2022 Voices of Public Service
Voices of Public Service is a monthly series that gives students an opportunity to learn about public service careers from seasoned professionals. Guest speakers include government and nonprofit leaders, elected officials, and business leaders who have made a civic contribution to society. Students from all majors and programs are welcome to attend.
This series is co-sponsored by the College of Public Affairs, the Schaefer Center for Public Policy and the Career and Internship Center. Voices of Public Service is part of the Schaefer Center’s Public Service Academy.
Brandon M. Scott, Mayor, City of Baltimore
Brandon M. Scott is the 52nd Mayor of Baltimore, working to end gun violence, restore the public’s trust in government and change Baltimore for the better.
Scott was unanimously elected President of the Baltimore City Council by his colleagues in May 2019. As Council President, Scott developed and released the first-ever City Council President legislative agenda, focused on building safer, stronger communities, cleaning up city government, investing in Baltimore’s young people, and centering equity. Previously, Scott served on the City Council representing Baltimore’s 2nd District. He was first elected in 2011 at the age of 27 and is one of the youngest people ever elected to the Baltimore City Council.
During his first term, Scott emerged as a leading voice in reducing violence in Baltimore and reinstated Council Oversight of the Baltimore Police Department by holding quarterly hearings. He believes that reducing violence will require a holistic, all-hands-on-deck approach, one that recognizes violence is fundamentally a public health issue. Scott led legislative initiatives that created extensive crime data sharing and online reporting of crimes by the Baltimore Police Department. In 2016, Scott introduced and passed legislation creating an open data policy in Baltimore.
In early 2018, then-Councilman Scott introduced and passed monumental legislation on equity in Baltimore. His equity assessment program law will require all city agencies to operate through a lens of equity and require all operating budgets, capital budgets, and proposed legislation to be weighed through an equity lens. That legislation is in the early stages of implementation.
Mayor Scott is a rising star in politics. He was a member of the Young Elected Officials Network and served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for YEO’s America’s Cabinet. He also served as the Chair of the National League of Cities’ Large Cities Council.
Mayor Scott is a community leader, public servant, and lifelong resident of Baltimore City. A proud Baltimorean, Scott is a graduate of MERVO High School and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He lives in Baltimore’s Frankford neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore.
From the time he was little growing up in Baltimore City, Thibault wrestled to understand why we as human beings seemed so divided. He continued to ask himself what truly causes those divides that separate races, cultures and communities, and can anything be done to bridge them?
Armed with that burning question, in 2002, Thibault traveled to South Africa, where he combined his passion for bringing people together with a love of sports to help create PeacePlayers, a nonprofit with the mission of bringing together children from war-torn countries around the world through basketball and dialogue. PeacePlayers has since worked with over 75,000 youth from over 20 countries around the world and has trained over 2,000 coaches/change agents. The program has won numerous global awards, including the 2007 ESPYs Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Bothered by how real estate and the control of land seemed to have done more to divide us as people than actually bring us together, in 2006 Thibault moved back to Baltimore where he helped start Seawall, an impact driven company made up of passionate social entrepreneurs who believe in re-imagining the real estate industry as we know it. Seawall believes that all facets of the built environment should be used to empower communities, unite our cities, and help launch powerful ideas that create important movements. Since its inception, the company has focused its energy and resources on providing discounted apartments for teachers, collaborative office space for non-profit organizations, workforce housing, community-driven retail, public markets, launchpads for chefs, and creative space for charter schools. In 2011, Thibault was honored by President Obama’s White House as a Champion for Change and Seawall’s projects have received numerous local and national awards.
Most importantly, Thibault is the proud husband of Lola Manekin and the father of Durban and Finley Manekin.
Donald C. Fry, J.D. ’79, president and CEO, Greater Baltimore Committee
Donald C. Fry, J.D. ’79, is President & CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, a position he has held for 19 years, making him the second longest serving President & CEO in the organization’s 67-year history.
Mr. Fry will retire effective June 1, 2022, but will serve as a consultant to the GBC until December 31, 2022.
Mr. Fry began his tenure with the GBC in April, 1999 when he joined the organization as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He served in that role until November 1, 2002 when he was named President & CEO. Prior to joining the GBC, Fry maintained a private law practice in Harford County.
He also served in the Maryland General Assembly, first as a member of the House of Delegates where he served on the Ways and Means Committee and the Appropriations Committee and chaired its Subcommittee on Transportation & the Environment. He also served in the state Senate where he was a member of the Budget and Taxation Committee.
Fry is a 1979 graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law. He earned a B.S. in political science from Frostburg State College.
Fry’s civic work during the past 23 years is expansive. Among the dozens of boards, commissions, task forces and other entities Fry has served on are include: Towson University Board of Visitors (active); Search Committee that helped select a new president and athletic director for Towson University; United Way of Central Maryland (Campaign Chair); Maryland Port Commission; CollegeBound; Visit Baltimore; the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore; Harford Mutual Insurance Co. Board of Directors (active); University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center Board of Visitors; President of Star Spangled 200 Celebration, and Chair of the Video Lottery Facility Location Commission charged with selecting the location and operators of the state’s casino locations.
Stacy L. Rodgers, M.P.A. ’99, Baltimore County Administrative Officer
Stacy L. Rodgers, M.P.A. ’99, has more than 30 years of experience in working with federal, state, and local government agencies and non-profit organizations where she has successfully designed, implemented and overseen innovative programs and initiatives. In March 2019, Stacy became the first African-American and second woman appointed to serve as the Baltimore County Administrative Officer (CAO). She is responsible for directing the County’s day-to-day operations and providing oversight for the County’s nearly $4 billion dollar operating budget. Baltimore County is the 3rd largest jurisdiction in Maryland, with a population of more the 850,000 residents.
Stacy is a graduate of the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Leadership Institute, the National Forum for Black Public Administrators’ (NFBPA) Mentor Program and Executive Leadership Institute. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a M.P.A. from The University of Baltimore.
2021 William Donald Schaefer Memorial Conference and Award Ceremony, Celebrating the 100th Birthday Anniversary of William Donald Schaefer
View the entire William Donald Schaefer 100th Birthday celebration including remarks by Governor Hogan, Comptroller Franchot, Mayor Brandon Scott, and City Council President Mosby HERE.
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