Open Works
Board Updates 11/12/2021
Open Works wouldn’t be where we are today without the depth of experience and leadership of our Board of Directors. There have been some big changes to its make-up this fall, so we’d like to take this opportunity to fill you all in.
First of all, it is with gratitude and pride that we recognize Mac MacLure and Tanya Terrell, who are both stepping down from the Board of Directors after serving since 2015. In appreciation of their leadership, we are presenting them with a “Key” to Open Works, CNC-ed out of aluminum and mounted on a laser engraved wooden plaque.
Laurens (Mac) MacLure, Jr. recently retired from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, where he was a director, and the Baltimore Arts Realty Corporation, a non-profit real estate development company. In those two positions, his primary focus was on developing safe, affordable, and sustainable space for artists and arts organizations in the Station North area of Baltimore. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2015.
Ms. Terrell is the Director of Corporate Community Impact at BGE, and has brought a wealth of non-profit experience with varied organizations including The Leadership, South Baltimore Learning Center, Associated Black Charities, Empower Baltimore Management Corp., Baltimore’s Promise, Creative Alliance, UMBC School of Public Policy and My Brother’s Keeper to her work on our Board of Directors. She had also been a founding director of the Open Works’ board, serving since 2015.
Also,
Neil Didriksen is stepping down as board chair, retaining a role as director. Mr. Didriksen joined the Robert W. Deustch Foundation staff in 2010. He serves as the chief operating officer, is responsible for the foundation’s finances and chairs the investment committee. Didriksen co-founded the Baltimore Arts Realty Corporation in 2012 and served as board chair of Open Works from 2015-2021.
Now, it might seem we’re left with some impossibly big shoes to fill. Fortunately, Open Works has a habit of attracting some of Baltimore’s best and brightest to these leadership positions.
First, we are excited to announce that Stephanie Chin, who has served on our Board of Directors since 2018, has been elected to be the new Chair of the Board.
Stephanie Chin is the Program Manager of Hutch, a digital services and civic tech incubator founded by Fearless. She is the former Assistant Director of Entrepreneurship at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she led entrepreneurship programming for the $5M Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship. She also has board roles at Baltimore Community Lending and Innov8MD.
We are also welcoming two new members to the board, Matthew Youssef and Leon Pinkett.
Matthew J. Youssef is a seasoned litigator and strategic advisor to business professionals facing the most challenging problems of their career. In addition to helping people start new business ventures or sell their existing enterprise, he has extensive experience helping businesses navigate unexpected legal problems ranging from contractual disputes, infringement of intellectual property, allegations of wrongdoing, and personnel issues.
Leon F. Pinkett, III represented the 7th District on the Baltimore City Council from 2016-2020, and is currently the Executive Director/CEO of the arts-focused real estate development nonprofit, Baltimore Arts Realty Corp. (BARCO). Prior to being elected to the City Council, Mr. Pinkett served as the Assistant Deputy Mayor for the Office of Economic and Neighborhood Development, and as a Senior Economic Development Officer at the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC).
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