MEET OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Barbara is a practicing attorney in Washington DC, and is founder and owner of Eyman Associates, a boutique law firm focusing on health law and policy. She left a partnership in a large, international law firm in 2011 to launch the firm to pursue her work with clients providing access to care to low income and other vulnerable populations, and has a particular expertise in the Medicaid program.   With food insecurity being such a driver of poor health outcomes, Barbara’s role with the Up 2 Us Foundation is a natural complement to her professional pursuits. Barbara and her husband Robert Antonisse have lived in Silver Spring since 1992. They have three adult children and a not-so-adult dog.  

Tazeen Ahmad is the Chief Financial Officer at Capitol Hill Consulting Group.  In this role, Ms. Ahmad manages the firm’s financial strategy, financial planning and analysis, financial reports, company audits, compliance, and bank relationships.  She is also responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable federal, state, and local campaign finance and election laws for the firm.

Ms. Ahmad has been a lifelong advocate of issues of importance to women and over the years has worked in leadership positions with many nonprofit organizations that serve women and children. In April 2019, she co-founded Up 2 Us Foundation, a Maryland nonprofit addressing food insecurity in Maryland and Washington, DC.  She is the organization’s executive director.

In August 2020, Ms. Ahmad was named as one of the Maryland Commission for Women's 100 Maryland Sheroes for her work in distributing food to Covid impacted families. During  women’s history month, in 2021, Ms. Ahmad was a Women Making History honoree in Montgomery County.

Additionally, she served as a Commissioner on the Montgomery County Commission for Women from 2018 to 2021. While at the CFW, she co-chaired the 2020 Women’s Legislative Briefing and was on the Policy and Legislation Committee.  Before her time on the Commission, Ms. Ahmad was on Montgomery County’s Victims Services Advisory Board and served as the board chair during her term there.  Her time on VSAB gave her a deeper understanding not only of issues faced by victims of crime and their families but also policies that impact the criminal justice system and our community at-large with a specific focus on domestic violence and sexual assault.

Ms. Ahmad has a B.A. from Alfred University in political science and a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Maryland. She lives with her family in Potomac, Maryland.

Marium Ahmad is one of the co-founders of Up 2 Us Foundation. She serves as the organization's Director of Operations and is responsible for keeping the wheels turning on the day to day operations. 

Born in Washington DC, where the rate of poverty is one of the highest in the country, Marium has a passion for serving her community, especially marginalized groups. By seeking out the voices of underserved communities, collaboration, and education, Marium helps to develop Up 2 Us programs that are designed to improve the quality of life for people in need. She is an advocate for social justice and believes it is everyone’s responsibility to serve and support each other in order to make a positive change in our society. 

In 2021 Marium was named one of the Women Making History honorees for Women’s History Month in Montgomery County, Maryland. Marium earned her bachelors in Sociology from the University of Maryland and her masters degree in Education from George Mason University in 2018. In her free time she enjoys learning about history and making music. 

Paola de Orbeta is a Legal Assistant at the State Farm Litigation Counsel Office. Prior to joining State Farm she gained experience as an intern at the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and at the Capitol Hill Consulting Group. She also completed an internship at the Office of Congresswoman Jenniffer González-Colón in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Ms. De Orbeta joined the Up 2 Us Foundation in October 2021. She helps with Spanish translation and plays a key role in communicating with the organization’s Spanish speaking clients. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a French Minor from American University. A native Puerto Rican, Paola graduated from The Baldwin School of Puerto Rico, where she established a community organization called The Girl in You with the purpose of empowering young Puerto Rican girls.

For most of his professional life, Greg worked for the National Academy of Engineering, where he raised funding for and oversaw policy studies intended to guide improvements in K-12 STEM education in the United States. He retired from NAE in 2020 and now works part-time as a consultant, providing strategic planning and proposal development advice to clients in the nonprofit sector. Prior to working at NAE, he made a living as a freelance writer and editor in the sciences, technology, and health. Greg enjoys cycling, cooking and eating good food, and trying to make a positive difference in the world. He has an undergraduate degree in biology from Swarthmore College and a graduate degree in journalism from American University.