District One Vacancy, Senior Advisor Position Filled For Howard County

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Howard County Executive Calvin Ball has appointed Robyn Scates to fill the District One vacancy on the Howard County Board of Education and Yousuf Ahmad to serve as the newly established senior advisor for education policy and performance in Howard County Government.

"Both Robyn and Yousuf are thoughtful leaders who will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in education to their respective roles, and I look forward to our continued partnerships as we strengthen our public education system in Howard County," Ball said.

Scates is the owner of Scates Legal Group, LLC and serves as a full-time professor at Morgan State University. Scates' background includes serving as the executive director of the Maryland Legal Services Program, Maryland Department of Human Services where she ensured the legal representation of the state’s abused and neglected youth and vulnerable adults; vice president, general counsel, chief diversity officer and corporate governance officer for College Summit, Inc. a national nonprofit that works to increase the college going rate of youth in America; and as a behavior guidance counselor for the Baltimore City Public School System. Scates has a bachelor of arts degree from Morgan State University and a juris doctor from University of Baltimore, School of Law. Scates will fill the vacancy on the Howard County Board of Education that was created with the resignation of former board member Christina Delmont-Small Feb. 1.

Ahmad recently served as the executive director for the Office of Government Affairs, Education Policy, and External Relations for the State Department of Education where he led policy and regulatory development and implementation. During his tenure at the department, he developed and managed initiatives to promote equitable access to education for all Marylanders and focused on drafting legislation that supplemented the overall goals of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. He was previously a senior official in the Baltimore City Administration working on improving public safety for the Baltimore City state’s attorney and has served as a senior analyst for the mayor’s office to measure, monitor and analyze city agencies to improve efficiency and efficacy in the delivery of government services. Ahmad will begin serving Monday.