Ande Kolp is the Executive Director of The Arc Maryland. Her career includes over 25 years of experience supporting people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their families. Her most recent position was the Executive Director for Compass, Inc., a private non-profit organization specializing in Residential and Employment Services for people with co-occurring Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions living in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Howard, and Charles Counties.
Prior to her engagement with Compass, Inc., Ande served in different administrative capacities for three Arc Chapter agencies in Maryland over a period of 13 years (Prince George’s County, Howard County, and Montgomery County).
Her experience also includes service on the Boards of Directors for The Maryland Association of Community Services and The Association of Community Services of Howard County. She is the current chairperson for the Howard County Commission on Disability Issues and had been an active member of InterACC- Montgomery, and the Prince George’s Provider Network prior to coming to The Arc Maryland. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Therapy from the University of Iowa and a Master’s Degree in Special Education with a Concentration in Severe Disabilities from The Johns Hopkins University.
Ande lives in Glenwood, MD with her husband and three children. She enjoys playing the guitar, singing and acting in her spare time.
Shannon McGovern is the Administrative and Communications Assistant for The Arc Maryland. Shannon will usually be the voice you hear when calling The Arc Maryland. She also writes The Arc Maryland’s monthly e-newsletter and maintains the content on our social media pages. As a recent graduate of St. John’s College in Annapolis with a BA in the Liberal Arts, Shannon studied everything from the Ancient Greek philosophers to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Shannon has a background in the theatre, having worked backstage for both her college and for the Annapolis Shakespeare Company. In her free time, Shannon enjoys spending time with her family and playing games with her friends.
Grace Pushparany Williams is the Assistant Director of Public Policy and Partnerships for The Arc Maryland. Grace has been advocating for the past 20 years as a parent and a professional for people with disabilities and special healthcare needs.
Most recently, Grace has worked as the Senior Program Manager for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs and Family Involvement for Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs and as the Health Care Coordinator for Family Voices and Family to Family Health Information Center at The Parents’ Place of Maryland.
She serves on the Maryland Medicaid Advisory Committee and Maryland Developmental Disabilities Administration’s Quality Advisory Council and Transition Advisory Team.
Grace has been a member of The Arc family for 22 years and has served on the boards of The Arc of Prince George’s County and The Arc Maryland. She continues to serve as a volunteer for The Arc and other organizations for Disabilities, Special Health Care Needs and Human Rights Organizations.
As a human rights activist, Grace strongly believes that disability rights are human rights and advocating for this noble cause has become second nature to her.
Kathy Swanson is the Director of Education and Advocacy for The Arc Maryland. Kathy is a graduate of The University of Michigan, receiving a Juris Doctorate from the Michigan State College of Law. During more than two decades of experience in non-profit management, she worked for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in Baltimore City for twelve years with parishes that provided services to persons who were food and housing insecure as well as those effected by violence.
Kathy’s policy, training and advocacy experience for persons with disabilities include prior work for The Arc Maryland, The Arc Howard County, The Arc of York County (PA), The Arc of Chester County (PA), and The Arc of Pennsylvania. Kathy also provided consultant services to the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Department of Health and Welfare, focused on families raising children with disabilities.
Most recently, Kathy served as the Administrator of Community Partnerships for Howard County Department of Community Resources and Services where she managed programs that link county government to a wide range of non-profit organizations.
Kathy has been an advocate for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families for over three decades. She and her husband Phil are the parents of two sons; one of whom has intellectual and developmental disabilities and lives in a home of his own in Columbia, MD.
