10-13-2024 W2W - Flipbook - Page 24
Tammy Stinnett
50, Chairperson, Baltimore City
Democratic State Central Committee
As someone who likes to see quick results,
Tammy Stinnett can’t seem to move fast enough
as the Baltimore City Democratic State Central
Committee she chairs tries to expand its reach
and capitalize on the buzz around this year’s elections.
“There’s an extra special excitement this cycle,”
Stinnett said, naming Democratic candidates like
Angela Alsobrooks for U.S. Senate and Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Stinnett has been a member of the 40-member
committee since 2018 and its leader since 2022.
After leading the group through its return to
post-pandemic, in-person grassroots work, she’s
focused on building out its field operation. This
year, that means voter registration events, phone
banking, door-knocking and — in a first for the
city committee — a postcard-writing campaign
to inform voters and encourage them to turn out.
“We don’t want to leave anyone out of the
equation,” Stinnett said. “There are communities that need a little bit more engagement such
as the young adults, returning citizens. We have a
large population of Hispanic individuals. So we’re
trying to focus and get into those communities
and just let them know that we’re here and that
their vote matters.”
— Sam Janesch
PHOTO BY AMY DAVIS
Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán
35, Coordinator for State Autism Strategy,
Maryland Department of Disabilities
Victoria Rodríguez-Roldán knows the autism world is “full of strong,
very passionate personalities.” In her first year as Maryland’s coordinator
for state autism strategy, part of her work has been dedicated to harnessing
that energy into working together to develop the state’s first comprehensive
plan for addressing autism needs. That means meeting with various groups
throughout Maryland to determine what they need, whether it’s parents
of autistic children living in rural areas or people of color with autism. The
goal is to create a broad policy that integrates with state disability law and
helps people with autism lead “self-directed lives.”
Rodríguez-Roldán’s favorite part of the job is holding listening sessions
throughout the state to get a sense of what those disparate communities
need.
“We try to listen to people who haven’t been heard yet, like communities of color [with autism], LGBTQ autistic people, rural people,” she says.
“There’s a fundamental need to see autism or a developmental disability
as neither scary nor worth of pity. Autism is not a tragedy; it’s part of the
diversity of our community.”
— Lia Russell
24 | 2024 | WOMEN TO WATCH
PHOTO BY KIM HAIRSTON
