor worked as a public school teacher, Reading Specialist, and Assistant Superintendent in the Prince George’s County Public Schools. She also taught English and Reading at the Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) and served as a Department Chairman. During her tenure at PGCC, she created one of the first community college Learning Laboratory for Developmental Students, implemented a new grading system, developed a reading and math clinic for school age children, initiated a certification program for teachers in coordination with the Maryland Department of Education and chaired departmental accreditation committees.
Dr. Tignor was also elected to the Maryland House of Delegates where she served on the Ways and Means Committee. She later served as a Senator and was named to the Budget and Taxation Committee. She received awards as Delegate of the Year for her work with the disabled and as Senator of the Year for her achievements in education. She was also named Legislator of the Year.
Dr. Tignor served as Chair of the Prince George’s County Board of Education from 2002-2006. Under her leadership, with a cooperative Board, she worked to eliminate a $24 million dollar deficit, increased test scores and number of certified teachers from 38% to 62%, increased retention rates of teachers and administrators, increased graduation rates to 92 percent and graduated the highest number of African Americans in the nation. In addition, during her tenure all schools were equipped with air conditioned classrooms and she implemented an energy savings program. She left a $60 million surplus in the school system budget.
As Director of Procurement for Montgomery County, Dr. Tignor led the second largest procurement office in local government in the Country with a budget of $700 million. Under her leadership the County won a National Award from Harvard School of Government for an innovative electronic procurement system. She also implemented a procurement violation system, and an on-line auction system, and increased minority participation from $37 million to $100 million.
Among Dr. Tignor’s other accomplishments, appointments, and awards, include the National President of the Bowie State University Alumni, Bowie State Foundation, and Council of National Alumni Associations. She was also appointed to the Prince George’s Community College Board of Trustees, Democratic National Committeewoman, and American Red Cross. Dr. Tignor has been named to Maryland’s Women of Achievement and has been honored as Prince Georgian of the Year.
Thea is a strong leader and supporter of both PGCPS and the community at large. She is a member of the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s Sharing Prince George’s Committee, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Anne Arundel County Chapter, and an ordained minister and Director of Civic Engagement at First Baptist Church of Glenarden – the largest church in the state of Maryland. Thea also has served as an elected offical and former Chair of the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee (2018-2022).
Thea holds a Master of Arts degree in Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University and resides in Maryland with her husband Ronald. Together they have raised three accomplished
daughters.