Fair Chance Staff Bios
Maria T. Nagorski -- Maria joined Fair Chance as Executive Director in February 2008 bringing 25 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, management and organization development to Fair Chance. As a consultant for the past nine years her clients included international and domestic nonprofit organizations, foundations and donor agencies focused on social justice, community and youth development. She was the founder and Executive Director of the Center for Youth as Resources, a national organization focused on engaging youth in service, philanthropy and leadership in their communities.
Her areas of expertise include strategic planning and capacity building, leadership and management training, partnership and board development, evaluation, and management of international and multicultural teams and projects.
Maria also served as Deputy Executive Director of National Crime Prevention Council and worked as legislative assistant for two members of the US House of Representatives. She has worked with Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and the UN World Food Program. Maria is a long time DC resident, working as a community volunteer, serving on boards and volunteering in political campaigns. She has a BA in History from the University of Rochester.
Elizabeth Workman -- Elizabeth joined Fair Chance as Deputy Director in August 2008 after working as an Independent Consultant, supporting various agencies and consortiums with various elements of program development, staff supervision, and fundraising. She was the Director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork's Zocalo Outreach Program from 1998 to 2008.
In this role she supervised and coordinated SBY's Home-Based Counseling and Support Services Program serving over 500 high-risk youth and their families each year, as well as SBY's Street Outreach work, Pregnancy Prevention Program, and Substance Abuse efforts. Elizabeth also served as SBY's Programming Liaison in which she was responsible for coordinating and supervising all agency-wide enhancement programming for youth.
In her work at SBY she has partnered with various city-wide agencies such as YSA, APRA, DHHS, and the South Washington Collaborative, to provide needed services for youth. For three years prior to that, Elizabeth was the Director of a teen and family center in Connecticut that provided social, educational, leadership-building, and recreational activities for youth and their families. Elizabeth has also served as a Case Manager and Family Services Specialist at both a battered women's shelter and homeless shelter in the DC area. Elizabeth received her BA from George Washington University and Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from The American University, focusing on adolescent development and family preservation programs.
Caroline Brown -- Caroline joined Fair Chance in October as a Capacity Building Specialist. Since moving to the Washington, DC area in 1999, she has worked as a Development Officer at Charities Aid Foundation America, as an Organizational Consultant for government and nonprofit clients at Quatt Associates and Booz Allen Hamilton, and as a Program Officer providing capacity building grants, training and technical assistance to nonprofits at the Environmental Support Center.
She has also recently served on pro bono consulting projects to assist local nonprofits through DC Cares' COMPASS program and is currently a board member of Girls on the Run of Northern Virginia. Before moving to the Washington, DC area, Caroline received an M.A. in Public Administration and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Alabama (Birmingham), and a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa).
Reginald Grant -- Reggie joined Fair Chance in October as a Capacity Building Specialist. He previously served as National Deputy Director of Youth Programs with the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation where he provided technical assistance to youth-serving organizations nation-wide. For three years prior to that, Reggie was the Program Director of a Youth Safe Haven Program, providing after-school activities for public housing projects, in the Carver Terrace neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Reginald has also held positions as a drug elimination counselor with Savannah's Public Housing Authority and a Program Director a Youth Safe Haven Program in Savannah, Georgia. Reggie's personal mission is to provide services to disadvantaged youth and families and he has held several positions in that capacity. Last year he was honored by the Edgewood Brookland Family Support Collaborative with the Violent Green Caring for Children Award and has recently authored some editorials published in the Washington Post and the Family and Youth Services Bureau's Mentoring Children of Prisoners Journal.
Ebony Ross -- Ebony joined Fair Chance as a Capacity Building Specialist in December 2007 bringing a wide range of experience in evidence-based strategic planning, program evaluation, capacity building, technical assistance provision, and analytical and applied research in the fields of behavioral medicine and public health. She is also proficient in nonprofit management, leadership development, and program sustainability.
Before coming to Fair Chance, Ms. Ross served as a Senior Policy Associate for Altarum (previously Health Systems Research). Her accomplishments included the development of coordinated technical assistance to Federal and State teams addressing homelessness, health disparities in pediatric asthma, and conducted a national evaluation of HIV prevention and treatment services for the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Ms. Ross served as Program Manager for the Academy for Educational Development (AED) where she managed numerous national multi-site projects and provided capacity building services to grantees. Prior to her work with AED, Ms. Ross served as a Project Coordinator of the CDC-funded Prevention for HIV-Infected Persons Project (PHIPP) for the Maryland AIDS Administration. Ms. Ross holds a master's degree in psychology from North Carolina Central University and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Hampton University.
Brett Norton -- Brett joined Fair Chance in October 2009 as the Director of Development bringing more than 12 years of fundraising, communications, marketing and branding, strategic planning, and board development experience to his position. Before coming to Fair Chance, Brett served as consultant, staff member, and board member to more than a dozen different organizations including City Year, Habitat for Humanity, Survivor Corps, and ProLiteracy. He directly helped these organizations raise a combined 30+ million dollars, build their board, launch successful fundraising events and advocacy programs, develop and implement multi-year strategic programs, and coordinate hundreds of volunteers all to better serve the needs of children, youth and families, primarily from the DC area. Brett holds a M.A. in Business Administration from George Washington University and B.A. in Education and English from the University of Wisconsin.
Christopher McGuire -- Chris joined Fair Chance part-time as a Development Assistant in February 2009. Prior to working with Fair Chance, he completed a year of service through AmeriCorps*VISTA with the local non-profit organization DC SCORES, where he was similarly employed as a Development Assistant.
Still a relatively new resident of the District, Chris is looking forward to remaining positively engaged in the DC non-profit community through his work with Fair Chance. An avid reader and occasional writer, he graduated from Bates College with a B.A. in English.
Anjali Nagpaul -- Anjali joined Fair Chance in January 2010 as a Capacity Building Specialist. Anjali previously served as the Executive Director of a community-based nonprofit, the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project, for seven years. As Executive Director, Anjali helped transition the organization from an all volunteer-based, emerging nonprofit to an established, staff-based, community resource. She brings her experience in board development, fiscal management, fundraising, strategic and program planning, outreach, program evaluation, and leadership development to her new role at Fair Chance. Anjali is a past recipient of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund’s Public Service Award and the DC Mayor’s Outstanding Community Service Award. Anjali has a J.D. from George Washington University Law School and a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia.
