Mo-Co Alliance
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Staff & Volunteers

MCA’s workload  is tackled by two staff members, a talented board of directors and skilled and dedicated volunteers.  Our Board and volunteers give generously of their expertise and time.   Working together as a team, MCA has been able to take on the many challenges that face the Agricultural Reserve and at the same time work to promote it through education and legislative initiative. MCA is also registered to provide student service learning hours to middle and high school students.  Contact us to find out more!
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Caroline Taylor
Executive Director
​Caroline, who has the great fortune to live with her family within the Reserve in historic Sugarland Forest,  has worked on environmental and agricultural issues for much of her professional career.  Her first exposure to environmental litigation came while employed at Covington and Burling.  She then worked with a talented group of lawyers and advocates at National Wildlife Federation on a wide range of cases and issues including:  Spotted Owl, Key Deer, Exxon oil spill, food policy, forest preservation and, water resources. Yet her passion has always been local issues including protection of the Ag Reserve’s natural resources and working lands.  Caroline comes from a long line of farmers and ranchers, from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Idaho. Growing Legacy, Caroline’s second film project, aims to both educate and inspire the many, the diverse-  those who through the simple act of eating, as Wendell Berry wisely notes, practice agriculture. Participating on behalf of MCA on County committees to advance a strategic plan for food composting, agritourism, and a long range zero waste policy and implementation plan.

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Kristina Bostick
Senior Conservation Associate 
Kristina grew up in Montgomery County (hiking Sugarloaf every year on her birthday)  and has returned after a number of years in North Carolina where she earned her Masters in Public Administration and worked on numerous environmental issues, including  stormwater mitigation and greening local governments. Kristina values all the ways the Ag Reserve benefits our region but nothing beats the excitement of a weekly CSA box or the first peaches of summer, all grown right here!

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Lee with one of her flock. Dan Gross
Lee Langstaff
President
Lee has been the Shepherdess at Shepherd's Hey Farm at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain since 1994, producing the high quality wool and meat products while placing highest priority on the health and welfare of the animals and that of the land, water resources and local natural biodiversity. She is the immediate past president of the Maryland Sheep Breeders Association. Lee brings her long history of Ag Reserve advocacy and professional mediation skills to advance MCA's mission. She is also behind the camera for many of the most incredible landscape photos on this website. Lee (and her sheep) have a starring role in our "Growing Legacy" short film. 

Bob Wilbur 

Vice President
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Glenn Miles
Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer 

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Abby Mann
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Groundwater Campaign Coordinator

Abby holds a strong commitment to sustainability and is passionate about connecting to local resources that benefit individual and community well-being. Values she brings to MCA's Good Gift Groundwater Campaign

Most recently, Abby revitalized outreach efforts at Farm to School Frederick, where she significantly enhanced community engagement through strategic email marketing, a robust social media presence, and diverse communication channels boosting brand awareness and driving participation in organizational programs. She led educational programs in local schools and libraries, promoting sustainable practices and introducing youth and families to locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables.

Abby has called southern Frederick County home for over 7 years. When she is not working or studying she enjoys spending time with her family, brunch in downtown Frederick, cheering on the New York Giants, and projects in her kitchen with locally grown fresh food. She is excited to support the invaluable mission of Montgomery Countryside Alliance in advancing groundwater conservation and awareness initiatives.

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Carole Bergmann
Re-Leaf Program Chair
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Oversight for our Re-Leaf the Reserve Program is provided by MCA Board Member Carole Bergmann. Carole is the  Founder of Weed Warriors, pictured here showing Weed Warrior volunteers some invasive Japanese Stiltgrass. 
Carole was the Montgomery County Forest Ecologist and her career of forest protection was honored in 2017 by the Joe Howard Award from Conservation Montgomery.
Carole is a member of:
Montgomery Co Forestry Board member
Maryland Invasive Species Council Member
Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Council Board Member
She is a Grad School USA Natural History Field Studies instructor and also takes time to lead field trip for local schools  and Audubon Naturalist Society

Bob Tworkowski

Groundwater Campaign Technical Advisor
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What We Do
Our History
Board & AC
Staff & Volunteers
Contact
Buy MCA Gear
ABOUT US
What We Do
A Brief History
Board & AC
Staff & Volunteers
Contact
​​Buy MCA Gear
ABOUT Ag RESERVE
History of the Ag
Benefits of the Ag
Farm Facts
Threats to the Ag
​A Place with Purpose
NEWS
EVENTS
Local Events
Ride for the Reserve
Royce Hanson Award
SUPPORT LOCAL
Ag Guide
Local Food Connection
Community Supported Agriculture
Restaurants & Retail
​Artists of the Reserve
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
​Land Link
Producer's Resources
Directory of Services
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Montgomery Countryside Alliance
P.O Box 24, Poolesville, MD  20837
301-461-9831  •  ​[email protected]
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MCA is proud to announce that we have been recognized for a third time as one of the best small charities in the D.C. region by Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of 110 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated 270 applications.

​MCA is known as an effective and innovative non-profit whose efforts to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s nationally recognized 93,000 acre Ag Reserve have brought increased public and governmental support of local food production and farmland and open space preservation. Most importantly, MCA’s efforts are putting more farmers on the ground and keeping them there.
COPYRIGHT © MONTGOMERY COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE 2008