OUR TEAM

Ashley is a lifelong resident and advocate of Prince George’s County and a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University where she’s earning her B.A. in Cultural Thought. (Aggie Pride!) Getting involved, giving back, and connecting people are some of her main drivers. As a Girl Scout Troop Leader in Capitol Heights, a member of the Cottage City Garden, and more recently an Advisory Board Member of Creative Suitland, a local cultural arts based center in Suitland, MD she’s managed to cultivate community wherever she lands. In 2013 along with her sister Brittney, she launched Project InSPAration, a wellness experience for women in need.

Inspired by the brilliance of black women in her life she believes like the late J. California Cooper, “Every future has a past.” She strives to embrace the rich tradition of African storytelling and oral culture, seeking to learn, preserve, share, and continue the embroidered experiences and many legacies of Black Americans especially within Prince George’s County and Washington D.C. area. Leave some words of encouragement for this upcoming graduate in the comments!

Brittney is a believer in FATE – the practice of combining faith, arts, and technology to energize communities to create equitable places for generations today and tomorrow. She is a current PhD student in the Urban and Regional Planning and Design Program at the University of Maryland College Park; an alumna of Wake Forest University (M.S. in Management 2011) and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (B.A. in African American Studies and B.S. in Journalism and Mass Communications 2009).

Drakeford is a sixth-generation native of Prince George’s County, where she currently works for the County’s Planning Department as a Senior Planner, working on the Department’s effort to comprehensively update the County’s land-use regulations to support sustainable development and inclusive resident participation. Drakeford is a 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader; a 2019 cohort member of the William Averette Anderson Fund Fellowship; a Senior Fellow for the Environmental Leadership Program, and a Master Watershed Steward.

As an Executive Team member of The Capital Market, Brittney is mainly responsible for helping to create our strategic plan, constantly pushing for our future vision, not just our current state.

Her personal philosophy is that relationships among social networks have value (social capital), and when leveraged they can be used to inspire individuals and rejuvenate communities.

Kyle Reeder is a sixth-generation native Prince Georgian and self-proclaimed “community alchemist.” He finds purpose in his quest to revive the heart of Prince George’s County and transform the perceptions of those unaware of the potential of his underserved bedroom community, Capitol Heights. He is a product of Prince George’s County Public Schools, a graduate of Prince George’s Community College and received a bachelor’s in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Towson University.

Reeder takes pride in being an engaged citizen and a good neighbor. In concert with the Prince George’s County Board of Elections, he worked to maintain the integrity of the voting process as an election judge and participated in a Prince George’s County Planning Department’s working group to prepare the Sustainable Community Initiative application/action plan for the Central Avenue – Blue Line Corridor. During his tenure at Community Forklift, he advocated for green principles and educated his neighbors on local reuse/recycling programs. Through his work with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s public education campaign, Fresh Empire, he pushed to reduce tobacco use amongst at-risk youth.

Reeder currently serves the U.S. General Services Administration as a global project manager, where he supports a multidisciplinary team to deliver the planning, acquisition, design, and construction of federal real estate projects around the National Capital Region. Whether he’s bustling in a community garden, organizing with neighbors at “Wine & Cheese” night, or organizing communal meals like Meal on the Hill at Gethsemane United Methodist Church, Reeder bestows his very best, remembering that wherever his heart is, there he will find his treasure.

Tarin helped launch The Capital Market and has been with the market since its first season in 2018. Although she’s very modest about her role with the market, Tarin’s expertise is critical to the health equity and grants behind #TCM20743.

She graduated with a dual degree Masters in Biomedical Sciences and Public Health from Rowan Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Rutgers School of Public Health, respectively. She has been in the public health field for over nine years, focusing on health education, food access, and health policy. (this means she’s smart SMART). Tarin serves as co-chair of the Prince George’s County Food Equity Council and is a proud member of the Prince George’s Healthcare Action Coalition.

In her free time, this public health extraordinaire and food justice fighter likes to dance, eat delicious food, and laugh to her heart’s content.Tarin knows that food is medicine and was surprised at how many Black people suffer from diet-related chronic diseases. She was even more surprised when she learned that many Black communities do not have access to grocery stores. Increasing access to healthier food options and health education, and advocating for health in all policies are her current contributions to improving health outcomes in the Black community.

Gethsemane United Methodist Church (GUMC) is the Fiscal Sponsor for The Capital Market. GUMC’s mission is to be transformed and to transform our local and global community into a more just, inclusive, and supportive place. We seek to achieve this through word, worship, and service; building interfaith partnerships; and advocating for policies, systems, and environmental changes that help people to live healthy and whole lives.

Gethsemane’s Political Discipleship Group serves as key community directors of the market. This group includes members of Gethsemane United Methodist Church and the broader Capitol Heights Community, public advocates, and people of faith, who seek to transform our world into a beloved community that replicates God’s love on the earth. We care about food justice, safe and affordable housing and transportation, environmental stewardship, reforming prison injustices, and reducing inter-partner and community violence. As bearers of God’s love we have an obligation, responsibility, and directive, to work with our neighbors of all ethnicities, creeds, income levels, races, faith traditions and immigration status to support the flourishing of our neighborhood.

GUMC has been a partner of The Capital Market of 20743 since its inception in 2018.