With a background in international relations, Nancy Plaxico has spent most of her career in health care as an entrepreneur, working in both the public and private sectors. After receiving Master’s Degrees from Columbia University, she began work at the US State Department and later moved to the Office of Management and Budget, where her career in health care began and she covered the Centers for Disease Control and Food & Drug Administration.

After moving to San Diego, Ms. Plaxico became a founder of Community Care Network (CCN), a health care management company which grew to be national. CCN was also a social enterprise, with most of its profits going to a foundation she helped found, Alliance Healthcare Foundation. When CCN was sold, $83 million of the proceeds went to create an endowment for the foundation, which continues to fund innovative community health programs. In recognition for CCN’s development, she was named an Entrepreneur of the Year in San Diego. She was later an executive in other health care start-up companies, most recently as Vice President of Healthways which served 68 million people globally.

Ms. Plaxico is on the boards of international, national and local non-profit organizations, and was Managing Director of the PCI board before PCI’s merger with Global Communities, when she joined the Global Communities board.  Path to Hope has been honored for Ms. Plaxico to serve as Vice President of the Board of Directors.

Rev. Lauren Bloom is an ordained Episcopal priest serving in the Diocese of Maryland. A recent graduate of the Virginia Theological Seminary, she serves as the Priest in Charge at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in the Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis, Maryland. Before entering the priesthood, Rev. Lauren worked as an attorney, focusing on ethics, professionalism, and nonprofit association law.   She brings 33 years of legal experience to Path to Hope, including: 

 13 years as General Counsel and Vice President for Government Affairs at Navy Mutual Aid Association; 14 years as General Counsel and Director of Professionalism at the American Academy of Actuaries; 4 years as an Associate Attorney at Cohn and Marks; and 2 years as an Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Rev. Lauren earned her LLM from Georgetown Law and is well-known as an excellent speaker.  She enjoys the theater, the symphony, and speaking time with her husband and daughter.

Jenna Whitney brings more than 20 years of management and financial oversight experience to Path to Hope.  Ms. Whitney’s professional background includes serving as Executive Director of the Oak Ridge Public School Education Foundation, where she managed fundraising initiatives, grant programs, and special events to support the Oak Ridge school district. Before this, she served as Director of a $59 million portfolio of engineering and technical support contracts in complex operational and financial environments. Earlier in her career, she worked as a Financial Management Officer for the U.S. Department of State in Moscow, Russia, and has also served in both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Department of Defense.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Jenna is deeply committed to community service. She has dedicated significant time to supporting immigrants and asylees in Anne Arundel County. Following the U.S. evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021, she played a key role in raising funds to house Afghan families. She organized clothing and food donations and personally assisted families as they began new lives in the community. More recently, she has continued her service by teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) through the Anne Arundel County Literacy Council.

Jenna and her husband, Mark, share time between Maryland, where their daughter lives, and Tennessee, where their son lives. Jenna is an avid runner and is a member of the Annapolis Striders.  

Liz Cotter, a native of Virgina, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2014. Upon commissioning as a Surface Warfare Officer, she first served in Yokosuka, Japan on USS Blue Ridge and then as the navigator on USS McFaul in Norfolk, Virginia. Upon completion of her Naval service, Ms. Cotter, a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland, moved to Ireland to study Irish Literature at University College Dublin and earned her Master’s degree there in 2022.

She then attended law school at the College of William and Mary Law School, where she worked in the Immigration Clinic, providing free legal assistance to immigrant families seeking humanitarian assistance. She also worked in the Special Education Advocacy Clinic to help children with special needs receive appropriately tailored education and safe learning environments. Ms. Cotter was awarded the Clinical Legal Association Education Award for her outstanding legal service to clients. Her love for humanitarian-based immigration law makes her an excellent addition to the Path to Hope team.

Ms. Cotter clerked for the Honorable Robert J. Thompson of the Circuit Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County and recently joined Kagan Stern as an Associate Attorney. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling abroad, hiking, and hanging out with her pets.

Prior to joining the Board of Directors for Path to Hope, Emily Holian served as the Director of Heart for Refugees, working to support families and individuals evacuated from Afghanistan. This included providing resettlement aid and integration through community services, advocacy, and helping refugee families access necessary resources for housing, education, and legal assistance.  Ms. Holian’s professional background also includes over eight years as a Pediatric Nurse at Children’s National Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical System. 

 Ms. Holian serves in her local church, participates in her local CrossFit gym, enjoys international travel, and has continued her record of service to the refugee & immigrant community through her current work as a Case Manager for Neighbor the Nations.