Accokeek Foundation Staff
Meet the team behind the Accokeek Foundation's mission.
Executive Leadership
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Anjela Barnes
Interim President & Executive Director
Anjela Barnes (Piscataway) is interim president and executive director of the Accokeek Foundation, and honored to help preserve and protect the traditional homelands of the Piscataway people - past, present, and future. As Interim President, she is responsible for financial, administrative, and operational management and oversight, while leading interpretive and stewardship program development at the park.
Since joining the team in 2009, Anjela has led many special projects including the Piscataway tribal welcoming of the Hokulea and the National Park Service bi-centennial Bio Blitz celebration. In her spare time, she enjoys taking hikes with her BFF, Kona, a shepherd/hound mix, kayaking, reading, cooking, and spending time with her family.
Laura Ford
Strategic Philanthropic Advisor
Laura served as the Foundation’s President & CEO from 2018 to 2022. During her tenure with the Foundation, she has been responsible for organizational advancement, including fundraising, communications, and strategic initiatives like the Foundation’s sustainable agriculture program. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in Language and Literature from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute.
Laura is the Executive Trustee with the Corina Higginson Trust, a grantmaker in the Washington DC metropolitan region. She has a special interest in justice, equity, environmental, and food systems work and is a member of the Washington Regional Food Funders and the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network. She serves on the board of advisors for the Cedarville Band of the Piscataway Indians.
Laura is an advocate for families like hers who are affected by Huntington's disease and is on advisory boards of Johns Hopkins HD Center of Excellence and Georgetown University's HD Care, Education, and Research Center. She also is a certified horseback riding instructor and owns a small farm with her family in Southern Maryland.
Administration & Visitor Services
Shemika Berry
Outreach Specialist
Shemika is a former Air Force Officer turned actress and makeup artist. She has portrayed Cate Sharper at the National Colonial Farm for several years. Shemika believes bringing history to life makes it more relatable to the audience. She has presented first-person historical interpretation at local schools for over 15 years for Black History Month and other special events. She was a featured actor in “The Choice” about the enslaved people of Sotterley Plantation in St. Mary’s County during the War of 1812.
MaryAlice Bonomo
Visitor Services Manager
MaryAlice joined the Accokeek Foundation in 1998 as an Educator. Since then, MaryAlice has served as Director of Operations, as well as managing school programs and visitor services. She also is the creative genius behind the Foundation's most popular events: Lattes with Lambs and Winter's Eve. When she is not busy being a superhero for the Foundation, MaryAlice enjoys long walks in the park with her best pal, Piper—a rescue black/ lab mix.
Casey Harlow
Marketing & Visitor Relations Coordinator
Casey joined the Foundation in 2012 as a volunteer with AmeriCorps and Volunteer Maryland. When her service year was up she couldn’t bear to leave, so she joined the team full-time in 2013. She loves anything artistic and learned how to spin wool into yarn using fiber from the farm's flock of Hog Island sheep. Casey is a Virginia Master Naturalist and when she's not marketing, you'll find her exploring the flora and fauna of Piscataway Park.
Administration
Administration
Marina Herrera
Grants Specialist
Marina grew up on a small farm outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico where she gained an appreciation of land and livestock. Prior to joining the Foundation, Marina worked in nonprofit development in the higher education space and, before that, as a nurse in geriatrics and Alzheimer’s/dementia care. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Studies from the University of New Mexico. Marina spends her free time volunteering with a local animal rescue, buying endless amounts of toys for her pup, and pouring over Chicano literature.
Patti Canter Norment
Office Manager
Patti manages the office and assists the CEO and senior staff, juggling administrative and financial responsibilities. She enhances the team’s work by her positive attitude and willingness to help wherever she’s needed. Patti has been instrumental in coordinating many innovative projects and programs since joining the team in 1992. “This is the farm I have always dreamed of having,” shares Patti. “It’s like my second home!”
Morgan Jacobs
Communications Manager
Morgan initially joined the Foundation in 2022 as a member of the Stitch ‘n Time Club. She has been a fiber artist for nearly a decade and loves to try new artforms. Morgan has an eye for effective language and is passionate about the goals of the Foundation. Having studied Anthropology at the Ohio State University, Morgan loves learning about people, cultures, and how groups change over time. When she isn’t knitting, cooking, or studying herbalism, she can be found on the hiking trails or in the garden with her German Shepherd.
Education
Kaylin Beach
School Programs Manager & Volunteer Coordinator
Kaylin has always been told she was born in the wrong century, so when she heard about an opportunity to work at the National Colonial Farm, she jumped at the chance to go back in time. Her favorite part about working on the farm is researching how her character would have lived. She loves to do theatre, and you may have seen her in one of many local community theatre productions. In her spare time, you’ll find her reading, doing one of her many artistic hobbies, volunteering at her church, and spending time with her wonderfully entertaining family.
Kate Hanfling
Educator
Kate comes to the Accokeek Foundation after 6 years at the DC Public Library where she served as a children's librarian. She loves learning about new subjects, working with children, and organization—so working as an educator and informal librarian here at the Foundation is the perfect fit! In her off time, you'll probably find Kate at a park with her husband and two children or trying to finish her latest book.
Kate McGowan
Public Programs Specialist
Kate is a firm believer in the use of theatre to illuminate the human condition and highlight societal issues in a personal, hands-on fashion. A performer and artist, Kate uses these talents in playing "Minnie Dunning", Mrs. Bolton's younger sister, as well as periodically working our modern exhibits and serving as an Eco-Explorers captain. She is a lifelong resident of Southern Maryland and a nature lover with an interest in food, historic cooking, and living history. Outside of work Kate can be found working as a professional actor in and around the DC area.
Micah Selengut
Educator
Bio coming soon!
Natural Resources & Agriculture
Alison Hancock Bode
Livestock Manager
Alison's family has a long history of farming in Southern Maryland, where she grew up on a tobacco farm raising cattle, hogs, and chickens. At age 11, she joined 4-H and started raising and showing her favorite farm animals—sheep. For the past 20 years she's had her own small family farm raising sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, and all kinds of poultry. Alison enjoyed her past experiences as an Educator and volunteer at the Accokeek Foundation, and now her husband and children find it amazing that she has a job doing exactly what she most loves to do—taking care of farm animals!
Javier Brown
Groundskeeper
Originally from Costa Rica, Javier joined the grounds crew in 2019. He helps maintain the over 200 acres of parkland that the Foundation manages. Javier, his wife Molly, and their two daughters split their time between his home country and a small farmstead in Bryans Road, Maryland.
Pam Brumbley
Historic Garden Assistant
Pam is passionate about the outdoors and some of her earliest memories involve helping out in her family’s gardens and identifying plants on nature hikes. She looks forward to immersing herself in the colonial farm environment, growing medicinal plants and heirloom crops, seed saving, and practicing historic gardening techniques. Pam was a photo editor in the DC and Baltimore area for 15 years, and has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art & Design. She enjoys canoeing, camping, and learning about local birds and fungi.
Risharda Harley
Natural Resources Coordinator
A PG County native, Risharda believes that your food should be your medicine, and your medicine should be your food, and that the health of a person is bound to the health of the land and waters of where they live. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.S. in Natural Resources Management and enjoys helping others understand the natural world around them. Risharda enjoys movement and all types of arts and crafts, and can be found doing parkour on site, and in her free time cosplaying, bushcrafting, or rollerblading with her dogs.
Justin Harmon
Livestock Assistant
Sometime in the late 80's Justin sprang forth from a bag of moldy feed, fully formed and learned in livestockery. When not making things up whole cloth, he spends his time hiking, staring at clouds, making weird things, making things weirder, and looking for his phone (it was RIGHT THERE!)
Holly Kopecky
Site Manager
Bio coming soon!
Warren Murphy IV
Maintenance Assistant
Hard-working, Determined, Open Minded, Humorous, and Pretty Chill. I you listen to 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s R&B and watch anime you know the vibes :)
Daniel Trott
Site Manager
Daniel began his work with the Foundation as an Ecosystem Farm volunteer in 2015. At the time, he was a full-time graduate student in the process of creating natural habitats along with produce and flower gardens on his own property. His interest in sustainable agricultural practices increased as he assumed a seasonal farm assistant position and continued when he accepted the position of farm manager. In 2017, Dan transitioned to Grounds & Facilities Coordinator where he helps manage and care for the entire 200 acres of Piscataway Park stewarded by the Foundation. Prior to this period, Daniel worked with the U.S. Navy for 23 years, conducting operations around the globe.