David Harrington and Tram Nguyen Join Meyer Foundation Board

Washington, DC—The board of directors of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, a private foundation in Washington, DC, has elected two new members for initial three-year terms: David Harrington, president & CEO of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce, and Tram Nguyen, co-executive director of New Virginia Majority.

David Harrington is president and CEO of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce. In this role, he is the primary advocate, policy advisor, and spokesperson for over 500 businesses, and led the Chamber to a “Top 15” regional ranking, as determined by the Washington Business Journal. Previously, Harrington was a Maryland State Senator (representing the 47th Legislative District), Mayor of the Town of Bladensburg, MD, and member of the Prince George’s County Council. He was a faculty member at Harvard University’s Summer Institute on Reading, Writing, and Civic Education, and associate director of the University of Maryland James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership. Harrington serves on the board of directors of Dimensions Health Care, Bowie State University, and Greater Baden Hospital; chair of the boards of Anacostia River Keeper and CommonHealth ACTION; chair of the revenue generation committee of the Consumer Health Foundation; and on the national advisory council of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Howard University, and completed graduate coursework at Miami University of Ohio and Harvard University.

Tram Nguyen is the co-executive director of New Virginia Majority, a catalytic force for the progressive transformation of Virginia through mass organizing, leadership development, and strategic communications. She has long been an organizer and supporter of communities and groups of workers. As a project coordinator for Mount Sinai Medical Center, she helped fight for federal funding for a health treatment program to address the unmet physical and mental needs of rescue and recovery workers at Ground Zero following the September 11th World Trade Center attacks. As an emergency preparedness/response director for Boat People SOS, she organized more than 30,000 Vietnamese immigrants whose lives had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina. She also directed a recovery program that assisted over 3,000 families by providing cultural and language-appropriate services, and advocated for the sustainable redevelopment of immigrant communities and businesses in New Orleans, La., Biloxi, Miss., and Bayou La Batre, Ala. Nguyen graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics and Spanish at Barnard College, Columbia University, and was a 2010 Lead the Way Fellow at the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

“Meyer is excited to welcome David and Tram to the board,” says Debby Ratner Salzberg, president of Forest City Washington, Inc., director of Forest City Realty Trust, and Meyer board chair. “David’s strong relationships and expertise in business and government in Prince George’s County, and Tram’s strong relationships and expertise in community organizing and racial justice in Northern Virginia will add incredible insight to the Foundation as we continue to focus our work on systems change and further expand our reach throughout the region.”

Established in 1944 by Eugene Meyer, an owner and publisher of The Washington Post, and his wife, the author and social activist Agnes E. Meyer, the Meyer Foundation is one of the Washington area’s oldest and largest locally-focused philanthropies. In December 2015, the Foundation adopted a new strategic plan and mission statement: to pursue and invest in solutions that build an equitable Greater Washington community in which economically vulnerable people thrive.

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