Why Vote for Lara?
As a veteran of public service, Lara is a fiscal conservative who has worked to safeguard taxpayer money and believes that government, at all levels, should be open and transparent to everyone.
Lara has worked at the county, state, and federal levels of government as an employee, volunteer, and community advocate. This provided the unique opportunity to work for and with officials on both sides of the political spectrum.
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As Chief of Staff to Senator Ron Young, Lara helped craft and coordinate legislation as well as managed staff in problem-solving constituent issues.
After completing additional training, she opened her own business, Frederick Reflexology, to provide nationally certified reflexology to the Frederick community. In addition, Lara recently stepped down as the President and CEO of the national non-profit reflexology certifying body - The American Reflexology Certification Board (ARCB).​
Leadership
Experience
Community
Community Service
Every volunteer experience has introduced Lara to another part of the Frederick County community and its amazing people, from the annual Frederick Health Fairs and In The Streets, to local Braddock Heights and school events, and more. As listed below, her life path has led to such experiences as the homeschool coordinator for the FreedomHill Fellowship’s Homeschool Umbrella, the Maryland Master Naturalist training in the Piedmont and Coastal areas, and a member of the 30th anniversary class of the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Frederick County.
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In many of the organizations, Lara often held a position of leadership, from the first woman to chair the Frederick County Board of Appeals for Zoning, to chair of the Frederick County Social Services Board, and the Vice Chair of the statewide Maryland Association of Social Service Boards. She looks forward to learning more about all the other sectors and organizations in Frederick County.
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Maryland Reflexology Association, Board of Directors
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Maryland Women’s Veterans services
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Maryland Master Naturalist, Piedmont and Coastal Regions
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Frederick Asian American Center, Board of Directors
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Women's Democratic League of Frederick County, Board of Directors
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FreedomHill Fellowship, Board of Directors
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FreedomHill Fellowship Ministries Umbrella, Homeschooling Coordinator
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Frederick County Board of Appeals for Zoning
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Maryland Association of Social Services Boards
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Frederick County Social Services Board
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Xi Loi Meditation Center, Board of Directors
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Braddock Heights Community Association, Board of Directors & member
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Women in Defense
Community Service Experience
Public Service
Lara has worked as an employee, volunteer, and community advocate for over 25 years in public service, at all levels of government - county, state, and federal. All of the jobs provided her the unique opportunity to work for and with officials on both sides of the political aisle.
She started her professional career as a Presidential Management Fellow at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), with a M.P.A. from Indiana University and a B.A. from The Ohio State University. At OMB she had the opportunity to work on such programs as community block grants, retirement, disability insurance, Defense Agency Operations and Maintenance, Defense Topline, Appropriation legislation, and Defense Outlay Rate negotiations with the Congressional Budget Office and the Department of Defense.
Lara's work on Defense programs was further utilized when she joined the professional staff of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee’s Readiness Subcommittee. Here, she managed authorizing legislation for Defense Transportation, Logistics, Operations and Maintenance, Information Technology, and Environmental programs.
For almost a decade after Lara left Congress, she was hired for my Federal policy experience by lobbying and consulting firms to guide programs through the legislative process, such as those designed to protect and assist the warfighter, save taxpayer funds, and/or improve healthcare telecommunication options. During this time, she also served on several county and state Boards, including chairing the Frederick County Board of Appeals, the Frederick County Social Services Board, and as Vice Chair of the Maryland Association of Social Service Boards. Serving on local boards provided insight into the ground-level implementation of programs that directly impact the lives of Frederick County residents, insight that you cannot get at the state and national levels.
In 2016, Lara took on the job of Chief of Staff for the Maryland State Senator for District 3 - her district at the time. During the almost 4 years of working with the Senator, she drafted legislative concepts, prepared and provided committee testimony, assembled policy briefings, and managed the day-to-day operations and staff in the Senator’s Annapolis and Frederick offices.
Leadership
Maryland legislators spend 3 months in Annapolis passing bills and the rest of the year at home helping people and talking to community leaders about what assistance is needed to improve the lives of Frederick County residents.
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Over Lara's lifetime, she has held several leadership positions, both in government and in the community:
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President & CEO, American Reflexology Certification Board
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Chief of Staff, Senator Ron Young District 3
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Leadership Frederick County, Chamber of Commerce
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President, Women's Democratic League of Frederick County
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Homeschool Coordinator, FreedomHill Fellowship Ministries Umbrella
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Chair, Frederick County Board of Appeals for Zoning
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Vice Chair, Maryland Association of Social Services Boards
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Chair, Frederick County Social Services Board
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Professional Staff, Readiness Subcommittee, U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee
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Senior Analyst, National Security Division, White House Office of Management & Budget
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Budget Analyst, Health & Income Maintenance Division, White House Office of Management & Budget
In each position, Lara's guiding principles were to improve the lives of everyday Americans, ensure we are using taxpayer money responsibly, and leave her position and/or program better off than how she found it. She has consistently proven that she is willing and able to show up day after day, work as a team player, and fight for these principles to achieve such successes as:
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Helping citizens in need:
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Fighting for state approval of a constituent on Medicaid to travel out of state for a life-saving surgery to the only surgeon that NIH, JHU, U of MD hospital physicians all agreed was the only one able to perform the delicate surgery
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Gaining the release of federally earmarked funds to pay for overtime costs to process food stamp applications during the 2007 & 2008 recession
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Securing funding for the Maryland Deaf Community Center
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Working with the city of Walkersville to reduce the costs to an elderly citizen whose water pipes leaked while his wife was dying in hospice
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Worked as part of a team on the passage of such legislation as:
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Expanding the reporting window for sexual assault victims
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Maryland free Community College
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Seizure Action Plan (Brynleigh’s Act) for Maryland’s Public Schools
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Moratorium on killing contests for the Chesapeake bay natives, the Cownose Rays
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Reserved plug-in parking spaces for electric vehicles.
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