Our Team
Larry Ottinger - Board Chair
Sheila Maith - Board Member
Sheila F. Maith is an executive coach and consultant. Her individual clients include executives in the NeighborWorks® Achieving Excellence Program. Prior to becoming a consultant, she spent twenty years in the non-profit, government and quasi-government sectors. She served as Senior Advisor and Community Affairs Officer for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors; as Managing Director for Leadership and Policy Development at the Fannie Mae Foundation; as Managing Director for Leadership and Policy Development at the Fannie Mae Foundation. She received a J.D. degree cum laude from Harvard Law School and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government. She also received an A.B. degree in public policy magna cum laude from Duke University.
Molly Amster - Board Member
Molly Amster is founding director of Jews United for Justice and The JUFJ Campaign Fund’s Baltimore branches which advance racial and economic justice at the state and local level. She serves in leadership roles in the Maryland Coalition for Justice and Police Accountability and Renters United Maryland. Molly is a facilitator for Baltimore Racial Justice Action and a member of Our Maryland’s Board of Directors. Molly’s earlier work at CHAI: Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Incorporated, in Northwest Baltimore focused on older adult services, public schools, and community race relations. She moved to Baltimore in 2007 to help establish the environmental education program and farm at The Pearlstone Center. Molly fosters dogs for BARCS and lives in Northeast Baltimore City.
Ben Bostwick - Digital Consultant
Ben Bostwick is a communications and digital specialist with experience working on local and statewide political campaigns. As a former Deputy Press Secretary, Campaign Strategist, Field Manager, and Strategic Communications Consultant, he has broad political campaign and communications experience. Ben has worked directly on gubernatorial, senate, and congressional campaigns in Maryland, Virginia, and Maine. During the 2020 election cycle, Ben worked at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR), where he helped over a dozen senate campaigns combat disinformation and develop effective communications and digital strategies.
Tracy Leatherberry - Consultant
Tracy Leatherberry is a communications professional with over ten years of experience. In each job along her career path, Tracy has worked to engage target audiences through web technologies. With a background in public policy, Tracy has worked with organizations like Rock the Vote, Common Cause, and Mobilize.org, where she created web based and in person programs to engage Millennials in the voting process and educate them on the issues and policies most relevant to them. Tracy has produced podcasts and videos for Our Maryland and assisted with communications work for progressive campaigns such as the ‘Fight for 15’ in Maryland.
Former Team Members
Susan Olsen - Former Mike Pretl Fellow
Susan Olsen is an environmental and progressive activist and writer based on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Before retiring, Susan was an English teacher and reading specialist at the largest state prison in Maryland, Eastern Correctional Institution (ECI). She became interested in reading difficulties and disabilities such as dyslexia and worked with Adult Basic Education (ABE) students. In the past several years, Susan has written op-eds on various issues including the environment, peace and gun violence. Susan has been an active member of political groups such as Indivisible and local Democratic clubs and currently chairs the Maryland Sierra Club’s Lower Eastern Shore Group. Her interest in environmental issues and Democratic party politics led to her friendship with Mike Pretl. Mike Pretl was a respected state progressive leader and nonprofit lawyer, including on health, environmental and gun safety issues. Mike helped to start Our Maryland and served as an original Board member and guiding light. After his tragic passing in December of 2018, the Our Maryland Board established the Mike Pretl Fellowship to honor his memory, service and friendship.
Karen Darkes - Board Member
Rashad Staton
Rashad Staton is a Baltimore native, entrepreneur, and community organizer. As the youth engagement specialist for the Baltimore City Schools Office of Engagement, Rashad works to expand the district’s reach in the community in support of youth advocacy and leadership. Prior to this role, he worked for the Family League of Baltimore as a youth and community engagement specialist. Rashad is the co-founder of two businesses—BeMore Consulting, LLC (The BeMore Group), an organization that provides consultation on subjects such as youth development, community engagement, and financial literacy, and It Takes One Inc., a scholarship award and mentoring program for first generation graduating seniors in Baltimore City Public Schools that are entering college. He has served as the vice chair of the Baltimore City Youth Commission and furthered his passion for public service and civic engagement in 2016 when he campaigned as one of Baltimore City’s youngest democratic candidates for Baltimore City Council for the 12th District. Rashad also volunteers with #BaltimoreVotes.
Rashad is a Fellow for the Campaign for Black Male Achievement’s Building Beloved Community Leadership Fellowship (BBCLF) and is a 2017 recipient of Community Law in Action’s (CLIA) Inspiring Voices award. He graduated top of his class from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and holds a BA in Political Science from Morgan State University. Currently, he is pursuing a Masters of Public Administration with a specialization in Non-Profit Management at the University of Baltimore.
