The C&O Canal Trust is pleased to announce three new leadership appointments: Michael C. Mitchell as Board Chairman, Stephen E. Chaudet as Board Vice Chairman, and Megan Kula as Vice President of Development.
Michael C. Mitchell was elected as Chairman of the Board at the recent September 12 Board Meeting, after serving on the Board for nearly three years. He began his term October 1. He currently serves as the President of Michael C. Mitchell Consulting, LLC, the firm he formed in 2011 following his retirement as Vice President, Logistics and Sustainment, in the Washington Operations office of Lockheed Martin Corporation. He had served the firm for 20 years. Prior to Lockheed Martin, he worked for Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) on the staff of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. Mitchell serves as the Chairman of the Board of Kenwood Golf and Country Club in Bethesda. He has served as an adult Scout Leader in Pack 1427 and Troop 1427 in Potomac for 20 years, and has been active in the music program and administrative positions at the Bethesda United Methodist Church since 1990. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from The American University, and a Bachelor’s degree in history from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Mitchell replaces M.J. Veverka as Chair of the Board. Veverka’s two-year term as Chair ended September 30, and she stepped down to join the Trust’s Advisory Board.
Stephen E. Chaudet was elected Vice Chair of the Board at the recent September 12 Board Meeting and began his term on October 1. Chaudet has worked for the Lockheed Martin Corporation since 1968 in a number of key divisional and corporate positions in Communications and Public Affairs. In 1995, he was named corporate Vice President for State and Local Government Affairs and PAC. He now serves Lockheed Martin as a consultant. Chaudet has served on a number of community boards, including the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Boys and Girls Clubs, the Metropolitan USO Board, the Bryce Harlow Foundation Board of Visitors, and the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Chaudet replaces Mitchell as the Vice Chair on the Board of Directors.
Megan Kula joined the staff of the C&O Canal Trust in August 2014 as the Vice President of Development. She brings a proven track record of fundraising success with a variety of local non-profit organizations. Most recently, Kula served as the Director of the Development for Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County, MD, where she was responsible for developing and implementing strategies to diversify revenue through the organization’s first formal development program. She has a breadth of experience with fundraising for higher education, having served for five years as a Gift Officer for McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, and as the Assistant Director of the Annual Fund for three years at Hood College in Frederick. Kula also served as the Director of Development for Heartly House in Frederick, MD, which provides comprehensive services for survivors of domestic violence and child abuse. She currently serves as the President of the Board of the Western Maryland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, a position she also held from 2009-2011. She is also a Scholarship Committee Member for the Community Foundation of Frederick County, and a Class of 2001 Fund Agent for her alma mater, Hood College. Kula replaces Julie Siler, who resigned for family reasons.
The C&O Canal Trust is the official non-profit partner of the C&O Canal National Historical Park, and a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information about the Trust visit www.canaltrust.org.
