Mary L. Washington is a powerful force for enhancing the lives, spirit and opportunities for all residents of Baltimore. As president of the Abell Improvement Association, she helped improve facilities for local school children, and reduced vacancies and abandoned housing. With her neighbors, Mary Washington created a cleaner, greener and healthier environment enhancing the quality of life for everyone. As a steadfast and involved leader, she negotiated responsible redevelopment with local institutions, advocated for small business opportunities and fostered a stronger, more vibrant neighborhood association.

Mary L. Washington, Ph.D., is committed to the education of our children, and the welfare of our neighborhoods. She speaks up for public schools, and demands that they be fairly funded and well managed. Mary Washington has spoken up for her community, against increasing criminal activity in the Northeast and in support of neighborhood-based safety efforts and community policing initiatives.

Recently, Mary Washington was a Construction Captain to build "Our Playground at Stadium Place" on the old Memorial Stadium site. She now serves on the newly created "Friends of the Playground Board” that will work closely with the YMCA to ensure that the playground is well maintained, safe and welcoming to the community at large. Mary Washington continues to put her hands as well as her heart into nurturing the quality of life in the area by helping restore grounds at a Harwood Community Park and maintaining the Abell Community Open Space.

Mary Washington was born in Philadelphia in 1962, and graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls (Girls’ High.) The eldest of six children, she worked her way through college delivering pizzas, loading UPS trucks and providing direct care and counseling services to adults with mental illness and developmental disabilities who were living in the community. Later, she went on to teach kindergarten in an inner city Catholic school.

Mary Washington earned a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University in 1997 and taught sociology at Lehigh University Dr. Washington brings to public service a highly informed approach to community organizing and progressive politics. She is a forceful advocate for livable wages, and fair elections that ensure all Baltimore citizens have an opportunity to vote and that their vote counts. In her professional life, Dr. Washington chooses jobs that enable her to create and lead programs that make a difference, including making the Baltimore Housing Department more responsive and accountable to the needs of city residents as its HousingStat Director. Most recently she served as the Interim Director of the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance.

Now the principal of Whitmore Wallace Solutions, LLC, Mary Washington continues to  use her skills and passion for improving communities by providing a wide range of professional managment, research, training and consulting services to public and private organizations. 

An active member of her church and local community boards, a loving daughter in a large family, a woman with deeply committed values of honesty, integrity and public service, Dr. Mary L. Washington is a tireless advocate, who has made Northern Baltimore a healthier, stronger and a more vibrant place for everyone to call home.