Federation Board Members Pictured (L to R) : David Houck; Ray Strong; Skip Shipman; Chris Trumbauer(former member); Gwenn Azama; Missy Cassidy; John Daltner; Coles Marsh; Julie Winters; Kincey Potter; Kent McNew (not pictured: Keely Clifford; Hank Libby; Don Riddle; Eric Swanson; Kevin Green)

Kincey Potter, Chair (Term ends 2012) Kincey Potter is a retired Vice President of AMS, a billion dollar information technology and business consulting firm based in Fairfax, Virginia. In her 20-year career at AMS she managed large, complex projects that leveraged information technology to achieve strategic business results. The majority of her work was with financial institutions in the US and Canada, but she also worked with US retail and manufacturing firms. Ms. Potter is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of William and Mary and received her MA degree from Rutgers University. Since retiring, she has split her time between independent consulting, remodeling existing housing for resale, and volunteer work. She is a former board member of FACETS, a non-profit organization providing services to the homeless of Fairfax to transition them to independence. She and her husband have been avid sailors for over 35 years, and now use their home on Church Creek off the South River as a base for their cruising.

Gwenn Azama (Term ends 2012) Gwenn Azama is a graduate of the University of Hawaii and holds an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. In March of 2004, Gwenn retired from Dell Computer as a Global Account Executive for a Fortune 500 company. During her 25 year career within the Computer Industry, she held a variety of Sales, Marketing, and Management roles to include Federal Government agencies located in Anne Arundel County. Born and raised in Hawaii, Gwenn grew up with an appreciation of the fragile ecology in which we live. She and her husband moved from Prince George’s County to the Annapolis Neck Peninsula in 1998. Gwenn currently chairs the SaveYourAnnapolisNeck group, which is co-sponsored by the Annapolis Neck Peninsula Federation and the South River Federation.    

Missy Cassidy (Term ends 2011) Missy grew up in the Ozark Mountains and developed her interest in the outdoors while hiking and paddling the Buffalo National Scenic River. As she pursued her bachelor’s degree at the University of Arkansas, she worked summers for the National Park Service and US Forest Service. She completed her MS Degree in Land Use Planning at Texas A&M, and moved to Washington DC to work as a planner for the US Department of Interior. After several years of commuting to Washington, she changed careers to be closer to the Bay and to work for the State of Maryland. She worked first as committee staff for the General Assembly and later for the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) in Government Relations. Missy recently retired from MDOT as the Director of Policy and Government Affairs. She has extensive experience working with the Maryland General Assembly as well as with the Maryland Congressional Delegation on state and federal legislation and funding issues. Missy and her husband Bill live in South River Park on Warehouse Creek. Their 4 children and 4 grandchildren enjoy being on the River and the Chesapeake Bay. Missy has been active with her community association on issues related to Warehouse Creek. She was one of the founding Board members of the South River Federation and is pleased to return.

Keely Clifford (Term ends 2010) Keely grew up on Spa Creek, in Annapolis, crabbing and swimming and has always appreciated the unique environment of the Chesapeake Bay. Keely has worked in the environmental protection field since 1984. She started as an enforcement officer and then progressed to supervisor for the State of Maryland, enforcing sediment and erosion control, stormwater management, surface mining, forest harvest and wetlands laws and regulations. In 1991 she joined the US Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC working in hazardous and solid waste programs. In 2000 Keely returned to her roots and joined the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, where she has worked in the urban stormwater, sediment and land development fields. Born in Maryland, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Geology at the University of Vermont in 1984, and her Masters in Environmental Policy in 1995 from the University of Maryland. She lives in Edgewater Beach, Shady Section with her husband Bruce Sweeney and two daughters.

John Daltner (Term ends 2011) Mr. Daltner graduated from Columbia University and subsequently spent five years at 3M Company. He then went on to establish an advertising and public relations firm in the New York Metropolitan area. With offices in Northern New Jersey and New York City, his firm has served a broad list of clients including Minwax, Chubb, ATT, Exxon, GPU, Telcordia and Corning, among others. Pro bono work includes efforts on behalf of Juvenile Diabetes, Habitat for Humanity and the Ad Council that earned his firm recognition by Presidents Reagan and Bush. Providing office facilities for his growing company led to Mr. Daltner establishing a real estate development organization forming joint venture partnerships with Met Life and affiliations with Bessemer Trust. He was a Managing General Partner in the design, building, leasing and management of several hundred thousand square feet of office space in the Northern New Jersey marketplace. After years of competitive one-design sailing, Mr. Daltner and his family moved to the home he built on the South River in Annapolis.

Kevin Green (Term ends 2012) Kevin has been an active South River Federation volunteer since 2005 and is committed to a grassroots approach to improving water quality by engaging and encouraging community participation in watershed restoration. He is a Federation River Watcher and Snapshot sampler.  His volunteer activities also include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Oyster Recovery Center, the Marylanders Grow Oyster program and the Maryland DNR Steam Wader program. He has recently completed course work to become a certified Anne Arundel County Master Watershed Steward. Kevin was raised in Maryland and has lived in Annapolis since 2003.  Kevin is an Information Technology Manager at the National Archives and Records Administration, responsible for the information systems that deliver public access to official text of Federal Laws, Presidential Documents and Administrative Regulations.  Kevin and his wife Stacey live in Hillsmere Shores, where he currently serves on the Board of Directors, is a member of the Beach Committee and chairs the Security Committee for the neighborhood.   

David Houck (Term ends 2011) David is a graduate of Duke University, AB Economics. David serves as Managing Director of Jones Lang LaSalle, which in 2008 merged with The Staubach Company, where he served since 1991 and co-founded the Washington, DC office. David’s clients include non-profit organizations, professional firms and Fortune 500 corporations. David is a current board member of the Annapolis Yacht Club and Junior Achievement of the National Capital Region; he also is active with the Greater Washington Board of Trade, where he has chaired the Real Estate Committee and the Executive Networks Program. Having sailed on the Chesapeake Bay for over 25 years, David and his family have lived on the South River since 1997.

Hank Libby (Term ends 2012) Mr. Libby is a graduate of the Wharton School of Finance and the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania; he also has a LLM in Taxation from George Washington University. He practiced in the areas of Corporate, Venture Capital and Securities for more than twenty years. Following retirement Mr. Libby has been engaged as an Investment Advisor. He also studied Marine Biology through the University of Maryland. Mr. Libby has sailed the Chesapeake year-round since 1973; and has lived and played in the South River area for the past five years.

Coles Marsh (Term ends 2011) Mr. Marsh grew up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. He graduated from the University of Palm Beach with a degree in Accounting. Mr. Marsh has represented Petroleum Equipment Manufactures for the past thirty-two years. He has been involved in many marina fuel installations on the Chesapeake Bay. His knowledge of fuel systems lead him to chair a committee for Maryland Department of the Environment concerning the proper installation and materials to be used in a Marina Fueling System. The past two years he has served as Director of Maryland State Legislation for the Chesapeake Yacht Club Association. Since joining SRF he has chaired the South River Appreciation Day Fish Fry. He and his wife are avid boaters and enjoy cruising the beautiful Chesapeake Bay.

J. Kent McNew (Term ends 2012) Mr. McNew graduated from the University of Richmond. The next four years was spent working for Hess Oil and Chemical. In 1969, Mr. McNew went in business forming Eastern Petroleum Corporation, a home heating oil and diesel fuel marketer. He later entered the gasoline market business selling Amoco, Citgo and Chevron motor fuels serving some 80 locations in the Maryland and Virginia markets. Mr. McNew has served on the Foundation Board of Anne Arundel Medical Center, Associated Builders and Contractors, The Annapolis National Bank and Valley Forge Military Academy and College. Mr. McNew has lived in the Annapolis area his entire life, with the South River and Chesapeake Bay being a big part of his life.

Don Riddle (Term ends 2011) Don Riddle is President of Homestead Gardens, Inc. the largest enclosed garden center in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas and the second-largest single location independent garden center in the United States. Don founded Homestead Gardens in 1970 in the backyard of his home in Hyattsville, Maryland. In 1973, Homestead Gardens, Inc. was incorporated and its new facilities located on Central Avenue in Davidsonville, Maryland were opened. The growing division, Homestead Growers, incorporates two farms totaling over 250 acres, and includes a state-of-the-art five-acre greenhouse. HomesteadGardens was named GardenCenter of the Year by the GardenCenters of America (GCA) in 2004, and Nursery Retailer of the Year in 2008 by Nursery Retailer Magazine. Don also was awarded the prestigious Jack Schneider Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. This award, selected by the Garden Center of America’s board of directors, is the organization’s top honor. It is based on the nominee’s lifetime career contribution to the garden industry and support for GCA. Don serves on the Commerce First Bank Board, Vice-Chair of the American Horticultural Society, past president of GCA, and past president of the Board of Managers of the Excellence in Creative Gardening Concepts Group (ECGC).

Skip Shipman, Treasurer (Term ends 2010) Skip Shipman is a retired strategic business consultant and entrepreneur who grew up in the tidal wetland areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas and has actively sailed on the Chesapeake for three decades. In his 30 year career in the Washington, D.C. area, he co-founded three successful professional services firms providing technology consulting services to private sector and government clients in a wide variety of technologies including complex computer network architecture, alternative energy technologies, and environmental remediation. He holds undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and management from M.I.T. and an M.A. degree in Economics from Georgetown University. Since retiring in 2001, he has divided his time between consulting to emerging technology consulting firms, travel, and volunteer efforts. Since 1996, he and his wife have lived on Church Creek on the South River from which they base their Bay cruising.

Ray Strong, Vice Chair (Term ends 2010 ) Mr. Strong is a graduate of Loyola University, Chicago. For over 20 years, he lived in Miami, where he owned and operated Strong International, a sales and distribution company of commercial, industrial and residential HVAC products for Latin America. He was subsequently a director of English and German companies which remarketed commercial aircraft and wine machinery, respectively. Mr. Strong retired in 2000 and moved to Edgewater with his wife, Pat in 2003. He was involved with the financing of South River Landing’s shoreline preservation as its Board Treasurer in 2006. As an avid cruising sailor and waterfront resident for many years, he is concerned about the deterioration of waterfront communities in general and the South River/Chesapeake Bay in particular.

Eric Swanson (Term ends 2012) Eric Swanson is director of large conservation program management at the World Wildlife Fund. He previously served as executive vice president and COO of Common Cause (2000-2003), executive director of the Radio and Television News Foundation (1991-2000), senior conservation associate at The Conservation Fund (1989-1991), director of development and finance for the Izaak Walton League (1984-1989), executive director of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment (1982-1984), and manager of the Vermont wetlands program (state AEC) (1980-1982). Mr. Swanson has an MBA from Georgetown and a double BS in wildlife ecology and environmental policy from the University of Vermont. Besides serving on the SRF board, he has served on the boards of Independent Sector, Image Television Group, and several other boards and committees. His spouse, Ann Pesiri Swanson, is the executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission. They have two children and reside in Wild Rose Shores, on Little Aberdeen Creek.

Julie Winters, Secretary (Term ends 2011) Julie has made a lifelong commitment, both professionally and personally, to the environment and her community. For the past 24 years she has worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency. She has built a strong understanding and ability to apply environmental and science policy, and program management by working in a variety of different areas, examples include: Chesapeake Bay watershed, pollution prevention, technical and environmental expert on trade issues, environmental management and performance, asbestos, toxic substances, consumer product labeling/environmental marketing claims, on hazardous waste Superfund sites, and etc. In addition to her work with the South River Federation, Julie is also the chair of the Environmental Committee of the Annapolis Yacht Club where she has facilitated: a full scale energy audit of the main restaurant/club house facility, a recycling program, compliance with MD Clean Marina, a commitment from the Board to insure the planned Sailing Center building is LEED Certified, and an interim environmental site design for paved properties draining directly into the Creek. She has a B.S. from Kansas State University in Resource Management, a M.S. from North Carolina State University in Recreation Resources, and had done post graduate work at the Kennedy School of Government in leadership and persuasion. Julie makes her home in Annapolis, MD where she avidly boats on the Chesapeake in all types of water craft.