Tracks and Yaks was founded by Adam Forshee and his wife, Julie. Their love for the outdoors and new experiences led them to rail biking. With years of research and several road trips, they were inspired to offer rail bike tours in Maryland and wanted nothing more than to share this unique experience with others who come to the area. Enjoy this special activity and have a one-of-a-kind experience that we hope you will remember for a lifetime.  We welcome you to our first location in Frostburg, MD, and hope you enjoy your ride!

Alfred E. Martin served as Director of Finance for the City of Hagerstown for 30 years. Al is a CPA who started his career as an accountant and auditor with the firm of Smith Elliott Kearns & Co. In 1979, Al left Smith Elliott to become Town Manager for the Town of Hancock and has been involved in local government and the community ever since. He is a past president of the MD Government Finance Officers Association and has been an Academy for Excellence in Local Governance instructor since 1999. Al serves in leadership and consulting roles with numerous community organizations and boards. He is chair of the Audit Committee of the Washington County Board of Education and the Audit and Business Integrity Committee of the Meritus Hospital and Health System. He is also an instructor for the Academy graduate level program in Advanced Public Finance.

Amy Jean Chung Fry (she/her/ella)  is the Ward 6 Council Member and has served in this role since 2019. In 2021, she was elected by her colleagues to serve as the Vice Mayor for the Town of Cheverly and was unanimously elected to continue through the 2023-2025 term. In both roles, Amy is the first Korean American and East Asian American to fill an elected seat in Cheverly.

Amy serves her community in various capacities volunteering in Cheverly with the Cheverly Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Cheverly American Legion Auxiliary Post 108, and Cheverly Village. Amy also co-led the 2020 Cheverly Census effort, ensuring that 78.9% of Cheverly residents were counted, almost 10% higher than the county average.

Outside of Cheverly, Amy is an At-Large Board Member and serves on the legislative committee for the Prince George’s County Municipal Association (PGCMA) and is the co-founder and President of the AAPI Democratic Club of Prince George’s County. Amy co-founded the AAPI Caucus group for the Maryland Municipal League (MML) and has served on the 2022-2023 MML Legislative Committee. She was appointed in 2024 by Governor Wes Moore to the Maryland Asian Pacific American Commission.

Amy has a Bachelor of Arts from Scripps Women’s College in International Relations and Political Science, a Master of Arts from Claremont Graduate University in International Studies, and a Juris Doctorate from Indiana University Maurer School of Law. She recently completed her certification from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, Academy of Excellence in Local Governance.

Andy Kitzrow was appointed City Administrator on April 10, 2023, after serving as Acting City Administrator since March 2023. Andy started with the City of Salisbury as Deputy City Administrator, from July 2017 to March 2023. He is a Johnston Scholar graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a B.S. degree in Psychology.

Mr. Kitzrow worked for the Wicomico County Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism for 11 years, serving as the Recreation Superintendent from 2011 to 2017.

Angel Perez, is the Caroline Pride CEO/Founder. Recognized as the Caroline County Citizen of the Year 2020, Caliber Award Mary Beth Brennaman 2022 and Jefferson Award for Public Service 2022. For the past 13 years Mr. Perez has dedicated his time to positively impacting his community especially carrying the message of inclusion, respect and equity. Mr. Perez created the Greensboro & Preston Connectds Initiative and currently serves as president of the Rotary Club of Denton, the Caroline County Local Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, Caroline Goes Purple Committee, Caroline County Public Schools Citizens Advisory Committee, Wellness Coalition, Caroline County Equity Committee, MD Rainbow Roundtable, Regional Behavioral Health Advisory Committee and  Caroline Co. Extension Advisory Council &  Mid Shore Suicide Coalition.

Angelica leads the Advocacy and Public Affairs team in analyzing state legislation, representing MML before the legislature and implementing strategies to further the League’s policy. She is a skillful public interest attorney with more than seven years of experience in the Maryland legislature.

Dr. Ann Cotten is the Executive Director of the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore. A main focus of Dr. Cotten’s work is to help public and nonprofit organizations address strategic challenges. She has 30+ years of experience in the areas of strategic planning, program evaluation, survey research, policy analysis, management consulting, and performance measurement.
Dr. Cotten also directs the Maryland Certified Public Manager® (CPM) program. The Maryland CPM Program trains Maryland’s government and nonprofit managers in applied public management skills. She also created The NextGen Leaders for Public Service which places University of Baltimore students in paid internships with public agencies across Maryland.

Anne Balduzzi is a renowned expert in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recognized as one of the region's Top Women in Tech,  Anne is a respected speaker and author on AI and technology trends. She holds a patent in data match analysis and is the founder of SameGrain, an award-winning AI-enabled community engagement platform. At Hartman Executive Advisors, Anne helps clients harness the full potential of AI to optimize operational efficiency, spark innovation, and establish security to mitigate risks.

As an early pioneer of the Internet, she brings decades of technology expertise. Her background includes product development and marketing management roles at Apple, AOL (when it was a start-up), and Viewtron, the first consumer online service in North America. After working in Silicon Valley and launching Apple’s first online service, she returned to the East Coast and founded Accelerate Partners, where she mentored and advised a wide range of early stage and established technology companies.

Anthony G. Brown assumed office as Maryland's 47th Attorney General on January 3, 2023, the first African American to hold the position in Maryland’s history. Previously, Attorney General Brown represented the 4th Congressional District from 2017 to 2023, served as Maryland Lieutenant Governor from 2007 to 2015, and served in the Maryland House of Delegates as Vice Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Majority Whip from 1999 to 2007.

Since taking office, Attorney General Brown established the Office of Equity, Policy, and Engagement, a first for the Attorney General’s office, to focus on strategies, initiatives, policies, and practices that will promote equity and fairness in Maryland’s civil, criminal, and administrative systems of justice. In 2023, Attorney General Brown successfully advocated for the passage of legislation creating a Civil Rights Division, expanding the Independent Investigations Division’s prosecutorial authority, and establishing a permanent Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention. In October 2023, Attorney General Brown partnered with Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue to create the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative (MEJC), a first-of-its-kind initiative dedicated to reducing mass incarceration and the disparate incarceration of African Americans and other marginalized groups in Maryland prisons and jails. MEJC’s goal is to examine and assess the scope and causes of this crisis, and to develop a data-driven approach to addressing it.

With a longstanding commitment to improving the lives of all Marylanders, Attorney General Brown’s priority has always been justice and equity. As Lieutenant Governor, he advocated for the repeal of the death penalty, decriminalization of cannabis, expansion of record expungements, stringent background checks and training requirements for gun sales, and banning of large-capacity magazines and certain assault rifles. In Congress, Attorney General Brown again championed common-sense gun safety laws, measures to expand access to the ballot, the health of the Chesapeake Bay, the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, and he was a lead sponsor on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. He worked in the General Assembly and in Congress to expand protections for victims of domestic violence, abused and neglected children, and veterans with unmet mental and behavioral health needs.

Attorney General Brown received a bachelor's degree from Harvard College and a law degree from Harvard Law School. After clerking at the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, Attorney General Brown was an associate attorney in the litigation, securities enforcement, and investment management groups at WilmerHale (formerly Wilmer Cutler & Pickering). He litigated against big tobacco and represented small businesses whose innovative technology was stolen by large corporations. Attorney General Brown demonstrated his commitment to pro bono services in the various matters he handled, including representing victims of sexual harassment in the workplace, children in need of assistance, and indigent clients unable to afford a lawyer. While in the House of Delegates, Attorney General Brown also practiced land use and zoning law with the firm Gibbs and Haller.

A retired Colonel in the Army Reserve, Attorney General Brown served three decades as an aviator and Judge Advocate General. He graduated first in his flight class and received both Airborne and Air Assault qualifications. Attorney General Brown was awarded the Legion of Merit for his distinguished military service and earned the Bronze Star while deployed to Iraq from 2004 to 2005. Attorney General Brown completed his military service commanding the 153rd Legal Support Organization.

Attorney General Brown served as Board Chair of Prince George's Community College, and as a board member of the Community Legal Services of Prince George's County and the nonprofit Adoptions Together. He has been a member of the Maryland State Bar Association since 1994.

A graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, April began her legal career more than 25 years ago with a Delaware corporate law firm representing parties in stockholder class and derivative actions in the Court of Chancery.

She shifted her legal practice to Maryland in 2009 to be closer to her family. Her background in corporate law made her well-suited to pursue a career as a municipal lawyer. In 2017, April was appointed City Attorney for the City of Havre de Grace. She opened her own law firm in June 2018.

The Governor appointed April to serve on the three-member Open Meetings Compliance Board in 2015. She served as Chair of that Board for the 2019-2020 calendar year. Although no longer on the Board, she enjoys teaching Open Meetings Act seminars with Gaithersburg Deputy City Attorney Frank Johnson for the Academy for Excellence in Local Governance and other groups.

When not practicing municipal law, April focuses her legal practice on estate planning and elder law, probate and estate administration, and legal advice to family-owned businesses and startup non-profits. In her free time, April enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking healthy food, and boating on the Chesapeake Bay with her husband.

Aruna Miller is the 10th Lieutenant Governor of the state of Maryland. She is the second woman to serve as Lieutenant Governor in Maryland, and the first woman of color and immigrant elected to statewide office in Maryland.

Born in India, Lieutenant Governor Miller and her family immigrated to the United States when she was 7 years old.

For 25 years, she worked as a transportation engineer for Montgomery County’s Department of Transportation. From 2010 to 2018, she served the people of Montgomery County (District 15) in the Maryland House of Delegates.

As Lieutenant Governor, her policy profile includes matters relating to transportation, mental health, and STEM equity.

In 2023, she served as chair of the Governor’s Work Zone Safety Work Group, dedicated to making highway work zones safer and protecting the lives of workers, motorists, and law enforcement.

She currently chairs Maryland’s first Council on Interfaith Outreach, which convenes faith leaders from across religions and across the state to bridge divides across faiths, and better serve all communities.

A third-generation Marylander, Ben Cardin has been a national leader on health care, retirement security, the environment and fiscal issues while representing the people of Maryland in the U.S. Senate, and before that in the House of Representatives. Currently serving as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he has worked across party lines to further U.S. national security and to ensure that good governance, transparency and respect for human rights are integrated into American foreign policy.

First elected to the Senate in 2006, Senator Cardin also is a senior member of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Committee, which is at the forefront of rebuilding our economy. He is a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and the Environment & Public Works Committee.

Senator Cardin is a leading advocate for the Chesapeake Bay, which is the economic, historical and cultural heart of Maryland. Nationally, he is a champion of protecting our clean air and clean water. He has introduced legislation to restore the health of America’s great water bodies and is the leading proponent of investing in improvements to America’s aging water infrastructure system while preparing it for the impacts of climate change. His commitment to reduce pollution and protect our environment fuels his work to broaden investments in safe public transit, as well as walking and bike trails.

Senator Cardin has a deep interest in foreign affairs and has worked across party lines to further our national security and protect universal human rights. He has fought to ensure that anti-corruption, transparency, accountability  and respect for human rights are integrated into our foreign policy. He also has worked to ensure gender equity in national security programs and policies. He has been a Commissioner on the U.S. Helsinki Commission since 1993, serving as Chairman and Co-Chair in multiple congressional sessions. Since 2015, he has served as the Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism, and Intolerance for the 57-nation Organization Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly. Senator Cardin previously has served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on State Department and USAID Management, International Operations, and Bilateral International Development. He also previously served as Ranking Member of the SFRC East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy Subcommittee, and he is the former Chairman of the International Development and Foreign Assistance Subcommittee.

Benjamin Fraifeld is the Associate Director for Policy & Advocacy at Maryland's Office of Overdose Response. Prior to joining MOOR, Ben earned his MS in Addiction Policy & Practice at Georgetown University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and his BSW at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro. He is passionate about helping reduce overdose by increasing access to evidence-based and compassionate services for people who use drugs and people at risk of overdose.

Beverly Scurry has a BS degree in Public Health Education with a concentration in Community Health and a dual Master's degree in Business Administration/Health Administration. Beverly has over seven years of racial equity experience in varying sectors including early childhood development, public health, grassroots community activism, and local municipality support, and over ten years of experience serving the community through public health departments.

Beverly is a new resident of Oxon Hill, Maryland, and serves as the Interim Director for Race, Equity and Leadership at the National League of Cities. She has been with NLC since March 2023 and has led various projects such as the Elected Leaders of Color Convening, the REAL Institute Cohort, and REAL Essentials.

Beverly is a native of Burlington, NC, where most of her family still resides. While in NC, she served as an Apprentice with the Racial Equity Institute, Inc. based in Greensboro, NC as well as sat on the board of local equity coalitions. In her previous career positions, she has led equity-related initiatives including coordinating the Health Systems Science course in the augural UNC School of Medicine MED EXCEL (Medical Education Development Early eXperience in Clinical Education and Leading) Program, led the development of Orange County, NC Health Department’s first Racial Equity Strategic Plan, and consulted with the towns of Hillsborough, NC and Mebane, NC on to advance their racial equity efforts.

William Gruhn has been an Assistant Attorney General with the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office since 1988.  He currently serves as Chief of the Division and is responsible for management of the Division’s various units and for issuance of final administrative orders in Home Builder and Health Club cases.  Prior to becoming Chief in 2008, he served for 12 years as Deputy Chief responsible for supervising the Consumer Protection Division’s Enforcement Unit.  Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, he was in private practice with Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander in Baltimore, Maryland.  He received his J.D. in 1983 from Yale Law School.

Bill serves as the nexus of policymaking and thought leadership for municipal government in the State of Maryland. His effective advocacy and analysis of legislation and regulations delivers critical guidance on policies impacting our members. Bill joined MML in 2016 after years working at various levels of government and in the private sector.

Brandon P. Fleming is a renowned speaker, nationally acclaimed educator, and author of MISEDUCATED: A Memoir. His triumphant story of struggle, success, and service has captured the heart of national media and inspired millions of people around the world. An at-risk youth and college dropout turned award-winning educator, Fleming is a former debate coach at Harvard University and Founder & CEO of the Veritas School of Social Sciences in Atlanta, GA.

In 2017, Fleming was recruited to become Harvard University’s assistant debate coach at the age of 26. Fleming soon made history at Harvard as the founder of the first Black pipeline program called the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project, which was designed to increase Black enrollment at Harvard’s residential debate program where hundreds of gifted young scholars from over 25 different countries study and compete in an international academic debate competition.

Over six years, Fleming has raised millions of dollars to enroll more than 200 students of color into Harvard’s summer debate residency on full scholarship. But there was one challenge that Fleming faced: How would he take Black youth from mostly under-resourced schools in Atlanta, who had never been exposed to the rigors of academic debate, and prepare them in just one year to compete against some of the most elite debaters from across the globe? Fleming created a transformative curriculum that is designed to build intellectual capacity, accelerate learning, and ultimately level the playing field for Black students. And it did. For six consecutive years, since the program’s inception in 2017, every cohort trained by Fleming has won the international competition as six-time consecutive champions. News of the achievement has gone viral and broke national headlines, being featured on CNN, Good Morning America, the Steve Harvey Show and many more. The organization has gained the financial backing of Fortune 100 companies such as The Coca-Cola Company, UPS, Chick-fil-A, and many more.

Fleming’s story represents the transformative power of equity. The equity model Fleming has built to close performance gaps is one that academic and corporate institutions have highly sought to replicate. As a renowned speaker, Fleming has keynoted for international governmental organizations such as the United Nations. Fleming has spoken at the nation’s most prestigious colleges, universities, and K-12 conferences. Fleming has also keynoted conventions for corporate executives at the nation’s largest brands such as Walmart, Bank of America, FedEx, the Federal Reserve Bank, and many more. At the age of 29, Forbes Magazine named Fleming to the Forbes 30 under 30 list. In 2020, The Root Magazine named Fleming one of the top 100 most influential African Americans in the United States. And in May 2021, North Carolina Wesleyan College bestowed upon Fleming the honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.

Bryan Sears covers the governor and General Assembly, state politics and transportation for Maryland Matters. He has covered the Maryland State House for the last two decades at the Baltimore Sun Media Group, Patch.com and most recently, The Daily Record. Sears has won multiple state and national awards for police and crime reporting, local and state government coverage and investigative reporting that resulted in a guilty plea by a government official for stealing from his own campaign account. He’s a frequent radio and television contributor.

Born and raised in Frederick, MD, Caitlyn Joy has six years of experience as a cemetery employee in various roles including family service counselor and assistant manager. Since joining CIMS Cemetery Software, she’s assisted numerous townships and municipalities with simplifying their cemetery management. As a deathcare professional and Maryland native, Caitlyn is committed to making cemetery management as simple and efficient as possible for our municipal officials and employees so that they can continue the good work of maintaining and caring for the resting places of our loved ones.

Carolyn Muller is proud to serve as the Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture for the City of Gaithersburg. Prior to Gaithersburg she worked for Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks and served as the Marketing and Events Manager, among other positions. She and her team have successfully planned events ranging from 5K race series’ and sprint triathlons to Farmers Markets and large scale events that attract 25-30,000 attendees. She also serves on the leadership team for the MML Parks and Recreation Association.

Cat Goughnour will serve as the Department’s Assistant Secretary for Just Communities. Previously, she served on the Racial Wealth Divide Initiative, headed the Racial Wealth Equity Strategy team, and was Racial Wealth Equity Fellow at Prosperity Now, a 45-year old national nonprofit focused on asset-building for low- and moderate-income people. In addition to building capacity to design, develop, operationalize, and evaluate multi-stakeholder human-centered solutions, she has a background in social science, community economic development, design thinking, and public health.

Before joining the department, she served as both a human rights consultant, specializing in technical assistance, human and civil rights strategies and system change expertise to support placemaking and positive economic mobility for communities and individuals. She established Right 2 Root, a community-centered system for equitable development for which she received awards from the American Planning Association and the City of Portland's Human Rights Commission.

Goughnour is originally from Oregon where she served as Housing Committee Chair of the Oregon Chapter of the NAACP and trainer at the Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference five years running. She worked in coalitions to revise the City of Portland’s Comprehensive Plan, establish and design the N/NE Housing Strategy, including its Community Benefits Agreement and Preference Policy, while concurrently serving on the Metro Regional Government’s Equitable Housing Advisory Committee and Equitable Framework Advisory Group.

Mayor Celina Benitez is the 23rd Mayor serving the City of Mount Rainier. Elected in 2021, she holds the distinction of being the first Latina Mayor of the City and is one of just three Latina Mayors currently serving in the State of Maryland.

As a dedicated public servant, Mayor Benitez is at the forefront of several critical initiatives in the City of Mount Rainier. Her works include addressing food insecurity, empowering small businesses and promoting environmentally sustainable practices through various green initiatives in the City.  One of her notable achievements is the passage of the Rent Stabilization law in 2022, demonstrating her commitment to affordable housing.

Mayor Benitez's commitment to education is reflected in her authorship of the Youth Scholarship Program, which was overwhelmingly approved by the City Council in 2018. This program annually awards scholarships to the most deserving students in the City, underlining her dedication to providing opportunities for the younger generation.

Before assuming her role as Mayor, Celina Benitez served as a Ward 1 Councilmember from 2017 to 2021. Her journey through education began in a public school in California, culminating in her college graduation with a degree in Political Science.  She was born in El Salvador and immigrated to the United States at the age of 10, alongside her mother and siblings.  Her proficiency in both English and Spanish allows her to effectively connect with a diverse range of residents, fostering inclusivity and understanding throughout the community.

Beyond public service, Mayor Benitez is a loving mother to her daughter, Isabella, and two adopted rescue cats. During her free time, she spends time with her daughter with their shared passions include an appreciation for the arts, a love for travel, an enthusiasm for dancing, a dedication to supporting local businesses, and a penchant for exploring the city's parks and library resources.