Board of Directors

The Takoma Foundation is guided by an all-volunteer working board made up of members of our community. All of our fundraising, grantmaking, communications, programs and activities are managed by board members and other community volunteers. The Foundation has no paid staff.

Howard Kohn

Co-President

Howard has been involved with the Foundation since 2001 and participates in a variety of civic activities, including the youth soccer and baseball leagues, the children’s garden at the municipal complex and the MLK service days. He was a longtime writer for Rolling Stone and other magazines and is the author of three books, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist, “The Last Farmer.” He and his wife Diana, another local activist, moved to Takoma Park in 1982. Their three children are grown.

Annie Mozer

Co-President

Annie has been an elementary school teacher for more than two decades, during which she developed a social-justice curriculum. She’s the Executive Director and founder of What’s My Bias?, and has been facilitating anti-bias seminars since 2015. She is a certified anti-bias facilitator with the National SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) Project, and spent time in North Macedonia coordinating the organization’s grants program with the American Embassy’s Public Affairs Office.

Annie has been a hands-on volunteer in the community and won an award for her activism. She is currently a member of the Racial Equity Working Group, the MLK Committee, a head gardener at Takoma Park’s demonstration garden for children, and a board member for Lunch and Learn. A longtime Takoma Park resident, she is married and has two sons.

Taylor Dibbert

Vice-President

Taylor has worked for nongovernmental organizations in several continents. He began his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Taylor is also a widely published writer and journalist. He’s active in the volunteer space and serves as an ex officio member of Takoma Park’s Recreation and Community Engagement Committee. Taylor has lived in Takoma since 2015.

Anna Keller

Secretary

Anna is a retired meeting planner who worked for 34 years at the American Public Health Association (an association that advocates for science-based policies and equity in health status). Prior to that, she was an ESL teacher in Taiwan, earned a master's degree in teaching from Georgetown University, and then taught refugees and immigrants in the DMV for five years. Recently she has been volunteering for Homes Not Borders, a non-profit that sets up apartments for new refugees and asylum seekers.

Anna was born in Pakistan and lived there until age 15, when her family moved back to New Jersey. She has lived in Takoma Park with her husband Jay for almost 35 years and feels lucky to have raised their two wonderful sons here.

Kathy Porter

Treasurer

Kathy is retired from a career in public policy, nonprofit management, and transportation policy. She has been on the Takoma Foundation board for more than 10 years and was president of the board from 2009 to 2010. She has also been a member of a number of other nonprofit boards in Takoma Park and Montgomery County. From 1997 to 2007, she was the mayor of the City of Takoma Park and was a member of the city council starting in 1991. She has been a resident of Takoma Park for 36 years.

Gary Cardillo

Member

Gary is the Building Manager at the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church. He has a background in grantmaking, fundraising and operations. Over the years, he’s worked for a variety of arts organizations in the D.C. area. Additionally, he’s served on the Montgomery County Council’s Grants Advisory Group and on the City of Takoma Park’s Grants Committee.

Gary has been a volunteer with Boy Scout Troop 33 for over a decade and has volunteered with the Takoma Park Folk Festival too. He and his wife have lived in Takoma Park since 1998; they have three children.

Pamela Fields

Member

Pamela is Deputy Secretary-General of the U.S.-Japan Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON), an independent U.S. federal grant-making agency that is dedicated to U.S.–Japan public diplomacy. A longtime Takoma Park resident, she has been a hands-on volunteer in the community, most recently as an award-winning founder of More Than Masks, a grassroots campaign that provides non-medical masks for local residents, while fundraising for area food kitchens. Pamela is married, a mom of two Takoma Park-native twenty-somethings and a rescue dog, and a once-a-year triathlete.

Peter Franchot

Member

Peter recently retired after 36 years in elected office; 20 years as a Delegate representing Takoma Park and Silver Spring and 16 years as Comptroller of Maryland. He is recognized as one of Maryland's leading authorities on fiscal and economic policy, procurement, good government, and reform. He and his wife Annie have lived in Takoma Park for 43 years. They have two adult children, Abbe and Nick, and three, soon-to-be four, grandchildren. Peter has a long history of involvement in Takoma Park community issues and looks forward to serving on the Foundation's Board of Directors.

James Graham, II

Member

Jim is a long-time solopreneur and lover of all things creative. His company, Pixels and Strings LLC (formerly Spark Media Group), has provided graphic design and web development services to an array of clients for more than two decades. He started volunteering with the Foundation in 2018—initially to improve and maintain the organization’s website. Over the years, he has steadily become more involved in its various communication needs. He joined the Foundation Board in the spring of 2024.

Jim and his wife Nancy are proud parents of twenty-something twin boys and have been Takoma Park residents since 2000.

Dave Lanar

Member

Dave is a retired scientist who worked for 40 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) on the development of vaccines for tropical diseases like malaria. He has lived in Takoma Park for all of those years and was heavily involved in Boy Scout Troop 33 as Scoutmaster where he likes to think he made a positive difference in the lives of many young men. He is a recipient of the Azalea Award (2008).

Leicia Monfort

Member

Leicia has worked for Takoma Park’s Recreation Department since 2000. She’s also a Girl Scout Leader for Daisy Troop 34191. Her previous volunteer experience includes being a youth leader at Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church, at Young Life, and as a Takoma Park soccer coach. In 2019, she received an Unsung Hero award for her work with youth in Takoma Park.

Leicia has always been passionate about working with youth, teens and young adults. She’s loves helping young people realize their potential and knows how to meet kids where they’re at. A regular churchgoer and a first-generation Haitian American, Leicia was born and raised in Takoma Park. She’s a single mom to an amazing six-year-old.