MLSC board officers elected; Governor Moore appoints new board members Terry V. Jackson and Michael Bellis

Debra A. Thomas, Esq. of Baltimore City was elected chair of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation board of directors; Allison Banks of Baltimore City was elected treasurer; and Governor Wes Moore named Terry V. Jackson of Harford County and Michael Bellis of St. Mary’s County as board members.

Thomas, owner of the Law Offices of Debra A. Thomas, P.C. in Towson, has served on the MLSC board since 2020 and also serves as a Hearing Examiner for the Baltimore City Employees’ and the Fire and Police Department Retirement Systems, a member of the Judicial Nominating Commission of Baltimore County and a member of the advisory council for NOTA at M&T Bank. Thomas has chaired the Family Law Committee of the Bar Association of Baltimore City and the Bench/Bar Committee of the Baltimore County Bar Association. She is a member of the Alliance of Black Women Attorneys and a former President of the Baltimore Chapter of Jack and Jill, Inc. Thomas received a bachelor’s degree from Goucher College and a J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Allison Banks is an information technology professional for NeoSystems, LLC, a cloud hosting provider in the Washington DC Metro area. She has decades of experience providing financial analysis, ERP Software consulting, and managed IT and security compliance support of government contractors and nonprofit organizations. Banks has served on the MLSC board since 2021 and received a bachelor’s degree in economics from The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s degree in financial management from Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Jackson is an accounting and finance professional with many years of experience helping organizations with financial analysis, reporting, auditing, and strategic planning. He serves as an accountant with the NASA, with prior federal experience at the Peace Corps and the Department of Justice. He previously served as the treasurer and CFO for the Town of Bladensburg and as assistant controller of CBS Radio, Inc. Jackson is a Certified Government Financial Manager and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in professional accounting from Strayer University.

Bellis is the executive director of the Charles Regional Medical Center Foundation, where he leads the fundraising, grant acquisition and volunteer services of a community hospital serving Charles County. He has previously held leadership roles at the College of Southern Maryland and as executive director of United Way of Charles County, where he orchestrated the merger of three separate organizations to form United Way of Southern Maryland. He serves as vice-chair and commissioner for the Housing Authority of St. Mary’s County and previously served on the Executive Committee for the Charles County Chamber of Commerce, the Charles County Local Management Board and the Charles County Homeless and Emergency Shelter Committee. Bellis holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus.