Bruce Adams, a former Montgomery County Council member, was the Director of Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s Office of Community Partnerships from 2007 until 2018, when he retired. He was also a Senior Fellow with the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland (1995-1997), an associate of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation (1982-1986), a Fellow of the Kennedy Institute of Politics at Harvard University (1979), and he served as research director in the national office of Common Cause (1977-1982). He was named  Washingtonian of the Year in 1998 by Washingtonian magazine, and in 1993 he received the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Scull Metropolitan Public Service Award. In 2020, he was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame. 

Jim Brodsky is a founding member of the Washington, DC-based law firm of Weiner Brodsky Kider PC.

He advises residential mortgage banking clients throughout the country on strategic business, regulatory compliance, and mergers and acquisitions. He is a Director of Enterprise Community Development, one of the nation’s largest affordable housing community developers and owners. He formerly chaired the board of the Montgomery Housing Partnership and the Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, and is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He is one of the co-founders of the Bernie Scholarship Awards Program. 

Catherine Leggett is a Human Capital Advisor, an employment attorney, and a Human Resources Executive. Her experience spans from strategic planning to recruitment. She is a lifetime Board member of Montgomery Hospice and the Maryland State Commission for Public Art. She is currently Chair of the Montgomery County Community Foundation, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Strathmore Music Center, Olney Theatre Center, and the Montgomery County Family Justice Center. She is also an advisor to the American Film Institute (AFI) and the Center for Adoption and Education Services (CASE). She is a former member of the Boards of Imagination Stage, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council. In 2007, Mrs. Leggett was named Democrat of the Year by the Montgomery County Democratic Committee.  She received The Bernie Scholarship Awards Program’s Community Service Award in 2016.  

Susan Messitte is a past President of the Foundation Board of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She is a community activist who has served on several Boards, including the Judicial Nominating Committee and Juvenile Justice Committee for Montgomery County. She is a past President of the Women’s Democratic Club of Montgomery County, a retired consultant for nonprofit organizations, and a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Brazil.

Rishi Nixon is a lifelong Montgomery County resident and a senior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County's Honors College. He is a former student member of the Board of Trustees of Montgomery College, where earned an associate degree in mathematics. Rishi has held various roles in public service in Montgomery County, including as a subcommittee chair for Montgomery County's federal Community Block Grant evaluation committee, Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth, and as a Youth Advisor to Montgomery County Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles. He currently serves as a member of and Secretary of the Montgomery County Board of Social Services, and — as a professional storyteller of seven years — Vice Chair-Elect of the National Storytelling Network, a national academic-professional performing arts association.

Silvio Renzi is founder and CEO of Previse Solutions, a software company in Gaithersburg, Maryland.  He has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur building and managing businesses.  Silvio is dedicated to service, holds various positions within his community and volunteers for various charities including The Bernie Scholarship Awards Program and Ride Allegheny, an organization raising over $500k per year for Operation Second Chance.  Silvio holds an MBA from Seton Hall University and a BSBA from Boston University, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

 Bernie Tetreault, for whom The Bernie Scholarship Awards Program is named, served as Executive Director of the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission for 24 years. During his tenure, the organization was transformed from a traditional Public Housing Authority to a multi-faceted housing agency, providing single family and multifamily financing, developing large and small housing developments, and providing housing management and resident services programs. He served on the Board of Directors of the National Housing Conference and was a founder and past president of the Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies. He is the founder and President of the Innovative Housing Institute and was real estate advisor to the DC Housing Authority, helping them develop mixed income communities on revitalized public housing sites. Bernie is known and respected around the country as a progressive housing innovator for affordable housing.

Sonya Hall Turner has over 30 years of legal experience and has worked both for and with in-house corporations and at a law firm.  She currently is the Vice President, Contracts with Turning Point Global Solutions, L.L.C. in Rockville, Maryland, where she manages inception to close-out of the company’s, Federal and State government, and commercial contracts, as well as reporting.  Sonya holds a B.A. from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a M.S. and MBA from University of Maryland, Global Campus, and, and a Paralegal Certificate from Philadelphia Institute for Paralegal Training.  She is a certified Interior Decorator, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., PVS-NCNW, Kingdom Fellowship AME, and a Board Member of  Vessel, Inc., Montgomery County, MD African American Advisory Group and PVAC Fund, Inc. where she serves on the Scholarship Committee.