Board of Directors

William Leibovici, President

Bill served for 20 years as Division Chief and Assistant Attorney General in the Maryland Consumer Protection Division, where he supervised a staff of 50 and oversaw seven consumer-protection units before his retirement in 2007. He also represented the Office of the Maryland Attorney General on consumer protection issues in Maryland's General Assembly, U.S. Congressional hearings, federal and state courts, and in communications with the press. He is a graduate of Gettysburg College and American University's Washington College of Law. He also did legal work in Botswana from 1969 to 1972 as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Robin McKinney, Vice President 

Robin is director of the Maryland CASH Campaign, a statewide network that promotes financial stability for working families throughout Maryland. Before coming to the CASH campaign, she worked for the East Harbor Community Development Corporation, where she created and managed the Money WISE Café, a one-stop shop for asset development, ran a high-volume, free tax-preparation site, and managed direct service staff. Prior to East Harbor, Robin worked at the Annie E. Casey Foundation on their Family Economic Success portfolio.  Robin has a Bachelor’s from Elizabethtown College and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Rebecca Bowman, Treasurer 

Rebecca is Administrator of the Howard County Office of Consumer Affairs. Prior to that she spent more than 20 years in the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, most recently as Director of the Mediation Unit and Assistant Attorney General. She was also a consultant to the Egyptian government in the establishment of its first consumer protection program, assisting in the creation of a consumer call center, and mediation and enforcement programs. Rebecca has a BA from Ohio State University and a law degree from American University.

Karren Pope-Onwukwe, Secretary
Karren is a prominent elder law attorney, bar leader, and community activist. Her practice is centered around helping clients plan for aging, disability, and wealth transfer.  She is the immediate past chair of the Elder Law Section Council of the Maryland State Bar Association and a member of the State Advisory Council on Quality Care at the End of Life. She has a BA from Eastern Kentucky University; a BS degree from University of Maryland University College and a Juris Doctorate degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Louise Carwell
Louise is a senior staff attorney for Consumer Law at Legal Aid Bureau and a founding member of MCRC.  She has more than 20 years off experience speaking and training attorneys, judges, client groups, social workers and students about credit and consumer-related matters. She also teaches consumer protection and bankruptcy at the University of Baltimore School of Law, University of Maryland University College and Stevenson University. Louise was presented with the Access to Justice Award in November 2009 by the Women's Law Center in recognition of her nearly 25 years of helping vulnerable individuals in the courts. She has a BA from the University of Rochester and her law degree is from Case Western Reserve University.

Erica Evans
Erica is an expert in housing and real estate issues who has served as project coordinator for Civil Justice since 2010. She brings both a passion for advocacy and an extensive background in housing and lending issues to Civil Justice and to MCRC's board. After college, Erica worked for a local title company as a pre- and post-settlement processor. In 2000, she became a sales and settlement coordinator for a national home builder. Two years later, she went to work in the post-closing and compliance department of a mortgage lending firm, where she eventually became a loan processor. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.


Eric Friedman (ex-officio)
Eric directs the Office of Consumer Protection for Montgomery County, which focuses on consumer scams directed at minority groups, senior citizens, and vulnerable consumers. He has testified before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Maryland State Legislature, the Montgomery County Council, and the Washington D.C. Council. Eric has also appeared on national television and radio news programs, local television and radio news broadcasts, and has been quoted in national and local news magazines and newspapers. He received a BA from George Washington University and a law degree from George Mason University.

Kay Harding
Kay has worked as a staff attorney in the Housing and Consumer Law Unit of the Legal Aid Bureau in Baltimore City since August 2006. Her work for Legal Aid focuses on representing indigent individuals in housing and consumer issues including rental disputes, affirmative and defensive rent escrow actions, small claims actions, loan modifications, debt collections, foreclosure rescue scams, bankruptcy cases, and alternatives to bankruptcy. She has also trained other attorneys in the District Court's collection procedures. Kay received her B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park and her law degree from the University of Maryland School of Law.

Mary Hunter
Throughout her career, Mary has worked to increase opportunities for low- to moderate-income families through projects including protecting the rights of migrant workers through her work for Southern Migrant Legal Services to advocating for low-income tenants for New York City's Legal Aid Society. Today, Mary directs the Housing Counseling Program for the Housing Initiative Partnership/HIP Services, Inc. In that role, she has overseen the expansion of HIP's Counseling Program to Montgomery County and worked to double its certified counselors providing bilingual assistance to distressed homeowners. She founded the Hispanic Homeownership Outreach Task Force and is on the steering committee of the Capital Area Foreclosure Network. A licensed Maryland attorney, Mary holds a J.D. from Northeastern University and a B.A. from Northwestern University.

Charles Shafer
Charles is a professor of law at the University of Baltimore, where he has taught for the past 30 years, an. His courses include Consumer Protection, Business Bankruptcy, Debtor Creditor Relations, Torts, Commercial Law, Law and Social Reform. He authored the Maryland Consumer Law Manual in 2006 and has lectured on consumer finance law at Shandong University in the Peoples Republic of China. He has a BA from Marietta College and received his JD from Rutgers University and an LLM from the University of Illinois College of Law.

Mark Steinbach
Mark is a partner at the law firm O'Toole, Rothwell, Nassau & Steinbach in Washington, DC. His emphasis is on individual and consumer class action litigation involving motor vehicles, lender liability, fraud and deceptive trade practices. He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He has organized and served as moderator for Consumer Law Training Programs sponsored by the D. C. Bar for more than 20 years. Mark attended the University of Exeter in Devon, England and has a BA from Case Western Reserve University and a law degree from The Catholic University of America.

Rob Strupp
As manager of systemic investigations for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Rob's work focuses on NCRC initiatives designed to foster more inclusive communities, prevent housing discrimination, and strengthen enforcement of fair housing laws. From 2006 to 2010, he served as director of research and policy for Baltimore's Community Law Center. Rob has served on numerous real estate work groups, including several convened by the offices of Maryland's governor and attorney general. He often works as an expert witness for prosecutors and consumer attorneys in consumer rights cases and has become a resources for media and government leaders. He was featured in "American Casino," a 2009 documentary on the mortgage crisis, and has been quoted in The Wall St. Journal, The New York Times and other publications. A Washington, DC native, he is licensed to practice law in the district and in Virginia.


 Note: Organizational affiliations are shown for reference only; members serve as individuals, not as representatives of their employers.

Staff

Marceline White, Executive Director

Marceline brings more than 20 years of management, fundraising, advocacy, research, and organizing experience to her position. In addition to consumer issues, Marceline has written and advocated on international trade, gender and development, labor rights, environmental justice, and reproductive rights. She is a contributing author to Trading Women’s Health and Rights? Trade Liberalization and Reproductive Health in Developing Economies (2006) and Women and Justice (2004) and has authored numerous policy reports, journal and media articles. She has presented her work before Members of Congress, U.S.Trade Representative (USTR) staff, and US Agency for International Development (USAID) officials. Marceline's research and advocacy on fair trade has been presented to government officials in Bangladesh, Kenya, Peru, and Jamaica. Marceline developed research and led trainings for USAID Missions in Bangladesh and Peru on gender and trade issues that led to changes in the Mission's programming. Marceline has been interviewed on national radio programs and interviewed by local, national, and international media including The Washington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus, and The Utne Reader. She holds a Masters of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.