FoFC’s Board of Directors

Friends of Frederick County  board currently consists of seven members.  Additionally we rely on an extensive diversity of community leaders  and citizens throughout Frederick County for support with decisions and   positions to foster  and protect our environmental health while maintaining social stability and economic prosperity.  The board meets monthly and welcomes guests;  please contact us if you would like to join us with an agenda item.  Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter with event announcements here! Please join us!

FoFC’s 2011  Board of Directors (annual elections in February):

• William Morrow, Board Chair/Agriculture and water quality policy Will co-owns and operates Whitmore Farm, LLC in Emmitsburg, Md.  This farm is certified organic and produces grass-fed meats.  Born and raised in Maryland, Will moved to Frederick county in 2003 to farm.  Previously, he owned and operated William Morrow Garden Design, Inc., a residential design/build landscape firm serving Washington DC and the metropolitan area. Prior to that, Will was employed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency where he set ambient water quality standards for pollutants in lakes and rivers and developed policies and procedures for implementing the Clean Water Act to mitigate pollution to surface waters.Will is a member of many organizations including the Maryland Organic Food and Farming Association., Future Harvest, Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture; Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture, 1000 Friends of Maryland; Friends of Frederick County and the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.  Will serves on the Sustainability Commission and previously served on the the Monocacy Scenic River Citizens’ Advisory Board.  Will holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biochemistry from Texas A&M University.
• Richard Maranto, Board Treasurer/Our CommonWEalth direction, multi-media Rich is President of RAM Digital, a multimedia company that develops media applications for government and private industry. He is the co-founder and Chairman of Citizens for the Preservation of Middletown Valley (CPMV), a local organization that advocates for responsible land use in historic Middletown Valley. Rich has recently established a new company, Goes Green Network, which will launch a local, green and sustainable energy portal, Maryland Goes Green (mdgoesgreen.com) in early 2009.
• Janice Wiles, Executive Director/Board  Secretary (June 2007-present, Chair 2006-2007, Secretary 2004-2006) Janice comes to Friends of Frederick County after almost 3 decades of land use planning and mapping, wildlife and watershed management, developing environmental education campaigns, and cultivating citizen participation and effectiveness in natural resource conservation in Brazil.  She served as NASA’s liaison to the Brazilian Ministry for Science and Technology on a project studying land use changes in the Amazon Basin and their impacts on local, regional and global climate. She is a graduate of the 2005 Leadership Frederick County class and is a Sustainability Commissioner for the Frederick County Commission on Environmental Sustainability.
• Richard Wiles, Board Member/Press and Policy, Public Education Richard is VP for communication and science with Climate Central, former executive director for the Environmental Working Group;  both use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment.  He is a former senior staff officer at the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Agriculture.
• John “Lennie” Thompson, Board Member, Attorney at Law Lennie graduated from Linganore High School in 1972. He holds an A.A. degree from Frederick Community College, B.A. & M.B.A. degrees from Hood College, an a law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. Lennie served on the Walkersville Town Council from 1980 to 1990 and as Burgess of Walkersville from 1996 to 1998. He served three terms as Frederick County Commissioner from 1998 to 2010. Lennie is engaged in the solo practice of law in Walkersville.
• Ellis Burruss, Board Member/Businessman Ellis Burruss graduated from the University of MD with a B.A. in English (and a strong minor in organic chemistry). He has lived in Brunswick for the past 30 of his 66 years. As an independent business owner during that time he has come to understand the issues facing small businesses in our community.  He has shown his commitment to the community by volunteering his time and energy to these organizations:  Greater Brunswick Area Chamber of Commerce (former president), Frederick County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (current), Friends of the Library Brunswick Branch (current), Brunswick Planning Commission (2001-present), EastAlco Citizens’ Advisory Board (2000-2003), Police Chief’s Advisory Committee (2001-2003), Downtown Business Association (1989-92), Frederick County Solid Waste Advisory Committee (1990 – 96), Frederick County Recycling Committee (1988-90), Police Committee (1988-89), Downtown Revitalization Committee (1987-90), Brunswick Museum Board of Directors (1984-87), Brunswick Economic Team (1984-85, Brunswick Library Board of Directors (1982-84)  and currently participates actively in Brunswick Main Street Brunswick Economic Development Commission.  Ellis owns Bellwether Printing and formerly owned Benchmark Printing and Brunswick Office Supply.