Board of Directors

William C. Smith, Jr.

Founder and Chairman

William Smith is a native of Silver Spring, Maryland, and is the founder of Youth Achieve. William attended the College of William and Mary, where he graduated with a degree in Government. He earned his Masters Degree in Government from Johns Hopkins University and is currently pursuing his law degree at William and Mary Law School.

Following college, William enrolled in Americorps, where he worked as a community organizer for a Maryland nonprofit. William has twice been appointed by the County Executive to serve on two different county boards. In 2003, William was appointed to serve a three-year term on the Community Development Block Grant Board (CDBG). Most recently, William was appointed to the Victim Services Advisory Board (VSAB).

Alan Kennedy-Shaffer

Alan Kennedy-Shaffer is a graduate of Yale University in political science. Currently studying law at William and Mary, Kennedy-Shaffer is the author of Denial and Deception: A Study of the Bush Administration's Rhetorical Case for Invading Iraq.

His writings have also appeared in publications such as The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and the Washington Post. Kennedy-Shaffer hails from Mechanicsburg, Pa., where he serves as Minority Inspector of Elections in Upper Allen Twp.'s first ward.

Robert D. Nock

Robert Nock received a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in 2007. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Sociology and Psychology from the College of William and Mary in 2004. Robert is now working as a Strategy and Operations Consultant for Deloitte Consulting.

Craig Rice

Member of the Maryland House of Delegates since Jan. 10, 2007. Member, Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, 2007-present. Past member, Victims Services Advisory Board, Montgomery County.

Born in Washington, DC, September 27, 1972. Attended University of Illinois; University of Maryland, B.S. (computer science). Senior Sales Manager, Marriott International, 2003-06 (sales manager, 2000-03; government affairs business council, 2003-06). Regional Sales Manager, Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, 2006-. Member, Montgomery County Young Democrats; Germantown Alliance; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Past president, Germantown Democratic Club. Montgomery County Democrat of the Year. Married; two children.

Omid Safa

A native Washingtonian, Omid Safa is a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to joining Youth Achieve, Mr. Safa attended the University of Maryland, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in accounting.

Following graduation, he served as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, assisting Fortune 500 companies address some of their most contentious tax issues. Currently, Mr. Safa attends William & Mary School of Law, where he is a member of the William and Mary Law Review and serves on the Board of Directors for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Team."

Ryan Spiegel

Ryan Speigel is an attorney at Winston & Strawn in Washington, D.C., where he performs hundreds of hours of pro bono work each year. A fourth-generation Terrapin, Ryan graduated with honors from the University of Maryland, where he was named student leader of the year. He earned his law degree at Stanford, where he was co-chief of the Law & Policy Review. His fiancée Rachael is a photographer.

Rashmee R. Tadvalkar

Born in Washington, D.C., Rashmee grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Holton-Arms School in 2000 and Cornell University in 2004 with a B.A. in Economics. She worked for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as an undergraduate, and the Global Outsourcing group at Pillsbury Withrop Shaw Pittman LLP prior to law school.

While attending Catholic University's Columbus School of Law, Rashmee interned for the General Counsel of Catholic University and Commissioner Griffin of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Earning her J.D. in 2008, she is a member of the Maryland Bar. She works for the Civil Rights Center at the Department of Labor on internal employment matters.

Jeffrey D. Waldstreicher

Member of the Maryland House of Delegates since Jan. 10, 2007.

Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, December 31, 1979. Emory University, B.A. (political science, history), 2000 (phi beta kappa); Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley, J.D., 2003 (editor, California law review; member, berkeley technology law journal; California criminal law review). Admitted to California Bar; District of Columbia Bar. Attorney. Member, American Bar Association, 2003- (member, young lawyers white collar committee). Associate, Litigation Department, Steptoe & Johnson, LLP. Chair, NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland; NAACP Legal Redress Committee. Member, Sierra Club. Board of Directors, Operation Understanding DC, 2004-present.