Our Leadership & Staff
Our Board
Our board is a diverse group of nine Anne Arundel residents appointed by the County Executive and three City of Annapolis residents appointed by the Mayor. The Board’s diverse background of experience and knowledge helps the Resilience Authority secure funding opportunities, work with the community, and implement meaningful projects to prepare the county for sea level rise, increased flooding, heat waves, and other extreme weather events.
Véronique Bugnion, Chair
Anne Arundel County
Véronique Bugnion, PhD is a scientist, entrepreneur and energy industry leader. She has over 15 years of professional experience and leadership in the financial energy industry and has a track record of pushing the boundaries of energy analytics. She is currently co-founder and CEO of ClearlyEnergy, provider of innovative solutions to reduce building emissions. Prior to ClearlyEnergy, Véronique was Global Head of Carbon and Natural Gas for Thomson Reuters, a role where she developed trading, data, and research products for the electricity, natural gas, and carbon markets. Prior to working with Thomson Reuters and Point Carbon, Véronique worked with Goldman Sachs and Constellation Commodities Group where she focused on the deregulated power, natural gas, and emissions markets.
Nathan Betnun, vice chair
City of Annapolis
Formerly an investment banker specializing in bond financing for public infrastructure related to private real estate development secured by incremental or special taxes, Nathan is now a public finance consultant to developers, investors and municipalities. He served as a consultant to the City of Annapolis on the financing of the Hillman Garage and the City Dock. He received a PhD from MIT. He is also a board member of Anne Arundel Community Development Services.
Emily Clifton, Treasurer
Anne Arundel County
Emily Clifton, AICP is the Executive Director for the LID Center. Emily has more than 25 years of experience in environmental planning, green infrastructure planning, natural resources management, and stormwater management. She has provided leadership on green street master plans and concept designs; LID design manuals; LID and stormwater pollution prevention trainings; plan development and review; and research related to green infrastructure and resiliency. Emily holds an M.S. in Environmental Science, a Master in Public Affairs, a B.A. in Business Administration, and a B.A in Philosophy. She is a certified planner through the American Planning Association.
Jamie Benoit
Anne Arundel County
A lifelong Anne Arundel County resident, Jamie is the founder and CEO of several successful technology companies touching national security and critical infrastructure. After serving as an officer in the US Army, Jamie practiced corporate law and served on the Anne Arundel County Council from 2006-2014. At the same time, Jamie was the CEO of FedData where he took the company from a small start-up and built it into one of the most successful private companies supporting national security. Jamie is the member of several corporate, private equity boards and non-profit boards. An experienced transactional attorney, Jamie brings his deep legal, financial, private equity and mergers and acquisitions experience to the Resilience Authority.
Mariah Davis
City of Annapolis
Mariah Davis works to ensure programs, policies, funding and projects have positive impacts in communities that have been disproportionately impacted, centering her career on providing DEIJ technical assistance and policy guidance to a broad base of stakeholders across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. She was recently awarded a Young Gifted and Green 40 Under 40 award from Black Millennials 4 Flint for her work on environmental justice. Mariah previously served as the Deputy Director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, a program of the National Wildlife Federation, where she managed the Coalition’s Young Professionals of Color (YPC) Mentorship Program. Prior to that, Mariah successfully advocated for the creation of the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice, established in 2017. Mariah holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Public Management from the University of Maryland. She and her black cat, Bruce, live in Annapolis where she enjoys spending time in Quiet Waters Park, exploring local restaurants and breweries, and even planned the city’s first pride parade.
David Jarrell
Anne Arundel County
David holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering and began his career by serving 17 years as a Civil Engineer Corps officer in the U.S. Navy. He came to the City of Annapolis as Public Works Director in 2010 from San Diego, where he served as deputy chief operating officer of the City of San Diego. From February 2020 until June 2022, David served as the City Manager of Annapolis. When his own replacement as Public Works Director, Michael Johnson, left to run public works and transportation in Prince George’s County, David returned to the Annapolis Public Works Department for another year of service to the city.
Stacy Schaeffer
Anne Arundel County
Stacy holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a Juris Doctorate degree from the George Washington University National Law Center. After ten years of practicing law in Washington, D.C., Stacy transitioned to a career as the Associate Director for Land Conservation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources from 2009 to 2021. Most recently, Stacy served as the Maryland Land Conservation Liaison for Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), an ecological restoration firm that works across the country. She is also a lead team member of The Nature Conservancy’s Coastal Resiliency Framework project.
Mike Sewell
Anne Arundel County
Mike holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a Master’s in Business – Organizational Management and Leadership from Johns Hopkins University. He has 30 years of professional experience protecting the State’s environment as a police officer with the Department of Natural Resource Police. Mike has a strong record of fiscal accountability while overseeing and improving departmental operations by evaluating policies, procedures, and personnel to ensure departments operate safely, effectively, and efficiently. Mike is known for decision-making and the ability to facilitate positive change and possesses extensive knowledge of business operations, with the ability to implement changes smoothly and effectively.
Eileen Fogarty
City of Annapolis
Eileen is a nationally recognized land use expert who is known as a leader in creating sustainable urban centers and vibrant waterfront communities on both the East and West Coasts. Her success lies in building broad-based consensus for complex strategic plans which have been translated into more than 100 fully built projects. As Director of Planning and Community Development for Santa Monica, CA, Ms. Fogarty led the successful adoption and implementation for California’s first model Sustainable General Plan. In Santa Cruz, CA, she directed the rebuilding of the City’s earthquake-devastated downtown. As Director of Planning in Alexandria, VA, Ms. Fogarty guided the master planned development of Eisenhower East, 238 acres with 17 million square feet of development within walking distance to two Metro stations. Under her leadership, Annapolis, MD was awarded both the National American Planning Association and the International Waterfront Center Awards for Excellence. Most recently, Ms. Fogarty has led the ‘Transformation of Annapolis’ Waterfront’ from development of the ‘City Dock Consensus Plan’ through the current Pre-Development Phase of Development. Eileen Fogarty received her Master’s Degree from Rutgers University and is the recipient of National, State and Regional awards for creating livable cities.
Christopher Burgess
Anne Arundel County
Christopher has over 20 years of experience as an environmental professional and project manager practicing in various multi-disciplinary energy and infrastructure projects. He brings a wealth of environmental, renewable energy, and project management experience and has shepherded seven of the first utility scale projects to completion in the Caribbean through the Islands Program. Christopher is a retained solar expert to the US government and Wall Street Research firms. He has written and testified on several provisions for Maryland’s current renewable energy laws, including interconnection, aggregate net-metering, and Maryland’s enacted offshore wind energy policy.
Past Board Members
Vincent O. Leggett
Anne Arundel County
Vince passed away on Saturday, November 23, 2024, at the age of 71. His legacy can be seen in many places in which he has contributed and left a lasting impact. He was the President and CEO of the Leggett Group USA, an Annapolis-based consulting firm which specializes in government relations, public affairs and advocacy. He was a regulated lobbyist in the Maryland General Assembly with focus areas in equity educational funding, natural gas, oil and clean energy, environment, and historic and cultural preservation. Vince was also the founder and president of the Blacks of the Chesapeake (BOC) Foundation. The BOC documents the significant contributions of African Americans in the maritime and seafood-related industries. The Library of Congress and the U.S. Congress designated the Blacks of the Chesapeake as a Local Legacy Project, and the Governor of Maryland appointed and commissioned an honorary Admiral of the Chesapeake. Through this work Vince provided training in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. Vince earned a B.S. Degree in Urban Planning & Community Development and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan. He did additional training through the University of Michigan Multicultural Leadership Development Initiative and Executive Director Development Training through the Center of Government Services at The Rutgers University. Vince and his wife made their home in Annapolis, MD., where he served as Chaplain for the Fire Department.
Resilience Authority Staff
Guided by science and working closely with our Board of Directors, our staff create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to combat the effects of climate change in a cost-effective, fiscally responsible way.
Matt Fleming
Resilience Authority Director
Matt was appointed as the Resilience Authority Director by County Executive Steuart Pittman in December 2022. He has more than 25 years of experience in the areas of coastal restoration, natural resource management, and program administration. Matt previously worked with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), where he served as Assistant Secretary for Aquatic Resources. Prior to that appointment, he also served as Maryland’s Coastal Zone Program Director, where he developed the state’s largest water quality financing program solely dedicated to abating non-point sources of pollution and oversaw the investment of more than $850 million in Chesapeake Bay restoration projects.
Kristina Perry Alexander
Director of Operations
Kristina serves as Director of Operations for the Resilience Authority. She is a lawyer and former appellate attorney, administrative law judge, general counsel, compliance executive, and senior government lawyer. After earning degrees from Virginia Tech and the University of Richmond School of Law, she spent over a decade in government and private practice managing contracting procedures, legislative reforms, and procurement procedures, as well as overseeing legal representation of bonding, special financing, and pension agencies. She recently completed a federally registered apprenticeship with the Resilience Authority as a Project Manager through the Maryland Corp/Service Year Option. During that time, Kristina managed the writing of grant applications requesting over $16m for resilience projects in Anne Arundel County and Annapolis, while also managing awarded grants totaling $3.65m.
Gabe Cohee
Director of Programs
Gabe serves as Director of Programs for the Resilience Authority. After earning degrees from Towson University and Johns Hopkins University, he worked at the Department of Natural Resources providing technical and financial resources to communities and governments to address non-point pollution through nature-based and natural solutions. Gabe directed the state’s Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund for over 10 years, leading the investment of more than $500M into local projects that improved water quality, habitat, and climate resilience. In his final year at the department, Gabe served as a liaison to the Chesapeake Bay Program working across the watershed states and District of Columbia to develop goals for continued success in Chesapeake Bay restoration and protection.