Our Board of Directors

Meet Your BWN Board of Directors

BWN functions on volunteer effort. Over one-third of the membership volunteers in some capacity. Participants find that committee involvement enhances their membership investment, enabling them to form closer relationships and achieve greater recognition within the group. BWN committees include: Hospitality, Marketing, Membership, Programs, Scholarship, and Special Events. A board director oversees each committee.

Allison Moran, President
Allison is the President and Owner of The Growth Coach serving Howard, Anne Arundel, Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties. The Growth Coach is a franchise that helps busy business owners and entrepreneurs improve their businesses and their lives through a year-round coaching and accountability process. She helps business owners face the challenges that all business owners find dealing with employee management, cash flow and growing their business. The Growth Coach can help business owners in a variety of ways including: the Quarterly Strategic Mindset Retreats, The Coaching Club, One-On-One Coaching and Special Projects.

Angie Goodwin Johnson, President-Elect
Angie Goodwin Johnson has more than 10 years of experience in marketing and communications. Most recently she served as Director of Communications and Marketing for the International Society for Performance Improvement, a professional association dedicated to improving workplace performance and productivity. She has developed strategic communications and marketing programs for various public and private sector organizations including Booz Allen Hamilton, Freddie Mac, Sprint, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Angie was president and CEO of Innovative Marketing Solutions, an integrated marketing firm, for eight years. Currently she is an Independent Sales Consultant and Team Leader with Mary Kay. She is committed to offering personalized customer service in her business along with superior, high-quality products for women. Angie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and concentration in marketing from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She holds an associate’s degree in fashion merchandising. She successfully completed the Minority Business Executive Program (MBEP) at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She is very active in the community and enjoys serving as a volunteer for non-profit organizations. Angie is a volunteer for the Taproot Foundation, an organization that provides pro-bono professional service grants to eligible non-profits. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Scott Lee Foundation and the Wellington Home Owners’ Association. She is also a member of the Laurel Civic Improvement Committee. Angie lives in Laurel, Maryland with her husband Aubrey and their son Jayden.

Kim Musser, Secretary
Kim Musser started her career with State Farm Insurance in 1990 in Frederick, Maryland as a Personal Lines underwriter. In 1996, she opened her first successful State Farm Agency in Towson, Maryland. After 3 years, she was promoted to the Agency Field Consultant position for Frederick, Carroll and Howard Counties. She worked with 43 State Farm agents and on a variety of corporate projects. In 2005, Kim returned to a career in agency in Columbia, MD. Her agency offers a full range of insurance and financial products. She has a team of four fully licensed agents, including a Spanish-speaking team member. Kim is a certified Long Term Care Professional and has qualified for the State Farm Life Ambassador trip, National Health Sales award and National Multi-line award. Kim Musser supports local school and community events. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children.

Jamie Deering, Treasurer

Karen Pitsley, AIA, CAPS, Past President, Director of Programs
Karen Pitsley is the president and owner of Transforming Architecture LLC, the first and only franchise opportunity for registered architects. Karen started Transforming Architecture in 2009, which is based on her successful Architectural firm, Residential Reflections ARCHITECTS. Karen believes everyone deserves access to good design. She plans to transform the public perception that hiring an architect is too expensive, and to make architects more accessible. She has over ten years experience helping clients design their dream homes, whether it be a new custom home or a renovation and addition to their existing house. Karen is very good at listening to her client's desires as well as assessing their needs.

Karen graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelors of Science in Architecture. She earned her architectural registration in 2001. Karen earned her CAPS (Certified Aging-In-Place Specialist) designation in 2005. This specialty enhances her ability to incorporate design elements that allow people stay in their current home safely, independently, and comfortably or design new homes in which people are able to spend the rest of their years.

She has been nominated for The Daily Record's "2009 Innovator of the Year". Ms. Pitsley lives in Highland, Maryland with her husband and two boys.

Linda Ostovitz, Director of New Membership
Linda Ostovitz is a partner in the law firm Silverstein & Ostovitz, LLC, which exclusively handles family law matters including divorce, custody, access, alimony, child support, business, property, and all other issues that a family deals with. She has a strong litigation background including her experiences as a former Senior Assistant State's Attorney for Howard County. She holds certifications for Mediation in civil mediation, property and financial issues, and parenting and child access issues, and has expanded her practice to include mediation. She has been practicing for 30 years in Howard, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Carroll counties. She has also served on the Court of Appeals' Professionalism Commission for 4 1/2 years, served as a judge in the Maryland State Bar Association mock trial competitions, and has held all offices in the Howard County Bar Association.

Shara Darden, Director of Membership Retention
Shara Darden is principal and chief illuminating strategist of Firefly Marketing & PR (www.soarwithfirefly.com). Shara enjoys working with business leaders to help refine strategic plans and budgets toward results-driven sales and marketing activities. Firefly Marketing & PR is a culmination of Shara's 15 plus years in sales, marketing and event planning for various industries, including her own small business venture, Studio Inspire: Dance & Fitness for Adults.

Prior to Firefly, Shara held the position of Vice President of Communications, Marketing and Development for an international non-profit cultural exchange organization where she led the development and implementation of annual marketing plans both organization-wide and for specific business units (programs). While there, Shara developed a new pricing process, including an annual assessment of costs and a competitive market analysis; led a brand redevelopment initiative; and created a sales process providing consistency and measurable action plans across the sales team. Attaining knowledge about your ideal client is central to business growth and success. So, having a plan to systematically capture and track leads, prospects, and customer data is at the center of every Firefly marketing plan. Shara has worked with numerous iterations of contact management; from membership and association management software to sales force automation and customer relationship management systems. She provides seminars on optimizing your business contact management software and a gap analysis may be provided as a part of your marketing assessment.

Shara holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and has completed post-graduate courses in International Management and Marketing.

Julie Nelson, Director of Communications

Kelley Dubois, Director of Marketing.

Renee Gerber, Director of Hospitality
Renee Gerber is a Cruise Specialist and Franchise Owner of CruiseOne - Gerber & Associates (www.GrandVoyageCruises.com) located in Woodstock, Maryland. Renee helps her clients to achieve their dream cruise vacations without stress. CruiseOne has working partnerships with all major cruise lines including Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America, Celebrity Cruises, Oceania, Norwegian Cruise Line and Princess Cruises, to name a few. Renee is an Accredited Cruise Counsellor with the Cruise Line Industry Association and has sailed more than 20 times on six different cruise lines visiting over 25 destinations. She is also a Sandals Certified Specialist. Renee is an avid supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She helps to raise money and awareness of Type 1 Diabetes as her daughter was diagnosed with the disease at the age of seven. CruiseOne – Gerber & Associates is the creator and host of the Cruise for Diabetes (www.CruiseForDiabetes.com). Renee holds a Bachelor degree from Frostburg University in Early Childhood / Elementary Education. She lives in Woodstock, Maryland with her husband and daughter.

Stanette Robinson, Director of Scholarships
As an independent advisor, my focus is on retirement income planning, wealth accumulation and protection, and employee benefits and risk management. I work with medium to high net worth individuals, professionals, and business owners. In order to provide clients with these services I have formed strategic alliances with numerous entities the most important of which are: LFA (www.LincolnFinancial.com) one of the nation’s largest independent broker-dealers that is federally regulated by the Financial Regulatory Agency (www.FINRA.org). KAIG (www.kaig.com) is the region's largest provider of employee benefits including health, life, disability, dental, vision and third party administration. BBIS (www.barnesbollinger.com) is one of the oldest and largest general insurance agencies located in Westminster, MD, specializing in personal, commercial and business risk management. Stanette has a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. Stanette was recently named 2011 Member of the Year for BWN of Howard County. She lives and works in Columbia, MD and is married with two adult children.