Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board (SSCAB)

Katherine Lucas McKay is a Program Manager at the Aspen Institute’s Financial Security Program (FSP), leading research initiatives on household finances and identifying strategies to increase financial security for millions of households. Katherine is an experienced policy researcher and advocate in the fields of economic inequality and financial inclusion, and has worked on issues including consumer debt, credit reporting, access to safe and affordable financial products and services, mortgage lending, retirement savings, and safety net policies. Prior to joining FSP, Katherine was the Associate Director of Government Affairs at Prosperity Now; she has also held positions at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and Georgetown University. Katherine holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz School of Public Policy and Information Systems and a BA from Wellesley College. She lives with her family in downtown Silver Spring, one of her favorite places on Earth.

Melanie Fonder Kaye has lived in the South Four Corners area of Silver Spring since 2008. She currently lives there with her husband, three children, and rescue dog Riley. Fonder Kaye is a communications strategist with more than 20 years of experience in communications, media, and journalism. Before founding her communications firm MFK Strategies, she served as Director of Communications to Dr. Jill Biden in the White House. Currently, she serves as Communications Director for the Biden Foundation, and provides strategic communications services to several other clients. She has also worked at GMMB, an agency dedicated to creating real and lasting change in the world, as press secretary for former Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, and as a reporter for The Hill, among other publications.

Since June 2004, Debra has worked for Holy Cross Health in Silver Spring, MD. Debra's current position is Program Coordinator of Health Equity, focusing on the needs of community members who face persistent barriers to health care and targeting clear solutions that enable them to live healthier lives.

Debra worked for Southern Management Corporation from June 1989 to June 2004, where she acquired her knowledge of the need and the importance of affordable housing and environmentally safe homes in Montgomery County. Debra has held many numerous appointed and volunteer positions in Montgomery County, Maryland throughout the years.

Don Slater and his wife, Tina, have lived in Silver Spring since 1983. They moved from Indian Spring to Park Hills in 2005, in part to be closer to downtown Silver Spring. Don studied technical theatre at the University of Pittsburgh and computer science and math at the University of Maryland. He works as a Systems Engineer for Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (one of the Alaska Native Companies) on a satellite weather data distribution system project for NOAA. Theatre remains an important part of his life. He is a board member and the resident lighting designer for Quotidian Theatre Company in Bethesda. He is a past board member and occasional lighting designer at Silver Spring Stage. As a civic activist, most of his efforts have been toward improving transit and land use in the county. He is a two-term member of Ride-On’s Transit Advisory Group and is an active supporter of Action Committee for Transit and Purple Line NOW. He is active with the Park Hills Civic Association (unsuccessfully running for president) and with local politics. Other interests include mental health advocacy (board member and 1st VP of NAMI Maryland) and gardening (Chair, Philadelphia Flower Show, 2018-2019).

Michelle moved to Silver Spring in 1994 from New York City in search of a walkable, transit-oriented neighborhood with a strong sense of community. Having found what she was looking for, she never moved again. As planner and environmental policy analyst, Michelle has sought to develop market solutions to solve environmental issues without compromising housing affordability. Michelle developed Fannie Mae’s Smart Commute Mortgage, revamped the Energy Efficient Mortgage, and developed a methodology to calculate the carbon reduction from efficient homes so that they could be sold on the emerging greenhouse gas market. She is also a proud co-founder of the Friends of Forest Glen and Montgomery Hills.

Sofia Bushen is Ethiopian born, she spent most of her adult life in the United States. She lived in Tenessee for eight years before moving to Maryland in 2014. Currently, she is working at Medstar Health as an Inpatient Medical Coding Team Lead, in the Rates and Reimbursement Department. She has both a Master’s degree in Healthcare Law, and a Bachelor’s degree in Health Information Management. While pursuing her Master’s in Healthcare Law, she worked on various projects that dealt with both healthcare regulatory and statutory analysis, and policy recommendations. These projects include: Healthcare Reform for undocumented immigrants under the Affordable Care and Medicaid Acts, the Racial Impact of Unconscious Bias on Mental Healthcare Access and Treatment Disparities Among African American Women.

In addition, she was crowned Miss Ethiopia USA 2010 during the Miss Africa USA pageant. The Pageant provided her with a platform committed to promoting self-esteem and leadership skills in women’s lives. She also collaborated and organized fundraising events with the YWCA Domestic Violence Center, to have items donated for women, and their children, who are escaping domestic violence.

She is empathetic to societal adversities, and has a vast compassion for resolving these problems. Her commitment to community matters and services are evident throughout her active community services and work experience in the areas of Silver Spring; including Ethiopian communities. She is proud to continually deliver services with integrity, authenticity and compassion.

Ken Lemberg has been a member of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board since early 2021. He has been actively engaged in the DC Metro community for many years now, since arriving to Silver Spring in 2002. Ken has been engaged in the workforce development and public policy arenas for many years, which has included stints with the federal government (U.S. Department of Labor) and Maryland State Government (Governor's Workforce Development Board). He has served on a variety of other boards as well, including currently the DC Chapters of the Federal Bar Association and of the Society for Human Resource Management. Ken's interests extend into cultural activities, music, civic engagement, economic development, energy, and sustainable development. He also previously served as a Tenant Representative/Commissioner on the Montgomery County Landlord-Tenant Affairs Commission (seven years).

Lene co-owns Kefa Café in Downtown Silver Spring and represents the Fenton Village area.

Vanesa Pinto organizes and oversees CHEER’s programming involving community building, community leadership, and networks of support in the Long Branch area in Silver Spring, MD. Constantly working to identify opportunities of participation and engagement of adults and youth and create unique valuable connections between groups of people where the focus lies on collaboration, learning, and supporting each other. Since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, Vanesa, a team of community members and youth, lead and provide food to 400 families/individuals at their weekly food distribution site since June 2020. For over 20 years as a Long Branch resident as well, she participated as a volunteer with different organizations (YMCA Linkages to Learning teaching Spanish literacy and basic computer classes to adults, PTA advocator, Impact Silver Spring, as a community organizer and participating in advisory boards for organizations throughout the area).