The Community Foundation is excited to welcome a number of new Board and Team members to The Community Foundation family.
The Community Foundation Board of Trustees
S. Decker Anstrom, Vice Chair Arena Stage
Decker Anstrom serves on the Board of Directors of Discovery, Inc., as well as on the boards of national nonprofit groups (Island Press; Climate Central; and Planet Forward).
Anstrom, who lives in Washington, D.C., served as U.S. Ambassador and Head of the U.S. Delegation to the 2011 and 2015 World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC 12 and 15), held under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union. WRC’s, which convene every three to four years, are treaty level conferences involving more than 150 countries that consider international and regional spectrum allocation and regulatory issues that support satellite, mobile, aviation, and other wireless services.
He retired as President of Landmark Communications and Chairman of The Weather Channel Companies in late 2008, following Landmark’s sale of The Weather Channel to NBC. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Comcast Corporation from 2001-2011.
Prior to his positions at Landmark (headquartered in Norfolk, VA), Anstrom had a long career in public service and in the communications industry. During the Carter Administration, he was a senior staff member in the White House Office of Management and Budget, working on the creation of the U.S. Department of Education, and then served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. He subsequently joined and later became President of Public Strategies, a Washington-based public policy consulting firm.
In 1987 he joined the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) as Executive Vice President; he became President and CEO in 1994. During his tenure he led the cable industry’s efforts that helped result in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In 1999, Anstrom joined The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC — which included The Weather Channel cable network, weather.com, and WSI, the leading business-to-business weather provider) in Atlanta, GA as President and CEO. In 2002, he became President of Landmark Communications, a privately held, diversified media company that owned newspapers, local television stations, database centers and print and classified advertising businesses, as well as The Weather Channel Companies. In that position he also served as Chairman of TWCC.
In addition, Anstrom has served on numerous cable industry boards (including NCTA, which he chaired for two years), two nonprofit boards in the Hampton Roads area (the Chrysler Museum and public television and radio broadcaster WHRO), and on the Boards of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Institute for Educational Leadership, and the National Environmental Education Foundation.
Anstrom received a BA degree from Macalester College (St. Paul, MN) and attended the Woodrow Wilson Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University for one year.
Matthew Edwards, Partner, Ain & Bank Law
Matthew W. Edwards focuses on high-stakes matrimonial cases involving complex financial arrangements, family-owned or closely held businesses, and complex custody matters. Matt also helps clients negotiate and enforce prenuptial agreements. In addition to legal analysis, Matt routinely works with forensic accountants, valuation experts, certified financial planners, and professional therapists to provide a clear path to a quick and favorable resolution of his clients’ divorce and custody matters. Matt also advises as general and civil litigation counsel to high-net-worth clients and their businesses. When necessary, Matt is a tenacious courtroom advocate at the trial court and appellate levels.
Matt volunteers as a family law mentor for the D.C. Bar Advice & Referral Clinic, where he advises pro se litigants on family law and domestic violence matters. Over the course of his career, Matt has devoted thousands of hours to pro bono work, including on behalf of the Greater Washington Community Foundation.
Matt was recognized by Best Lawyers in 2020. He currently serves as Chair of the Litigation Community of the D.C. Bar, and as a member of the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review Committee. He is also a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.
Prior to joining Ain & Bank, Matt was a commercial litigator in the Washington, D.C. offices of Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP. While there, he focused on complex commercial and securities litigation on behalf of clients such as the General Electric Company, Facebook, Inc., and Big 4 accounting firms.
The Community Foundation would like to thank Tim Hwang and Katharine Weymouth for their service on the Board of Trustees. Tim Hwang joined the Board of Trustees in 2017. Katharine Weymouth joined the Board in 2016 and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees from 2019 to 2022. We are grateful for their tireless service and many contributions to our organization and the region.
The Community Foundation Staff
Darius Graham, Managing Director of Community Investment
Darius Graham joined the foundation in October 2023 as the Managing Director of Community Investment. In this role, he oversees the foundation’s grantmaking programs, strategic initiatives, and collaboratives. He leads the Community Investment team and serves on the foundation’s executive leadership team.
Previously as the Program Director for Baltimore at The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Darius guided the distribution of over $30 million in grants annually to nonprofits working across the areas of housing, health, workforce development, and education in Baltimore and beyond. In this role, he also developed and led strategic initiatives such as the Greenmount Life, Opportunity, and Wellness (GLOW) Initiative — an award-winning, multi-year, place-based strategy that unites residents and a network of over 30 nonprofits to ensure all residents of four central Baltimore neighborhoods can access and utilize comprehensive healthcare services, nutritious food, and enriching opportunities for youth. Other initiatives included the $25 million economic mobility initiative (Mobility LABs) in partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation and a $3.7 million initiative in Stockton, California to improve academic and civic outcomes.
Prior to that, Darius was the founding executive director of two university-wide innovation and entrepreneurship programs at Johns Hopkins University (Social Innovation Lab and FastForwardU) where he helped students, faculty, and local residents transform novel ideas and new technologies into viable ventures. Darius was the founder and executive director of DC Social Innovation Project, which supported the launch and growth of innovative community-based ventures tackling pressing social issues in Washington, DC. He began his career as an attorney in the Financial Restructuring practice group at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
Darius is a Civil Society Fellow with The Aspen Institute and ADL and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. As an adjunct professor at the University of Denver and Goucher College, Darius has taught graduate courses on social entrepreneurship, public sector innovation, and nonprofit leadership. At the Baltimore Museum of Art, he serves as vice-chair of the board of trustees and chair of the governance committee. He previously served as co-chair of the board of directors of Community Law In Action, a mayor-appointed commissioner at Serve DC, and a Social Entrepreneur-In-Residence at University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
Darius' work and insights are highlighted in two books, Becoming a Changemaker: An Actionable, Inclusive Guide to Leading Positive Change at Any Level and In the Business of Change: How Social Entrepreneurs Are Disrupting Business as Usual. He has been a speaker at SXSW, SOCAP, Mission Investors Exchange, and Startup Champions; published in The Baltimore Sun, Inside Philanthropy, and more; and received honors from Ebony magazine, Baltimore Business Journal, and was recently named a GameChanger by Baltimore magazine. Darius is the author of Being the Difference: True Stories of Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the World. He received a B.A. summa cum laude from Florida A&M University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley – School of Law.