Working Better Together in Montgomery County

Kathleen (“Leeny”) K. Oberg was appointed as Marriott’s Chief Financial Officer, effective January 1, 2016. Most recently, Ms. Oberg was the Chief Financial Officer for The Ritz-Carlton since 2013, where she contributed significantly to the brand’s performance, growth, and organizational effectiveness. Previously, Ms. Oberg served in a range of financial leadership positions with Marriott. From 2008 to 2013, she was the company’s Senior Vice President, Corporate and Development Finance, where she led a team that valued new hotel development projects and merger and acquisition opportunities, prepared the company’s long-range plans and annual budgets, and made recommendations for the company’s financial and capital allocation strategy. From 2006 to 2008, Ms. Oberg served in London as Senior Vice President, International Project Finance and Asset Management for Europe and the Middle East and Africa, and as the region’s senior finance executive. Ms. Oberg first joined Marriott as part of its Investor Relations group in 1999. Before joining Marriott, Ms. Oberg held a variety of financial leadership positions with such organizations as Sodexo (previously Sodexo Marriott Services), Sallie Mae, Goldman Sachs, and Chase Manhattan Bank. She currently serves on the Adobe Board of Directors. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Commerce, with concentrations in Finance and Management Information Systems from the University of Virginia, McIntire School of Commerce and received her Master of Business Administration from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Amanda Cowley is General Counsel and Senior Vice President Legal, Strategy and People. She is responsible for ensuring USP is prepared to meet the current and future call of its mission, strengthening the global supply of quality medicines. She oversees USP’s Global strategy, insights, planning and pricing; its Global Legal Affairs, as well as its Legal Standards function, which oversees its unique standard setting role in US law; and its Global Human Resources function. Amanda is a former Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, Inc., in Washington, DC. Her work there focused on global health systems and, ultimately, on US health system reform. She oversaw projects with corporations, foundations and governments in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Domestically, she spearheaded the development of McKinsey’s portfolio of strategic tools for understanding and responding to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In 2010, Amanda left McKinsey to help in the implementation of the ACA. Among other roles, she served as Director, State Health Insurance Marketplaces at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she built and led a new government agency, overseeing the creation, award and administration of a $4+ billion government grant program. Before joining USP, Amanda served as Chief Operating Officer, Account Management for Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund. Amanda has a JD from Yale Law School, where she served as an Editor on the Yale Law Journal. She is a Harry S Truman Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude with an Economics and Political Science double major from Williams College. She is a member of the DC Bar.

A founding principal of Stonebridge, Douglas Firstenberg directs firmwide strategic planning, oversees landmark development projects, and plays a key role in major transaction negotiations. Under his leadership, Stonebridge has developed several of the region’s most innovative and successful urban mixed-use properties, including breakthrough transit-oriented developments and public/private initiatives. Mr. Firstenberg has more than thirty-five years of real estate industry experience, leading complex development projects totaling more than 10 million square feet and $4 billion in value. Mr. Firstenberg started his career with K.S. Sweet Associates, a Philadelphia-based real estate and investment firm where he was named partner. In 1993, he co-founded Stonebridge Associates in Washington, D.C., and led the transformation of the firm into an urban infill mixed-use developer. Mr. Firstenberg graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts and currently serves in leadership roles of several industry and charitable organizations.

Robert Kronenberg is the Deputy Planning Director for Montgomery Planning and oversees the Downcounty, Mid-County and Upcounty planning teams as well as the Intake and Regulatory Coordination Division (IRC). His background is in Landscape Architecture and Planning with over 20 years of service at the Maryland National-Capital Park and Planning Commission in a number of capacities, including enforcement, development review and master plans. He has led a wide range of projects and plans that have improved the quality of life and experience in the natural and built environments, including Cabin Branch, Clarksburg Town Center, Marriott Headquarters, Park Potomac, and Downtown Silver Spring. Prior to his career at the Commission, he spent 10 years with private engineering and land planning firms as a planner, project manager and landscape architect. He has served on many committees and panels at the Commission and in the County related to transportation, building and site design, environment and enforcement, and is a graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree and license in Landscape Architecture. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Director in 2019, Mr. Kronenberg served as the Division Chief of the Downcounty team, focused on urban development and master planning in Bethesda, Chevy Chase Lake, Longbranch, Lyttonsville, Silver Spring and Westbard. Mr. Kronenberg lives in Silver Spring and is active as an adult leader in local Boy Scouts. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and Lambda Alpha International.

As the President and Chief Executive Officer of MCEDC, Ben Wu leads the economic development of Maryland’s largest jurisdiction, which comprises 25% of the state’s economy and has a GDP greater than 13 states. A Montgomery County native, Ben is an accomplished executive with over three decades of professional experience leading operations at the highest levels of our nation and state. An internationally recognized technology policy expert, Ben brings to MCEDC a dynamic portfolio of promoting economic competitiveness. He has a distinguished career focused on technology-led economic growth, as well as a proven record of driving transformative initiatives and creating partnership alliances with industry, government, and academia. Ben is focused on bolstering collaborations with state and national partners while also working with local and regional stakeholders to strengthen Montgomery County’s economy, grow jobs, and support business expansion. He is positioning MCEDC to help lead the change in the County’s economic ecosystem and competitiveness strategies. Previously, Ben played a leadership role in the significant reforms to Maryland’s economic development structure and business friendliness that delivered record growth and the state’s lowest unemployment rate in over a decade. Under Governor Larry Hogan, Ben served as the Commerce Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer. He helped forward the Governor’s economic agenda, championed the Maryland Open for Business campaign, and led the creation of the state’s Department of Commerce. He worked with the General Assembly and key stakeholders to execute a bold economic development strategic plan that focused on operational excellence through exceptional customer service, a more competitive business climate, advancement of innovation and entrepreneurship, and expansion of international trade.  Ben is a former U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy under President George W. Bush. He administered the nation’s technology and innovation strategy and exercised supervisory management over the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the nation’s oldest federal laboratory. Ben also served as the Co-Chair of the National Science and Technology Council Committee on Technology, which led interagency coordination on national priorities with federal laboratories including the National Institutes of Health and regulatory agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.  Prior to joining the executive branch, Ben worked in the U.S. Congress, serving as counsel for 13 years to Montgomery County Congresswoman Connie Morella and the Technology Subcommittee of the House Science Committee, which she chaired, overseeing the nation’s technology development and international competitiveness.  Ben has been active on the boards of multiple national and local Montgomery County organizations, including serving as a board member for the Make-a-Wish Mid-Atlantic Chapter, the Strathmore Foundation, and the Universities at Shady Grove. He is a past Trustee of Montgomery College and a graduate of Leadership Montgomery. 

Casey Anderson has served on the Montgomery County Planning Board since 2011 and was appointed Chair in 2014. He also serves as vice chair of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the bi-county agency established by state law that regulates real estate development, plans transportation infrastructure, and manages the park systems in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. While on the Planning Board he: • Conceived a market-oriented system for allocating development capacity in Downtown Bethesda to raise funds for urban parks, create incentives for construction of affordable housing and raise standards for design excellence. • Proposed the idea of redeveloping the Apex Building site to facilitate construction of the Purple Line light rail station in downtown Bethesda and provide a new below-grade tunnel connection for the Capital Crescent Trail under Wisconsin Avenue. The proposal ultimately resulted in a minor master plan that in turn led to an ambitious mixed-use project (currently in development) that will incorporate the station and trail tunnel. • Suggested measuring latent demand for bicycling accommodations to produce a heat map of the county, identifying the best places for investments in bike infrastructure. The Montgomery Planning transportation staff expanded the heat map concept into an award-winning digital Bicycle Stress Map, which identifies places where less experienced cyclists need safer routes if they are going to feel comfortable riding. • Focused the Parks Department on acquisition and programming of urban parks. This shift has resulted in the new Energized Public Spaces Plan, which aims to provide more parks and public spaces that encourage active recreation and social interaction in densely populated areas of the county. • Pushed the Parks Department to make better use of data and analytics, including a comprehensive assessment of maintenance and usage of athletic fields. • Led the agency’s efforts to help strengthen economic development and competitiveness, including cooperative efforts with County Executive Ike Leggett to help retain Marriott International in Montgomery County and with Prince George’s Planning Board Chair Elizabeth Hewlett to urge Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to advance the Purple Line project, and add new staff and training in real estate finance and economic analysis in land use and transportation planning. • Championed proposals to reduce minimum parking requirements; prioritize improvements for biking, walking and transit; and incorporate vehicle miles traveled generated by development as a central factor in setting transportation impact rates. • Helped to shape plans for a countywide bus rapid transit network as well as major land use plans for White Oak, Bethesda and White Flint. Before he was named Chair of the Planning Board, Anderson founded a jury consulting firm after working as a congressional staffer, government relations executive, newspaper reporter, and lawyer in private practice. He has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, the Committee for Montgomery, the Woodside Civic Association and the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board. Anderson holds undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. He lives in Silver Spring with his wife Mary Boyle and their two children. He enjoys mountain biking, coaching competitive high school debate, and volunteering with the Boy Scouts of America.

Land use attorney Robby Brewer skillfully guides major regional developers, institutional owners, and retailers through the critical phases of expanding, developing, buying, and selling real property in Montgomery County, Maryland and surrounding jurisdictions. Robby helps clients succeed through listening, awareness, persuasion, and foresight. An inductee into the Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame, he orchestrates the critical components of major development projects, including development applications, special exceptions, site plans, and subdivisions. He also is heavily involved in the development of Montgomery County’s area master plans and the ensuing redevelopment planning. His clients include Adventist HealthCare, Lerner Enterprises, Tower Companies, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Buchanan Partners, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, B.F. Saul Company, National Lutheran Communities & Services, and Bernstein Management Co. Robby has been an active leader in many of the area’s most prominent civic, community and cultural organizations, including Strathmore Hall Foundation, the Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce, Imagination Stage, the BCC High School Educational Foundation, and the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Since 1988, he has served frequently as Lerch Early's board chair and managing partner. He currently serves as chair of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation. Robby is an avid biker and aficionado of all the arts, including film and photography, but his greatest love is live music of all kinds. He plays drums in an adult rock band, The Uncounted.