Member Appreciation Month: New Board Members

As we near the end of Member Appreciation Month, the time seems right to introduce two new board members of The Writer's Center. Our board members are some very dynamic people, and their work in support of our mission is invaluable. Staff wishes to take this moment to thank them for all the work they do for us. But we also would like to take this time to present these two new board members.

TOM BIRCH has served for more than twenty-five years as legislative counsel and lobbyist for nonprofit organizations, developing policy positions and di­recting advocacy ef­forts to influence Con­gres­sional action, primarily in cultural policy and on issues of child welfare. An attorney by training, Mr. Birch came to this work from Congress, having served as legislative counsel to members of the United States Senate and House of Representa­tives on issues of domestic policy. He is the author of articles on legisla­tive advoca­cy and topics of public policy, particularly in his areas of specializa­tion in child welfare, human services, and cultural affairs. Birch received his J.D. degree from George Washington University and his undergraduate B.A. degree in American history from Lehigh University. He was a Peace Corps volunteer for three years in Morocco and has served as a board member for a number of charitable organizations, including the Ellington Fund of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Family Stress Services of the District of Columbia, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, the DC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, the Folger Poetry Board, and the American Humane Association. He is serving a fourth term in elected public office as Georgetown’s neighborhood commissioner in Washington, D.C., where he was recipient of the Belin Award in 2006 for distinguished service to the community. In 2003, Birch received the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Contribution to Child Advocacy, and in 2006, Casey Family Programs awarded him its Leadership Award.

WILSON W. WYATT, JR., is a writer and communications specialist who leads several initiatives to develop the writing community on the Delmarva Peninsula. He is president of the Eastern Shore Writers’ Association, chairman of the Editorial Board and founder of The Delmarva Review, a new regional literary review, and coordinator of the annual Bay to Ocean Writers Conference, at Chesapeake College. He is on the Talbot County Arts Council. Originally from Louisville, KY, he started his career as a journalist for The Courier-Journal. Later he was a writer and account executive for two advertising agencies. He was elected to public office in Kentucky at 25 years old, as a State Representative. He became head of the public-private planning and development agency for Louisville, overseeing redevelopment of the city’s downtown and riverfront. He left the public position to become vice president of BATUS in London, U.K., heading communications for all the corporation’s U.S. holdings. He then became senior vice president of communications at PNC Financial Corp., in Pittsburgh, PA, where he was chairman of the PNC Bank Foundation. He became senior vice president for communications, marketing, and public affairs at the Travelers Insurance Companies, in Hartford, CT, where he received Fortune Magazine’s Gold Award for the company’s “umbrella” advertising campaign. While in Hartford, he was on the board of the Hartford Stage and the executive committee of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce. He was recruited to become CEO and executive director of the American Academy of Actuaries in Washington, D.C. Following his business career, he and his wife moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore (in 1998), where he returned to writing and photography.