Board

HANK LIBBY (Chairman)

President, Carol M. Jacobsohn Foundation

Hank Libby attended the Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania earning a BS in Finance. He also received a J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a LL.M. (Taxation) from the George Washington Law School. Hank practiced Corporate, Securities, and Venture Capital law for over twenty years in Washington, D.C. Thereafter, he operated a venture capital partnership and an investment advisory firm for
twelve years. Hank is President of the Carol M. Jacobsohn Foundation, which has donated to VisionWorkshops over the last five years. The Jacobsohn Foundation focuses on funding educational, social and medical outreach programs to benefit underserved persons in the Annapolis community. Hank serves on the boards of five other charitable organizations in Annapolis.

 

Kirsten Elstner (Executive Director)

Executive Director, VisionWorkshops, Inc.

Kirsten Elstner, Director of VisionWorkshops, has been a freelance photographer and teacher since completing her Master of Arts in Photography at Ohio University in 1990. Her work has appeared in Time, Life, and Fortune magazines, as well as others, and she spent five years shooting for the Washington bureau of The New York Times. Kirsten has worked in Bangladesh for the International Red Cross, and as a photographer for Brazil’s largest newspaper, O Globo, in Rio de Janeiro.

Kirsten has taught photography at the college level at the International Center of Photography in New York, The Corcoran College of Art and Design, Goucher College, The Art Institute of Boston, and The Massachusetts College of Art. Through VisionWorkshops, Kirsten mentors young people in her community, as well as nationally and internationally as Director of the National Geographic Photo Camp workshops. NG Photo Camp provides dynamic educational workshops for youth from underserved communities worldwide.

 

ART STEVENS (DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR)
Relationship Manager, Calvert Foundation

Art Stevens works with the Calvert Foundation raising investment for the
Community Investment Notes. Art has been in the financial services business
for over 20 years, as a financial advisor and wholesaler for separately
managed accounts. His career has included significant work with Morgan
Stanley, Franklin Templeton, and TCW Investment Management. He began
specializing in the non-profit community in 2002, helping to launch a social
enterprise in the elder care sector and working with a social enterprise
focused on health care in southern India.

Art received his BA from the George Washington University. An instrument
rated pilot and avid photographer, Art lives in Maryland with his two
children.

 

 

Griff Hall (ACTING TREASURER)

Executive Director, Leadership Anne Arundel

Griff Hall's background includes chief executive and board experience on the national and regional levels, graduate teaching and leadership development work with grass-roots leaders in troubled urban areas. He founded Leadership Arts, LLC to consult, train, and coach in the areas leadership development, strategy, and governance.

 

Fred H. (Bud) Billups

Bud has most recently served as Treasurer of St. John’s College in Annapolis, and as President of the Historic Annapolis Foundation.

A former naval officer and Exxon Corporation executive, Bud also served as Executive Director of the Pew Charitable Trusts from 1976 — 1988. He currently serves on the boards of Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts; the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County; the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra; Maryland Therapeutic Riding; St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church; and VisionWorkshops.

 

Kara Brook

President and CEO, Brook Group

More than 20 years ago, Kara Brook started Brook Group, a web services firm that specializes in Internet Marketing. A graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kara established a scholarship foundation 10 years ago in memory of her father, designed to assist MICA students in financial need to pursue studies in the arts and technology. In the last five years, Brook Group has provided a myriad of pro-bono services to organizations in need. "It is our belief that Brook Group’s past successes are due in part to the support of our community; therefore, we feel a deep responsibility to support those organizations that so selflessly serve others." Brook heads up VisionWorkshop's annual gala "Dreaming in Black and White", a fundraiser to bring VisionWorkshops programs to deserving communities nationwide.

 

Sandy Huberfeld

Sandy is an avid photographer and has served as Vice President and Relocation Director for Merrill Lynch.  In 1989 she opened Ambassador Realty, a company serving individual’s real estate needs and corporations regarding their employee’s relocation needs.  Sandy has also been a Hearing Officer for the Board of Realtors, a Director, Chairman of the Professional Standards Committee, and one of the developers of the Maryland Real Estate Sales Contract.

Since returning from two and a half years sailing & photographing the South Pacific, she has been President of the Digital Photography Club of Annapolis. Sandy serves on the board of VisionWorkshops and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Senior Center.

 

 

 

Advisory Board

Sam Abell

Photographer

Sam Abell’s love of photography began due to the influence of his father who was a geography teacher who ran a photography club in Sylvania, Ohio.

Sam has worked with the National Geographic Society since 1970, photographing more than 20 articles on cultural and wilderness subjects for National Geographic magazine and several books. He has lectured on photography and exhibited his work to audiences throughout the world.

Sam has published nine books with National Geographic, and a book of his best personal and professional work, Sam Abell: The Photographic Life, was published in 2002.

Sam is also a gifted teacher, artist and author. A member of the board of trustees of the Santa Fe Center for the Visual Arts, Sam lives in Crozet, Virginia, with his wife, Denise.

Stephen Crowley

Staff Photographer, The New York Times, Washington Bureau

Stephen Crowley has been a staff photographer for The New York Times Washington Bureau since 1991. Stephen is a recent recipient of both the White House News Photographers Association’s Photographer of the Year Award, as well as a shared Pulitzer Prize in Photography for his work in Afghanistan. He has won 11 Pictures of the Year Awards and numerous awards from the White House News Photographers Association. Stephen has worked as a staff photographer for The Palm Beach Post, The Miami Herald, and The Washington Times, and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Texas and the International Center of Photography in New York.

Jim Webb

Jim Webb is a teacher in Washington, D.C. who specializes in blending technology with photography and design. He writes curricula and teaches photography and design workshops for clients including Boston University, National Geographic, and The Washington Post. He is a long-time teacher for VisionWorkshops’ programs, and has led workshops in the U.S. and in India, Jordan, and Uganda.

Before becoming a teacher, Jim was head designer for National Geographic's website, overseeing three major redesigns and winning a Webby award (the web equivalent of the Oscars) along the way. He studied photojournalism and graphic design at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Susan Reeve, Director

Explorers Program and Special Projects
The National Geographic Society

Susan Reeve is the Director of the Explorers Program and Special Projects for Mission Programs at the National Geographic Society.  In that capacity she is responsible for the development and oversight of all aspects of the Explorer-in-Residence Program, NG Visiting Fellows Program and the Emerging Explorers Program, including the creation of new program opportunities.  In 2004 she created the Emerging Explorers Program, an annual awards program which spotlights uniquely gifted, inspiring, visionary individuals while they are at the start of their careers and recognizes the next generation of storytellers. The Emerging Explorers Program was supported by Microsoft for several years and is currently supported by PNY. In 2007 she developed the NG Explorers Symposium, an annual, three-day conference featuring top explorers from around the world.

Susan helps develop and manage multi-year projects across all editorial divisions that have enormous impact and create opportunities for public participation or debate.  Projects have included the Genographic Project, The Gospel of Judas, the NG Foresight Institute, and the All Roads Photographers Program.  She is also responsible for NG Photo Camp, a series of photography workshops for youth from underserved communities both in and outside the United States. In partnership with local newspapers and community organizations, Photo Camp inspires young people to explore their communities through the camera’s lens, and to share their vision through public presentations and exhibitions.

From 1998 to 2001, Susan served as the National Geographic project lead to the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a $10 million, five-year joint NGS/NOAA program of deep-water exploration and public education in the National Marine Sanctuaries system, using innovative submersible technology.  

Jay Badams

Superintendant of Erie City School District

Jay Badams is the Superintendent of the Erie City School District in Pennsylvania. He has conducted numerous workshops at statewide conferences on test score interpretation and data-driven decision making. He has worked as a consultant for public school districts throughout Pennsylvania, and was a featured presenter at several Pennsylvania Governor’s Institutes on Data-Driven Decision Making. Jay draws on his experiences in business and in the military, as well as in teaching and school administration, to make test scores and statistics understandable and to turn data into action.  Jay lives in Erie with his wife and four children.

 

Lelen Bourgoignie-Robert

Director of Visual Journalism, University of Miami

Lelen Bourgoignie-Robert is an Associate Professor and Program Director of Visual Journalism at the University of Miami. Lelen has an MA in Visual Communication and an MFA in Photography from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Lelen’s work has received honors in the Pictures of the Year International Competitions and was a judge for the 57th Pictures of the Year International. She has coordinated and directed various conferences, exhibits and workshops including the Wilson Hicks International conference on Visual Communication, Women in Photojournalism Exhibits 1995 and 1999 and El Taller Para las Americas: Fotoperidismo and Somosfoto, workshops for Latin American photojournalists.

Lelen and her husband Michel have created “Paperseed”, a non-profit which helps build and maintain cultural centers, schools and playgrounds in rural and marginal villages of Latin America.