Board of Directors and Foundation Officer

Dr. Monica Goldson, Chief Executive Officer for Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS), is the dedicated and dynamic leader of the 20th largest school district in the nation. A product of the public school system, she has spent her entire career serving students in the same community where she was raised and where she chose to raise her own family. After graduating from Potomac High School, Dr. Goldson went on to earn three degrees from historically Black colleges and universities – a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Florida A&M University, a master’s degree in Elementary and Secondary School Administration from Bowie State University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy from Howard University.

She began her career as a mathematics teacher at Suitland High School with long-term plans to become an actuary. However, life had other plans. Within her first few weeks on the job, she realized that education was her true calling. Two years later, she was promoted to Mathematics Instructional Specialist, which enabled her to help students throughout the system as well as assist more than 200 secondary teachers in the classroom. As a talented Instructional Specialist, her leadership skills were quickly recognized. Dr. Goldson moved on to serve as assistant principal of Forestville and Frederick Douglass high schools, principal of Frederick Douglass as well as the founding principal at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School. While at Wise High School, she partnered with Prince George’s Community College to launch a dual enrollment program and oversaw a 182-point increase in SAT scores.

Beyond the schoolhouse, as Associate Superintendent for High Schools, Dr. Goldson increased principals’ leadership capacity and helped develop action plans to improve student achievement while monitoring more than $5 million in federal grants. As Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, her team supported schools with curriculum and instruction, special education, testing, college and career readiness, and student services. As Chief Operating Officer, she managed critical divisions and offices, including Student Services, Information Technology, Supporting Services, Business Management and Pupil Accounting and School Boundaries. In this role, she developed and implemented policies and strategies related to service delivery and collaborated with staff to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

Dr. Goldson believes in creating experiences that propel students to their highest levels of excellence. She 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 due to 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 remains focused on doing what is best for students and educators, even while facing tremendous challenges. When faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, she mobilized the school system to provide laptops, internet service and technology assistance to families in need and built virtual learning from the ground up.

A longtime advocate for public education and member of Chiefs for Change, Dr. Goldson is a recipient of the Women Who Mean Business Award from Washington Business Journal and the Walker’s Legacy Women in Economic Development & Civic Leadership Award. She is a graduate of Leadership Greater Washington and currently serves on the board of Nonprofit Prince George’s and the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce. She has also appeared on Washingtonian magazine’s list of “Washington’s Most Powerful Women.”

Dr. Goldson has two adult sons, 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.

• Licensed Real Estate Salesperson – State of Maryland (Broker), Commonwealth of Virginia (Broker) and District of Columbia (Salesperson)
• University of Maryland, College of Education – Advisory Board Chair
• Prince George’s County Business Roundtable – Director, past Chairman
• Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation – Board Member
• Salvation Army Washington ARC – Advisory Board Chairman
• Andrews Business & Community Alliance – Member
• Current Andrews Ambassador
• Mission of Love Charities, Inc. – Chairman
• Crime Solvers of Prince George’s County – Board Member
• Nonprofit Prince George’s County – Board Member
• Doctors Community Hospital – Board Member
• Prince George’s County Police Foundation – Board Member
• Prince George’s County Public Schools CEO Business Advisory Council – Member
• Excellence in Education Foundation for PGCPS, Inc. – Board Member
• University of Maryland – Finance and Business Administration American University – Advanced Studies in Real Estate

Landis has more than 23 years of experience in policy, and lobbying. He has an extensive history working
directly with local, state, and federal government official, including procurement and third-party administrators.

Prior to joining United HealthGroup in 2018, Landis was the National Vice President, State and Local Government, Public Sector and Labor, Aetna. In this role, he was responsible for managing a national network of C-level public sector and labor relationships with a focus on growth and retention of public sector clients, including cities, counties, schools and states.

Prior to joining Aetna in 2015, Landis was a federal lobbyist for the National Association of Counties (NACo), Large Urban County Caucus and Justice and Public Safety Steering Committee. In this role, Landis was responsible for lobbying Congress on behalf of our nation’s 3069 counties on important policy issues impacting local government. Landis has previously held positions as a state and federal lobbyist with the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), Caduceus Occupational Medicine, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). In these roles, he was responsible for managing a national public-sector network to help drive membership, growth, retention and revenue.

Landis’ broad public sector experience working with local, state, and federal appointed and elected officials, and prominent national organizations, such as, the National Association of Counties (NACo), International City and County Management Association (ICMA), American Teachers Federation (ATF), National School Boards Association (NSBA), National League of Cities (NLC), National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), National Governors Association (NGA), National Forum of Black Public Administrator (NFBPA), State and Local Government Benefits Association (SALGBA), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) will be extremely valuable in our efforts to provide a balance healthcare and health insurance expertise to our board of directors.

Mr. Herbstman has a broad background in financial management and experience. He previously served as CFO for Alexandria City Public Schools and Director of Budget and Financial Services for Chicago Public Schools, where he also worked as a senior budget analyst and assistant director of operations and finance. In addition, he was a senior account manager with a private risk management firm and worked with the Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in Chicago.

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.

As the Foundation Relations Officer for the Excellence in Education Foundation for PGCPS, Inc. (EEF), Thea A. Wilson brings experience, skill, innovation, and passion to the Prince George’s
County Public Schools community. Thea is a dedicated and technically-skilled business professional with over 25 years of experience in sales, event planning, project management, fund development, and nonprofit management.

Responsible for overseeing all facets of the organization, Thea drives the mission, fundraising, operations, and engagement with the board of directors.

Since March 2019, Thea has led EEF’s initiatives in support of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) to provide hot and healthy meals, technology, and over $1.3 million in scholarships – impacting hundreds of students and their families across Prince George’s County. Thea’s ability to build and attract corporate and business stakeholder support to provide for the needs of the PGCPS school community even while in a global pandemic has been extraordinary. In 2020, EEF secured its very first $1 million endowment, helping to secure the foundation’s
important work in PGCPS for years to come. This support provides solutions to PGCPS’ budget shortfalls and results in more significant outcomes than PGCPS can achieve alone – generating
more coherent access to funding, services, and benefits for PGCPS scholars who will become the future workforce in the DC Metropolitan region and beyond.

Exuding a dynamic leadership style that motivates and inspires, Thea has successfully planned and executed several exciting and successful new EEF initiatives including, the PGCPS Hall of
Fame Gala, IGNITE! Outstanding Voices to Inspire the Next Generation and the PGCPS Alumni Alliance. The Hall of Fame Gala highlights notable alumni worldwide at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Past inductees are boxing legend “Sugar” Ray Leonard; the late Senator Mike Miller; Congressman Steny Hoyer; Grammy Award nominee, Kenny Lattimore; Actor and Comedian, Martin Lawrence; CNN Host, Abby Phillip; Filmmaker, David Talbert, Fashion Designer, Zerina Ackers, and other notable community members. In three short years, this event has become the signature event in Prince George’s County – raising critical funds to expand EEF’s impact in the PGCPS community while also inspiring current PGCPS scholars that they too can achieve their goals and aspirations. IGNITE! Outstanding Voices to Inspire the Next Generation is a quarterly school-wide initiative that invites community leaders, business owners, and change-makers to share their message to inspire tomorrow’s leaders. The program’s first guest was award-winning playwright, director, and author David Talbert. The PGPCS Alumni Alliance is a membership-based alliance designed to encourage recent PGCPS graduates, staff, and alumni to stay connected and active with PGCPS through programs and events sponsored by EEF throughout 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.