Board of Directors
Stephanie Brant- Chairperson
Stephanie started her career as a first grade teacher in Virginia around the same time she started running competitively. Since then she has completed several marathons, half-marathons, and a variety of other races. Stephanie continues to work with children everyday as the principal at Gaithersburg Elementary School. When she became the principal she knew her school needed to participate with GOTR. Last season 45 girls completed the 5k with 15 of the girls having Stephanie as their coach.
Stephanie attended James Madison University, George Mason University, and University of VA acquiring degrees in Psychology, Elementary Education, and Educational Leadership. She lives in Germantown with her husband, son, and daughter.
Amy Knowles- Vice Chairperson
Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, Amy started running in New Orleans on the flat trails near Tulane University. She eventually came back to Maryland and completed the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. Amy’s interest in Girls on the Run stems from her commitment to developing young girls to achieve and believe in themselves. Throughout her career, Amy has been involved in various organizations to promote women’s advancement such as the University of Maryland’s Graduate Women in Business and Clark Construction’s Women’s Best Practices group.
Amy currently leads the Financial Planning & Analysis and Business Intelligence teams at Clark Construction. Her expertise includes financial analysis, long range planning, strategic and operational analysis, and financial valuation. Prior to Clark, Amy held positions at Avendra, LLC and Marriott International in the areas of FP&A and financial valuation. She received a Bachelor’s in Finance from Tulane University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Maryland. In her spare time, Amy enjoys hiking with her husband, daughter, and Goldendoodle puppy.
Traci Lanman- Treasurer
Traci has lived in Montgomery County her whole life, except for the 4 years she spent at James Madison University , where she graduated cum laude with a BBA in Accounting in 2004. She became a Certified Public Accountant in 2006, and has been working at Squire, Lemkin + Company, LLP in Rockville, MD for the past 7 years. For her first few years out of college she worked exclusively and extensively preforming audits and reviews for various non-profit companies in the area. She has since switched her focus to tax preparation and planning for individuals, small businesses, and a few non-profits.
Traci runs a few times a week, mainly to stay in shape and manage stress. She has only run short distance races so far but hopes to run a 10K in the near future. She lives in North Bethesda with her ultra-marathon running marathon maniac boyfriend. When time allows, Traci enjoys reading, concert-going, cooking, attending Redskins, Caps, and Nats games and escaping to the Outer Banks. She is thrilled to be involved with such a dynamic and inspirational program as Girls on the Run.
Leigh Janes-Secretary
Leigh first heard of Girls on the Run from a friend in graduate school. This friend had been a running buddy multiple times and casually mentioned it in passing one day. A few months later after moving to Montgomery County Leigh decided to volunteer as a GOTR coach. She has now been coaching at Oakview Elementary School in Silver Spring since the Fall of 2010.
Leigh caught the bug for volunteering when she moved to the DC area after college. Leigh currently works as a manager at NASA but spent 6 years as an aerospace engineer. Volunteering has been her outlet outside of work and she has volunteered with various organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters and Art with a Heart.
Leigh received her BS in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University and is completing her Masters in Public Administration from The George Washington University. She lives in North Bethesda, MD with her lab mix puppy who thinks he's part lab and part kangaroo. He can usually be found bouncing down the trails accompanying her on runs.
Charli Long
Charli was born and raised in Williamsport, PA. She graduated magna cum laude from Barnard College in New York, NY, with a degree in chemistry (minor in Spanish) and spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar doing laboratory research in Lima, Peru, before beginning her graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, Charli earned her Ph.D. in organic chemistry under the guidance of Madeleine Joullie. She credits running for helping her handle the stresses of the graduate program. After graduate school, Charli and her husband Jorge, relocated to the Washington, DC, area and for the past 5 years, she has worked as a chemist reviewer at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine in Rockville, MD.
Charli first became acquainted with Girls on the Run when she participated in the Germantown 5 miler in 2009, a race affiliated with the program that year. The energy and obvious enjoyment of the girls, coaches and parents that day inspired her to learn more about the organization. In 2010, Charli helped raise money for GOTR Montgomery County as a member of the SoleMates program while training for the Chicago Marathon. To date, she has run 11 marathons, over 20 half marathons and three ultramarathons. She has set a goal to complete 50 marathons in all 50 states before she reaches age 50 and is well on her way. She is a member of the Montgomery County Road Runners, the Marathon Maniacs, the Association for the Advancement of Science and serves as a Barnard Alumnae Admissions Representative. When she isn’t running, Charli enjoys traveling, photography, reading and spending time with her husband and their two dogs, Sassie and Sookie, both rescues from local shelters.
Lenny Bernstein
Lenny graduated from the University of Michigan and has been in journalism throughout his career--at the Hartford Courant, the L.A. Times and, for the last 12 years, the Washington Post. After working in news for 30 years, he moved two years ago to the Sports section, where he edits the Post's coverage of the Redskins and the NFL. He also writes the MisFits fitness column every two weeks as well as occasional stories about fitness and wellness. Lenny is a 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner.
He is an avid, distance runner. In addition to local races of varying lengths, he has participated in ten marathons; including Boston, New York, Chicago, the Marine Corps and Richmond. He is a big supporter of GOTR and believes in the mission of combining life lessons and fitness. Impressed that GOTR encourages in girls a lifelong love of fitness and movement.
Kimberly Tribou
Kimberly Tribou, an avid distance runner and aspiring triathlete today, would have been the perfect candidate for Girls on the Run in elementary school and Girls on Track in middle school. Kimberly was always chosen last in team sports and invented creative excuses to attempt to get out of running the mile in physical education classes. It wasn’t until 2007, after her doctor told her that a health related issue could be alleviated by losing weight, that she took up running and learned about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Kimberly was introduced to the Girls on the Run program through one of her running buddies on a marathon training run. Kimberly was happy to volunteer as a Girls on the Run coach to help teach elementary students those things that Kimberly had to learn about herself as a runner in her twenties. Kimberly has been a coach at Ronald McNair Elementary School in Germantown, MD for four seasons.
In her day job, Kimberly is an internal auditor with the federal government. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, and her Masters of Business Administration in Policy and Planning from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She lives in Germantown, Maryland, with her ebullient golden retriever, Oliver.
Stephanie Tomasso
Stephanie is originally from Philadelphia, but has been a Montgomery County resident for over thirty years. She attended Connelly School of the Holy Child, and then received her BA in History from Washington and Lee University. It was during her time at Holy Child that she came to value the importance of working with young women and girls on issues around self-esteem, peer pressure and healthy choices. After keeping busy as a high school and college athlete, Stephanie began running again in 2009 and has since completed multiple half-marathons and 10Ks as well as the Marine Corps Marathon in 2010. The mother of three boys, Stephanie became aware of Girls on the Run in 2011 and was excited about its mission of working with girls on issues that she has cared about for many years. She has raised funds for GOTR as a SoleMate, and is excited to be joining the Board in 2013.
In her professional life, Stephanie is an Executive Search Consultant with Russell Reynolds Associates. She specializes in conducting senior leadership searches within the public policy and health care arena and. focuses on leading trade association CEO and senior-level public policy assignments for a broad range of nonprofit and corporate clients in industries including health care, energy, financial services and technology. Stephanie also recruits general management and clinically-focused health care executives.
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