Howard County Executive

What can we do to prepare for the future and ensure the success of the next generation? 

In Howard County, the answer to that question has always been clear: we must invest in our young people.

Prior to becoming Howard County executive, I studied educational systems and earned a doctorate with a focus on community college leadership. Working and teaching in higher education helped to lay the foundation for my career in public service.  It also gave me a deep understanding of the power of investing in our young people and providing pathways to success.

Howard County has long been recognized for its high-quality public schools and robust recreation programs, yet significant achievement gaps and limited community-based services existed for young people prior to 2018. For example, According to the 2021-2022 Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Report, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 19 percent of Hispanic children and 33 percent of Black children were ready for kindergarten, compared to 53 percent of Asian children and 54 percent of White children.  Youth mental health needs were also pressing. A 2021 survey found that 37 percent of Howard County high school students felt sad or hopeless for at least two weeks, and about one in six had seriously considered suicide.  

After taking office in December 2018, we recognized the need to respond to these disturbing trends with action. My team immediately began establishing programs, boosting funding, and forming new partnerships aimed at uplifting Howard County’s young people. 

These efforts started by addressing structural deficits in the school system.  In partnership with HCPSS, we eliminated a nearly $40 million health fund deficit, which freed up millions in recurring school system costs that has allowed us to reinvest in classroom learning and student support services.  This year alone, the County added $53.5 million in new recurring funding, a landmark 7 percent increase over the prior year. Howard County now funds HCPSS at approximately $54 million above State requirements, totaling more than $816 million in local funding support alone. 

This investment has also led to an aggressive expansion of our full-day pre-k services to 95 percent of HCPSS elementary schools, prioritizing the children and families that need it most.

However, education is only one piece of the puzzle. Our young people spend more time outside the classroom than they do inside.   This is why we launched new non-school-based initiatives that tackled multiple challenges.  

In 2019 we kicked off HoCo STRIVES (Strategies to Reach an Inclusive Vision and Equitable Solutions), an initiative designed to tackle the county’s persistent academic achievement gaps and support vulnerable youth. STRIVES serves as an umbrella strategy coordinating several community-based efforts – from early childhood education to behavioral health, nutrition, and social-emotional learning – to help ensure all children can succeed in school.  

Regarding mental health, STRIVES’ Building Youth Resiliency Program helps youth overcome multiple treatment barriers, including cost, transportation, and long wait-times.  Since 2020, the program has served more than 300 youth and continues to maintain a wait time of three days or fewer between referral and first appointment with a provider.  In addition, the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program provides supplemental mental health services to youth who are either underinsured or altogether uninsured.  The program serves approximately 15 to 25 youth per year, with 85 percent of participating youth maintaining their mental stability 90 to 120 days after completing the program.  

As it relates to social and emotional learning, we started STRIVES’ Middle School Summer Scholars program to curb summer learning loss through targeted academic interventions – mainly mathematics – for different cohorts of middle school students by strategically addressing their social and emotional development.  Academically, our Middle School Summer Scholars program, which ran for six summers and served cumulatively nearly 700 middle schoolers, helped more than 90 percent of program participants pass the following year’s math standardized testing.  This success rate has grown from a low of 80 percent in the program’s first year, indicating that we saw our outcome improve over time as the program matured.

In 2023, we established the Youth Engagement Programming (YEP!) grant program to help nonprofits offer free or low-cost after-school, weekend, and summer activities ranging from sports and arts to STEM and mental wellness.  As of May 2025, YEP! has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to nearly 40 nonprofits, reaching approximately 13,000 young people across Howard County in the last two years. Our current YEP! program includes 33 organizations, delivering programs across the county. These programs make all the difference. They meet our young people where they are, prepare them for a successful future, and provide positive engagement experiences.

In 2025, we created the Youth Engagement Strategies (YES!) Council to coordinate violence prevention and youth engagement efforts, including mentorship.  This 27-member council includes youth, mental health professionals, educators, and community leaders. Its mission: map services, identify gaps, and propose interventions such as mentoring, mental health access, restorative justice, and workforce development. This council was a call to action to ensure all our young people are safe and have a positive path forward.

Also in 2025, we bolstered Recreation & Parks’ programming for teens through our Teen Kick Backs program.  = The program offers free, weekly events where young people ages 11–17 can gather in a safe, supervised environment to enjoy games, music, sports, and food, while interacting with positive adult role models.

From my first days in office, we have recognized that investing in young people required far more than temporary fixes. It demanded sustained, equity-focused financial support, community collaboration, and innovation.  And these investments were crucial as the COVID-19 pandemic risked widening learning gaps and limiting exposure and access to positive community-based programming.

The results are evident: increased youth engagement, improved academic performance, accessible mental health services, and a stronger sense of community. Through policies, programs, and continuous evaluation, we have created a model in which all young people are seen not just as future leaders, but as vital contributors today.

We have made strides, but our work continues. We must continue investing in prevention, intervention, and community-based solutions to ensure that all our young people are safe and have a positive path forward.  Howard County is making good on that promise—one neighborhood, one family, and one child at a time.