Accokeek Foundation Staff
Meet the team behind the Accokeek Foundation's mission.
Executive Leadership
Anjela Barnes
Executive Director
Anjela (Piscataway, she/her) is the Executive Director of the Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park, dedicated to preserving the traditional lands of the Piscataway people. Joining the Foundation in 2009, she initially led marketing and development campaigns and oversaw operations before being promoted to Executive Director in 2023.
Anjela holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from the University of Maryland (2004). She co-teaches a course on Piscataway History and Culture at the University of Maryland Honors College and serves on the Mallows Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. Anjela is passionate about exploring the intersection of food systems, health, disease, and environmental change, emphasizing a community-centered approach.
Tiara Thomas
Managing Deputy Director
Tiara (she/her) is an enrolled citizen of the Piscataway Conoy Tribe. She is the current Vice Chair on the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs (MCIA). She also is the Chair of the Education Committee for MCIA. She serves as the Chair of the Parent Advisory Committee for the Charles County Title VI Indian Education Program, is a Parent Liaison for the Charles County Educational Equity Taskforce and is an Admin for Charles County Rise. She is a traditional Indigenous artist and former Fancy Shawl Dancer. When not working she enjoys spending time with family.
Jeff Frederick
Director of Park Facilities
A well-traveled and nearly lifelong resident of Prince George’s County, Jeff (he/him) values the chance to live and work on Piscataway land. Jeff has a diverse and extensive background working in carpentry, construction, design, education, and mechanics. Jeff’s formal education led to a Bachelor of Art Degree in Industrial Design.
Jeff was drawn to the Foundation for the opportunity to steward the land, work with endangered livestock, and integrate practices of Indigenous peoples into the current practices on our unique site. You will often find Jeff tinkering, shooting photos in nature or keeping reptiles.
Risharda Harley
Stewardship Director
A Prince George's County native, Risharda (she/her) believes that your food should be your medicine, and your medicine should be your food, and that the health of a person is bound to the health of the land and waters of where they live. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.S. in Natural Resources Management and enjoys helping others understand the natural world around them. Risharda enjoys movement and all types of arts and crafts, and can be found doing parkour on site, and in her free time cosplaying, bushcrafting, or rollerblading with her dogs.
Administration & Visitor Services
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Casey Harlow
Visitor Experience Manager
Casey (she/her) joined the Accokeek Foundation in 2012 as a volunteer with AmeriCorps and Volunteer Maryland. When her service year was up she couldn’t bear to leave, so she joined the team full-time in 2013. She loves anything artistic and learned how to spin wool into yarn using fiber from the farm's flock of Hog Island sheep. Casey is a Virginia Master Naturalist and when she's not marketing, you'll find her exploring the flora and fauna of Piscataway Park.
Nicole Watkins
Finance & People Culture Manager
Nicole (she/her) discovered the Accokeek Foundation during their Latte's with Lambs event and saw it as the perfect work environment after transitioning from being a gig worker in charge of her own finances to an office assistant to being a finance & people culture manager. When not on duty, she enjoys performing professionally in the DMV area, as well as crocheting, embroidering, walking her dog, and following the serotonin.
Education & Interpretation
Kate Hanfling
Library Specialist & Educator
Kate (she/her) started at the Accokeek Foundation as a volunteer. During the pandemic she created fun activities for children and families to do together at the park. Kate officially joined the team as an Educator in spring of 2022. She now plans and delivers school-age programs as well as story times for the youngest of park visitors. Thanks to her past experience as a children's librarian, she is also working to revamp the foundation's library.
Linda Zufelt
School Programs Coordinator & Educator
Linda (she/her) grew up in Gettysburg, where she saw first-hand that history doesn't exist in isolation. The only way to understand where we are today is to know where we came from. She has worked in museum education at several historic sites and museums before coming to Accokeek. When she isn't at work, she is exploring the history and nature of the DMV with her family.
Francesca Bianco
Education Program Associate
Francesca (she/her) is a graduate from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) with a degree in Global Studies. She has experience teaching, both overseas and in the U.S. She also has a passion for history and culture and is honored to be able to share that passion with others through the Accokeek Foundation as an Education Program Associate. When she is not working, she enjoys travelling and trying new foods.
Charlie Olmsted
Education Program Associate
​Charlie (he/him) graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a degree in Government and Politics. He worked as a tour guide at Historic Port Tobacco and later was a Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps member from 2023-2024. As a tour guide, he shared the lesser-known stories of Port Tobacco, especially of marginalized groups. As a C.C.C.C. member, he helped Southern Maryland RC&D with its operations and designed and planted a native plant garden at the St. Mary's County Arts Council. When not working, he enjoys running, hiking, juggling, reading, and playing the guitar.
Natural Resources & Agriculture
Anne Belton
Farm Livestock Assistant
Anne has lived most of her life in Maryland and Virginia. She loves to cook and bake for friends and family and enjoys being outdoors and hiking. After volunteering on a small dairy farm in Massachusetts in 2023, Anne returned to the DMV determined to work on a farm and learn more about livestock animals and their care. She is delighted to be working with the animals here at the Accokeek Foundation.
Javier Brown
Groundskeeper
Originally from Costa Rica, Javier (he/him) joined the grounds crew in 2019. He helps maintain the over 200 acres of parkland that the Foundation manages. Javier, his wife Molly, and their two daughters split their time between his home country and a small farmstead in Bryans Road, Maryland.
Pam Brumbley
Conservation Horticultural
Coordinator
Pam (she/her) grew up in Southern Maryland and joined the Foundation in 2022. She has spent much of her life observing and photographing plants and wildlife in our local and regional ecosystems and has a special interest in propagating plants used by Indigenous peoples for fibers, medicine, food, and dye, as well as creating habitats for such plants to thrive. Pam enjoys learning historic and traditional gardening, seed saving, and land stewardship techniques. When not on the farm she is likely canoeing, camping, hiking, watching birds, digging into family history, or learning about local fungi.
Warren Murphy IV
Maintenance Assistant
Warren (he/him) started at Accokeek foundation in the summer of 2018 as an SYEP intern. He enjoyed his time working here so much he interned two summers in a row only to finally join us again as a full-time employee in 2022 as a Maintenance Assistant, doing work he loves outdoors. Warren is a lover of the natural world and enjoys walking the trails of the park and forest bathing. Fun fact about Warren: he loves R&B music and loves to cook.
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Y Proctor
Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator
Y Proctor (they/them) is a Piscataway farmer, a dreamer, hide tanner, and land steward born and raised in their ancestral homelands in so-called "Southern Maryland." Being raised close to their roots and family in the Brandywine area made for a strong connection to Earth. It was from their grandfather from Cedarville that they drew inspiration to become an ehakihet (or land protector/ farmer.) Their current curiosities, intellectual pursuits, and passion projects are primarily dedicated to land justice, indigenous-led stewardship, traditional foodways and food sovereignty, disability and climate justice, and building & sharing skills necessary for collective survival and liberation. In their free time, you may find Y somewhere in the woods within the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Board of Trustees
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