Board of Directors

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Our Board of Directors

Peter DeFries

Interim President

Peter DeFries has over 30 years of experience working within the Maryland Department of Health in several capacities. He retired as the Director of Operations for the Developmental Disabilities Administration, an administration with a budget of over $2.3 billion. Peter’s also worked for the Maryland Medicaid Administration in the Office of Health Services, served as the Executive Director for several State Health Advisory Councils, and as an Assistant to Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health. He brings his blend of knowledge, skills, and abilities around how to improve access to services, eligibility, and person-centered planning, particularly for individuals with disabilities, with his depth of understanding of fiscal and operational aspects of human service organizations, to his role as the current interim Board President of C-IMPACT.

Jon Farley

Secretary / Treasurer

Jon Farley is a co-founder and currently serves as COO of C-IMPACT and has a 30-year background of operational management, scaling organizations and data analysis.  Prior to C-IMPACT, Jon directed operations for two start-up market research companies, which resulted in the sale of one to Merck & Co, Inc., and served as the COO at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Education’s IDEALS Institute.  An alumnus of PSU and a former Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps, Jon is passionate about positive leadership and service to others and sees C-IMPACT as a coordinator and amplifier to other organizations working the front lines of human services. 

 

Dr. Chris Swanson

Board Member

Chris Swanson is a co-founder of C-IMPACT and currently serves as the Executive Director and an ex-officio board member. Chris has a background in education; having been an Associate Research Professor with the Johns Hopkins School of Education where he also founded and ran the IDEALS Institute and served as leadership of the Center for Technology in Education. Previously, he has been a principal, school system administrator, and classroom special educator with both private and public education systems. Chris received his doctorate in urban school leadership and special education from Johns Hopkins University. Much of his work has focused on improving lifelong outcomes by strengthening early childhood experiences, and in breaking down silos that exist between all the policies and services that impact people’s lives.

David Morley

Board Member

David Morley is president of Zinnia Films, a mid-Atlantic-based marketing agency that focuses on storytelling for nonprofits and mission-minded for-profit companies. David has more than 30 years of experience with the moving image. In addition to his work leading a creative team, David is a passionate practitioner and instructor of yoga and meditation, which informs how he runs his business. David is an alumnus of UMBC and a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program.

  

 

Leah Hairston

Board Member

Leah Hairston is founder and president of Sweet Bee Services, a concierge team of maternal healthcare professionals. In a landscape where Black maternal mortality is a national crisis, Leah’s work focuses on the operational and clinical infrastructure required to ensure safe outcomes, yielding a 100% maternal survival rate.  She is the Senior Health Equity Consultant for the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), where she led the Black infant and Maternal Health Task Force and served as the Principal Investigator for the “Paint Parties” maternal health and low birth weight research, and she is the Regional Director for the National Black Doula Association (Northeast & Mid-Atlantic) and on the Advisory Board for the Center for Maternal and Family Health at Morgan State University. Leah specializes in the intersection of community-based care and institutional strategy, informed by tenures as Chief of Staff at Messiah Community Church, research with the Vera Institute of Justice, and bilingual advocacy with the House of Ruth Maryland. She is passionate about building equitable healthcare infrastructure and trauma-informed leadership.

Brian Rudick

Board Member

Brian Rudick is a practicing attorney and entrepreneur who earned his MBA from Johns Hopkins University.  Presently, he works for the federal government in the intelligence community, handling Insider Threats, Operations Security, Workplace and Domestic Violence, Defensive Counterintelligence, and Continuity of Operations.  He previously worked for multiple Fortune 500 companies in marketing and management to include AT&T, Household Bank and Banker’s Trust.  In addition, he worked as a market maker for Legg Mason and Alex. Brown.

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