We bridge gaps.

About Us

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to advance social and economic equity for under-served adults through academic instruction and workforce development.

VISION STATEMENT

At LCMC, we teach adults to read, write, and speak English in a vibrant multicultural community where English proficiency is a tool for success.

We equip adult learners with skills for life!  Our students improve their employment opportunities, become better citizens, acquire consumer skills, and increase their involvement in their children’s education.

HISTORY

The Literacy Council of Montgomery County, Maryland, Inc. is a private, 501(c)(3) organization founded by Beth Kilgore in 1963. We were originally founded solely as a volunteer-led tutoring program for native English speakers learning to read and write as adults, but as our community grew and expanded, so did the need to diversify our services. From that came the programs that offer instruction English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), GED exam preparation, workforce readiness, computer skills, and more that we provide today. 

Our Team

gabriel martinez cabrera

Executive Director

Gabe joined LCMC in August 2017. He has worked in under-served communities in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Over the years, his work evolved into workforce development, where he was in charge of a federally funded program that helped young returning citizens find family sustaining employment. He brings to his work a belief that education is more than teaching; it is an act of building community.

Denise hill

Director of Community Impact

Denise Hill has been an educator for over 20 years. She believes in the power of education to empower the individuals she serves. Denise is also a highly sought-after motivational speaker and resource in media, education, and activist circles for creative, engaging, and effective presentations. Her work addresses individual, cultural, and national triumphs and tragedies and is designed to provoke thought, compel dialogue, and most importantly, foster change.

Nina Pashkina

Senior Director of Data Management

Nina Pashkina is a Data Analyst, who worked for non-profit organizations and marketing agencies. She has an analytical background that helped her to successfully accomplish developing of databases for Coca-Cola, Unilever and Audubon Naturalist Society.

Nina holds a Bachelor of Science in social psychology, and is a cat-lover and a passion mushroom hunter from Russia.

ASHLEY FRANCE-HOWELL

Senior Manager of Operations and Data Management

Serving and giving back has been an integral part of Ashley’s life for as long as she could remember.  After receiving her B.A. in Strategic Communications from Elon University, Ashley’s first look into adult education began at a small literacy council in North Carolina where she served as an AmeriCorps member for two years.  While there, she worked with the workplace literacy program, where she helped students with GED prep. She taught ESL classes. Seeing the positive impact that she had on the students fueled her desire to keep giving back.  After Ashley’s AmeriCorps service terms were up, she moved back to Maryland in search of the next opportunity. She found LCMC, and has been here since February of 2017.

RUTH SEIDENSPINNER

Curriculum Designer/Master ESL Instructor

Ruth began teaching ESL classes for the Literacy Council in the fall of 2015. She spent 2 concurrent years teaching at the International Language Institute of MD. In September of 2018, Ruth joined the LCMC staff full-time as the Tutoring Program Manager.

Helping both English and Basic Literacy learners to share their stories, strengthen their communities and increase their opportunities in life has been one of the most personally rewarding experiences imaginable for Ruth.

Ruth obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Human Resources, and a Graduate TESOL Certificate. She is fascinated by human behavior, learning, cultures, language and communication.

ALEC BECKHAM

Master Instructor

Alec recently joined the Literacy Council as an Instructor. His experience as an educator began in 2014 at the Intensive English Language Institute at The University of North Texas, which included an opportunity to teach at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan. He moved to Maryland in 2019, where he continued his work as an educator at Howard Community College.

Dedicated to helping others achieve their goals and engaging with the community, Alec spends all of his time in and out of the classroom teaching in some fashion or another. In his spare time, he hosts and organizes role-playing games in his community and conventions around the country.

Alec has received both a B.A. and M.A. in Linguistics from the University of North Texas.

KEVIN RALPH

Assistant Director of Academic Programming

Kevin joined the Literacy Council in 2021. He worked inside elementary and college classrooms as a Teaching Assistant and as a Drum Specialist in Washington, DC. He also brings experience working in government administration, government affairs, and financial technology. Kevin graduated from American University with an MA in Philosophy. His studies focused on equity and ethics, especially within the spheres of government, education, and the arts. 

In his downtime, Kevin enjoys music, reading, and cooking. 

JEREMIAH NICHOLSON

Manager of Content Creation

Jeremiah Nicholson is the Content Creator here at LCMC. Born and raised in Montgomery County, he attended school at Hofstra University where he received his Bachelor's degree in Film Production. Jeremiah spent 5 years in New York City working in the film industry and giving classroom instruction to photography students before returning to Maryland.

He is dedicated to improving the lives of those around him, and spent time as a member of the state AmeriCorps program, through which he found LCMC. After completing his AmeriCorps service, he joined LCMC full-time.

Ryan

Volunteer Coordinator

His work aids in the recruitment and retention of our hardworking volunteers whose dedicated efforts are the backbone of the Literacy Council.

Donte Yerby

EMILY SIMONAVICE

Master ESL Instructor

Emily was hired as a part-time virtual ESL instructor in September of 2020. Since then, she has taught several classes at LCMC and was brought on as a full-time virtual ESL instructor in July of 2021. She holds her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Wellness, Master’s degree in Exercise & Leisure Studies, PhD in Exercise Physiology and a CELTA certification. She spent a large part of her academic career teaching in higher education in Georgia, but in 2018, she left the field of health sciences to pursue teaching adult ESL classes.

Teaching ESL allows her to fulfill her convictions of guiding, assisting, and encouraging others to pursue their personal and professional goals. She believes that language is a powerful and beautiful tool that can connect people around the globe. She acknowledges that learning a new language and the way of life in a new place can be challenging, but that we can find solace in knowing that we all smile in the same language.

Our Board

JULIAN SCHWEITZER

Chair

Julian Schweitzer is a Senior Fellow at the Results for Development Institute with over 30 years’ experience in global health and development. He was previously Director of the Health, Nutrition and Population Department and Acting Vice President for Human Development at the World Bank and during this time provided strategic leadership to the Bank’s support for Results Based Financing. Since 2010, he has consulted for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, the UN Foundation, PMNCH, WHO, the Centre for Health Market Innovations, the Overseas Development Institute, the Global Fund and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance on issues related to international health and inclusive growth.

Julian has served on the Boards of various international health partnerships including the Global Fund, GAVI, the Health Metrics Network and The Global Health Workforce Alliance. He was Chair of the Board of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in 2009/10 and helped provide new strategic direction to this important partnership in the run up to the 2010 Women Deliver conference and MDG Summit. He has worked extensively with the Partnership over the past few years and was co-author of the 2014 Success Factors study.

ANNIE FOSTER-AHMED

Vice Chair

Annie Foster Ahmed received her Master’s Degree in Science Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY) and a B.S. in Biology from Daemen College. Prior to joining the CAS team in 2014, she served as the Associate Director for Pre-College Programs at the University of Maryland and was responsible for the day-to-day management of two TRiO Programs: Upward Bound and Upward Bound-Math/Science Programs. Both programs were funded by the U.S. Department of Education and were designed to prepare low-income and first-generation college students for success in college through academic, personal and social development. Her professional activities have centered around: program management, proposal writing, teacher training, staff development, and enhancing learning and study skills. Her passion and expertise is in helping students succeed and achieve their personal and academic goals by employing brained based learning strategies. She has presented on these topics at various conferences including the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), the Mid-Eastern Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel (MEAEOPP) and the National College Learning Center Association. Currently, she serves on the Operations Boards for both the ACES Program and for Culture Shock, DC, a non-profit dance company in the Washington-Metropolitan area. She is also a member of Leadership Montgomery, Class of 2019.

DONNELL JACKSON

Treasurer

I was born and raised in Maryland.  I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and graduate degrees from George Washington University. I hold a Bachelor of Science, a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Finance.  In addition, I am pursuing a CPA.  I have spent over 30 years working in Banking as a Regulator, Risk Manager and now a Consultant. My interests include fitness, tennis, racquetball, golf, horseback riding, bicycling and motorcycles. I joined the Board because education is very personal issue to me.  I grew up in a low-income community and witnessed how the lack of education creates limited opportunities.  Individuals are relegated to working unskilled jobs and barely surviving. These individuals have so much potential but lack the guidance and support from the community.   We must do better as a village. I am proud to be a member of the Board and look forward to serving the LCMC.

DENISE PINKOWITZ

Secretary

Denise Pinkowitz is a former educator and researcher who has been a high-performing volunteer with LCMC for four years. She has served as a tutor and as a member of the Fundraising Committee at LCMC. In addition to her service with LCMC, Denise has more than 14 years’ experience as a coordinator and fundraiser for Walking Warriors Battling Breast Cancer and Avon 39 Walk to End Breast Cancer. In these fundraising capacities she specialized in identifying and soliciting individual donors. She possesses excellent communication and interpersonal skills and seeks to continue developing relationships in the nonprofit field of adult education.

MARTIN BLANK

Director

Martin Blank retired as president of Institute for Educational Leadership where he worked for more than 25 years. A major focus of IEL was on helping young people and adults with disabilities gain access to the workforce, which included attention to their literacy skills. He focused personal attention on the relationship between schools and their communities. In addition, he worked on a wide array of education, community development and human services programs, always in non-governmental organizations that give him an understanding of what it takes to make a small nonprofit organization successful – vision, leadership, strategic thinking and partnerships to name a few. He has relationships with organizations in the County that are working to improve the lives of children and families, most importantly, the Linkages to Learning Initiative which works with children and their families in high needs school in the County.

SANGEETA DWORKIN

Director

Sangeeta Dworkin brings over 25 years of industry and software leadership experience. This experience lies in the area of customer account and success management, software sales, and strategic partner management in the software and technology industries. In recent roles at CallRevu, Unanet, Kitcheck and Deltek, Sangeeta held executive leadership roles as VP of Customer Success and Experience where she maximized customer retention, satisfaction, and expansion. During her career, Sangeeta also led a sales team who sold ERP, CRM, HCM, and project management solutions in the government contracting space, and implemented a successful channel partner network. Sangeeta also served previously as an adjunct professor in the information technology department at Kaplan University. She started her career as a programmer at Burlington Northern Railroad after earning an M.S. in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State University and a B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Georgia. Sangeeta also enjoys travelling and spending time with her family. 

RHEA ROPER NEDD

Director

Dr. Rhea Roper Nedd’s academic and professional career has focused on advocating for equity and access for low-income, 1st generation, and traditionally underserved populations for over 15 years. At the University of Maryland she is a leader of the Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Taskforce charged with implementing D&I strategic initiatives to bring about systemic changes of inclusive practices in the workplace. She leads D&I trainings for faculty, students, and staff, and spearheads “diversity dialogues,” facilitating conversations and devising training curricula for leadership on topics such as “Privilege and Oppression, Mentorship & Retention of Diverse Groups, Dynamics of Gender Identity, etc.”

Over the years Dr. Roper Nedd has been the recipient of various awards and recognitions. Most notably, she was the two-time recipient of the Ralph Bunche Award for Research in International Affairs from Howard University. She was recognized as a graduate student fellow by The American Academy of Political and Social Science, and was also a Mayoral Fellow of then, Mayor Martin O’Malley of Baltimore City, Maryland. Dr. Rhea Roper Nedd earned her Ph.D. from Howard University in 2007, her Master of Arts from The Catholic University of America in 2002, and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2000.

See her full bio here

JEFF SCHWARTZ

Director

Jeff Schwartz is the Founder and President of Ashton Manor Environmental. Established in 2002, Ashton Manor is a Montgomery County-based full service, environmental and commercial landscape company. Jeff has a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science from the State University of New York and a Master’s in Environmental Science from Johns Hopkins. Jeff is a life-long Montgomery County resident who is incredibly passionate about giving back. In addition to running a $15 million, 100 employee small business, Jeff believes that when you are faced with a need, you are obligated to step up with both personal and professional resources. Many people believe in community and education. Jeff lives it with his work and family time.

Jeff is particularly proud of his involvement with the Literacy Council of Montgomery County. Jeff has invested in supporting over 10 percent of the Ashton Manor workforce to completing the LCMC’s curriculum, providing his employees with fundamental English-language skills that will benefit them both personally and professionally. Jeff is an avid ski patroller, hunter, cyclist, and lives in a restored 1700’s Farm House with his two children and dog in Brookeville, Maryland.

DR. CHRISTI HAY

Director

Christi Hay, MD MPH is a California native who now calls the Washington Metropolitan area home. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan and her Medical Degree from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. She completed her pediatric residency at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She is a board certified general pediatrician, who is the founder and sole owner of Palisades Pediatrics, an intentionally small pediatric care practice in Washington, DC. 

Dr. Hay is very active in her community and has a commitment to volunteerism. She is an At-Large Board Member of the DC- American Academy of Pediatrics, she participates in the Medical Society of District of Columbia (Nominating Committee 2021-2021), the Medical Society Alliance Foundation(Board Member), The PVAC Fund (Board Member) and the Potomac Valley Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Educational Development Committee Co-Chair). Dr. Hay is excited to work with organizations that support underserved and under resourced communities, with a special focus on education issues

Lyn J. Jacqueline

Director

Lyn J. Jacqueline is an Audit professional who brings over 12 years of compliance and industry leadership experience. With a focus on risk assessment, fiscal management, internal controls, and information privacy, her breadth of experience including working for some of the most notable organizations in the country, including the FBI, U.S. Office for Civil Rights, and the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Alongside her professional career as an Auditor, Lyn is also an education advocate who uses who knowledge, skills, and abilities to promote equity and access for low-income, minority, and traditionally underserved populations. To this end, she is a former School Board Member of Prince Georges (PG) County Public Schools and currently serves as a Board Member within the University of Maryland’s Prince Georges County Alumni Association.

Lyn is homegrown… born and raised in Washington D.C. and attending D.C. and  Prince Georges County public schools. She received a Bachelor’s (BA) degree in Political Science and Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park, and she has a Master’s degree (MBA) in Public Administration. She is currently completing a Doctoral degree (PhD) in Business and Organizational Leadership and anticipates completion in 2023.