Women To Watch 10.12.25 - Flipbook - Page 26
Mandy Allendorfer
44, executive director, One Maryland
Mandy Allendorfer’s time as the executive director of One Maryland, the Name, Image and Likeness
entity for Terps’ athletes, has been short, chaotic and
constantly shifting.
But Allendorfer has loved it. The former Maryland
softball player has a long history in sports, working
for super-agent Scott Boras’ agency as the director of
strategic marketing and collegiate partnerships for 18
years. She joined Maryland to work for her alma mater
and help college athletes.
“Being able to unlock opportunities for athletes
today for things that I could have only dreamed of
when I was in their shoes, absolutely I think about it,”
Allendorfer said.
There’s been plenty of discourse surrounding the
Terps’ NIL. Under a new athletic director and with
the NCAA’s allocation of $20.5 million in revenue sharing for each school’s athletes, Allendorfer is excited
about Maryland’s possibilities in a new age of college
athletics.
“Every day is different and it keeps you on your toes.
What may be the definition of NIL today isn’t necessarily the definition tomorrow,” Allendorfer said. “Get
comfortable being uncomfortable because there is no
clear path.”
— Sam Jane
LLOYD FOX/STAFF PHOTOS
Dr. Michelle Taylor
49, health commissioner, Baltimore City
Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Michelle Taylor
became commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department over the summer. Taylor, who has her doctorate from the
Johns Hopkins University and is a veteran of the Tennessee Air
National Guard, will oversee responses to Baltimore’s opioid
crisis, the outbreak of sexually transmitted diseases and more.
“People don’t realize the depth of what public health professionals across the country do every day. And a lot of times, that
doesn’t fit into the neat box of what you have to do to get things
through a city or county government,” Taylor said.
Starting as the health commissioner of Shelby County,
Tennessee, in 2021, Taylor worked to raise the morale of public
health employees demoralized by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She describes working during this time as a “trial by fire” and
recalled having to work across the aisle from “the blue corner
of a red state.”
Because Taylor has led the health department of a similar-sized city, she believes she’s up to the challenge.
“If I didn’t think I could do it, I wouldn’t have come here,”
Taylor said.
— Carson Swick
26 | 2025 | WOMEN TO WATCH
