Jewru Bandeh - Director

Jewru Bandeh was appointed in 2013 as the Regional Director of the Montgomery County Eastern Regional Office, serving as the County’s representative and liaison (point person) between residents, businesses, and County Government in the region. He manages the affairs of the East County Citizens Advisory Board appointed by the County Executive and confirmed by the Council, serves as the Senior Advisor to the County Executive on Workforce Development matters overseeing the Worksource Montgomery’s employment, education and training programs portfolio, the University of Shady Grove Ready Institute workforce development related initiative, supervises and guides the implementation of the White Oak Science Gateway Master Plan.

He has served the County in many other capacities before coming to this position, including Assistant Director of the Upcounty Regional Services Office in Germantown; Program Manager at the Silver Spring Regional Office: Operations Manager of the (downtown) Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza and Interim Director of the MidCounty Regional Services Office during a management transition period. Many of the major transformational community and economic development advancements, human services and community engagement/building infrastructures in the region were created and continue to expand under his tenure as Regional Director.

Jewru has extensive experience in program planning, management, community capacity building and public policy and administration at the City, County and State levels, serving in senior executive level positions for well over 35 years, including - Chief Executive Officer of the Tulsa Community Action Agency and its Head Start Early Childhood Education, Small Business, Youth, Neighborhood Development and Senior Programs; Manager, Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League; Executive Director of Operations (Logistical/Support Services) of Tulsa Public Schools (District #1); City of Tulsa Minority/Female Business Enterprises Program Coordinator; Assistant to the Mayor, City of Tulsa; Director, Maryland Department of Social Services/Family Investment Administration Office of Work Opportunities (responsible for transitioning of the statewide AFDC programs to TANF in 23 jurisdictions) and as Deputy Commissioner, Westchester County (New York) Department of Social Services. In Westchester, he was responsible for the administration and management of a two-County Workforce Development (Workforce Investment Act) System, its TANF Welfare-to-Work programs and major Social Services Divisions/Operations (Temporary Cash Assistance, Medicaid/Medical Assistance, Childcare Subsidies, Child Support Enforcement/Collection, Adult Protective Services, Veterans Services, Food Stamps and Employment, Medical Transportation, Office of Programs and Policy, Quality Assurance/Control, Fraud Prevention, Bureau of Case Review, Community Relations/Outreach and Nonprofit Grants Management, with an annual operating budget of over $290 million. He has also previously served as a National Consultant for the Kellogg Foundation in its Sustaining Community-Based Initiative/Learning Series - Developing Community Capacity Building (published) - in partnership with the Healthcare Forum, and for many years taught Sociology and Managing Cultural Diversity as an Adjunct Professor at Langston University in Tulsa and Tulsa Community College before relocating to Maryland in 1996.

While in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Jewru served on many boards focused on diverse issues and visions, including Coalition of 100 Black Men, Tulsa African American Leadership Council, North Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, Tulsa Perinatal Care Coalition, Tulsa Council for International Visitors, Tulsa Sister Cities, Leadership Tulsa, Tulsa Community Action Board (Mayoral Appointment) and Youth Services of Tulsa, and participated in the 2017 Washington Urban Land Institute Fellows Program. In 1991, he received the Leadership Tulsa Paragon Award for Leadership in Action. Between 2010 and 2016, he served as Vice Chair of the Governor of Maryland’s Commission for African Affairs. He worked very closely with the Montgomery County’s Office of Community Partnerships in the establishment of the African Affairs Advisory Group to advocate for the needs of the African community, providing policy advise to the County Executive’s and Governor’s offices on issues impacting the African and other diaspora communities.

Jewru originally came from The Gambia and completed high school at Webb Preparatory in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, and a Master’s degree in Resource Planning and Management at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. He speaks five languages and authored several poems, manuals and newspaper articles and editorials.

Jewru Bandeh
Director
East County Regional Services