2025 Board of Directors Candidates

Candidates OLLI Mason Board of Directors 2025

Tim Harwarth

I earned a BA from the University of Minnesota in Political Science. I also served in the U.S. Army Reserve while I was in college in Minnesota. I moved to the Washington area and earned an MA degree at George Washington University in National Defense Policy. While working on my master’s degree, I also worked full time on Capitol Hill for a Senator from my home state of Minnesota. After I received my MA, I worked for a contractor supporting the Air Force and Office of the Secretary of Defense primarily in congressional affairs and staff roles.

My Federal Government and Intelligence Community career began at the Defense Intelligence Agency where I was staff officer for six years. I served a short rotational assignment at the Pentagon in the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence office. I then transferred to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) where I worked for the functional management and the intelligence production directorates for three years. Next, I accepted a position at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) where I was the action officer for producing the Intelligence Community’s justification books for submission to Congress. After working at ODNI for two years, I transferred back to NGA serving in Chief of Staff and Career Service Manager roles. I retired from NGA in March 2023 after 27 years of federal service.

I joined OLLI after I retired in March 2023. I greatly enjoyed the classes at OLLI, especially the history classes, as history has always been an interest of mine. Another interest is board gaming. I have been playing various types of board games most of my life. To pass on some of my knowledge, I taught an OLLI class Introduction to Modern Board Gaming. I followed up the class by creating the Board Gaming Club at OLLI. We get together in person every other week and meet virtually the other weeks. I enjoy teaching my fellow OLLI club members some of the games in my personal collection. I believe that I have been successful in passing my love of board games to other members of the club. I believe that I will bring new perspectives and ideas to the OLLI Board of Directors. I am a people person and a great communicator. I hope to use these abilities to continue to make OLLI a great place to be.

 

John McAndrew

I earned a BA from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) in 1988, with a major in philosophy.

Upon graduation, I took a sales job for a small Apple store in Westminster, Md., where I learned my true passion, technology. I moved to Alexandria, Va., working for a beltway bandit that exposed me to a wide variety of technology. I then worked for a small manufacturer streamlining their order entry system. Then I worked for my first of two associations, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), running its computer department (CIO) for 15 years. It was a blast thanks to an entrepreneurial CEO, the advent of the World Wide Web, and an explosion of technology tools and processes to improve efficiency. I left AIAA for the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) as their VP & Chief Technology Officer for the next seven years. I used what I learned at AIAA to modernize ACC. I then tried my own consulting gig, then a stint as a COO, neither of which was enjoyable. Then I ran back to association technology, working for a startup, Impexium. We made software for the association vertical market. For five years, I primarily worked with clients from soon after they bought our software to well after they implemented it, doing everything, e.g., web development, consulting, data conversion, process improvement. It was so much fun. I spent my last two years at Impexium running the product team which designed the software, and that was even more fun. I retired from Impexium in 2022.

I have volunteered for many things but the closest to OLLI’s board experience were the four terms (one as president) on my homeowners association in Springfield, Va., and at ACC, where I attended board meetings for seven years, at least two times annually for my employer.

I have been an OLLI member since the fall of 2023 after it was recommended to me by a neighbor. I bring to OLLI a good attitude and an eagerness to improve things the right way, with planning, communication, and quality execution.

 

Ann McNeish
Has been a member of Olli since fall of 2019, I witnessed the change brought about by Covid, as Olli adapted to meet those challenges.  Last year I was excited to work with other members on two major projects:  help redesign the Olli homepage and create marketing videos featuring Olli members, both intended to help attract new members to our Olli community.  The videos were completed last fall and are posted to the Olli website.  They can also be used in presentations to community groups as part of Olli’s on-going marketing efforts.  The new Olli homepage recently launched and a training session was held to familiarize members with the changes and ensure they could still easily find information.   These experiences were deeply rewarding, being able to use my knowledge and experience in marketing and communications to help an organization that I value so deeply.

As a native of Nashville TN, I graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Finance.  After two years with the Securities and Exchange Commission, I spent 20 years with the trade association for mutual funds, conducting industry and market research and developing and executing communications strategies related to research findings.  Communications included monthly reports, press releases and ongoing dialogue with members of the press, and conference speeches for members, consumers, regulators, members of Congress and international counterparts in the investments field.  I then spent 15 years with Bank of America, supporting executives for wealth management, investment banking, the consumer bank and the Chief Financial Officer, planning and executing communications for customers, regulators, shareholder and Board of Director presentations, and earnings reports.

After retiring, I volunteered for two years in Pinehurst NC at a free medical clinic, established to provide baseline health care for adults in the community without employer-sponsored health care but unable to qualify for Medicaid.  I worked at the front desk checking patients in for appointments, scheduling follow-ups and dispensing prescriptions.  After returning to Northern Virginia, I volunteered during Covid for BritePaths in Fairfax, helping distribute the daily allocation of grants to families needing assistance with rent or utilities

I have been a member of OLLI since 2014, a member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Program Planning Committee since 2019, and am currently serving as co-chairperson of the Humanities/Social Sciences/Current Events committee.  My vision for fine-tuning this committee is ongoing.  As the current co-chair of the newly formed OLLI Diversity Committee, I have been involved with its construction, goal setting, and objectives.  Board membership would allow me to help fine-tune the construction of this committee and support other programming from the perspectives of problem-solving, oversight, accountability, and adherence to OLLI/GMU’s strategic plan.

 

Michele Romano

Education and Work Experience: I am a retired physician and associate clinical professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health with 30 years of experience in Family Medicine in Fairfax, Virginia. I was also a registered nurse for 12 years before going to medical school and opened the first critical care unit in a civilian hospital in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1970. Very cool but you grow up fast. I attended medical school at VCU in Richmond, Va., and then established a private practice, growing to five     providers and 13 ancillary personnel. I learned leadership, management, teaching, financial skills, and people skills over those 30 years and was still able to do what I loved best…treat my amazing patients.

Volunteer Experience: I have served on the VCU Board of Directors, the VCU Health System Board, the Inova Fair Oaks Medical Executive Committee, and chaired the Department of Family Medicine. I presently serve on the board of the Medical College of Virginia Foundation (a billion-dollar Foundation that serves as the philanthropic arm for the VCU Health System). I chair their Personnel and Compensation Committee and am a member of their Strategic Planning Task Force, Communications Committee, and Executive Committee.

 

Steve Rose

I earned a BA Business/Decision Science from George Mason University and an MS in Information Management from Marymount University. In addition, I earned certifications in Project Management, and Agile software development. I am currently taking a George Mason class on non-profit organization law, governance, and ethics. My career started in computer operations with the U.S. Navy and progressed to software development in both application and operating systems. These activities led me to developing a business unit that provided consulting services to various U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies. My management experience includes managing technical consulting and software development teams (over 50 staff personnel), proposal development, staff management, Profit and Loss responsibilities and marketing solutions to both government and commercial customers. I also supported worldwide software integration and deployment projects for various customers.

At OLLI I served as the subcommittee leader in developing a pricing model for use with commercial business customers. I am a member of the finance committee and a member of the web-development group that is upgrading our current web site. I was a member of the 2024 Nominating Committee. I am currently providing OLLI support in investigating the potential for a new registration software system to meet our evolving needs.

I have been a member of OLLI since 2019 and have been a frequent attendee at OLLI Board meetings. I believe that my business experience can be a valuable addition to the OLLI Board in the areas of financial management, business development, and operational management.