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Marilyn Raitano Praisner’s
professional life has been dedicated to public service, initially
with the Central Intelligence Agency for nearly two decades, later
as an elected member of the Montgomery County Board of Education
for eight years, and for the last 16, as a member of the Montgomery
County Council. When first elected to the Council in 1990, she
defeated a three-term incumbent. Now in her fifth term, she is
the longest serving woman on the Council which serves the most
populous county in Maryland, home to nearly a million people.
As a county official, Marilyn is known for her national leadership on technology and telecommunications issues. She has testified before Congress and has represented local governments at many technology conferences concerning public safety communications, cable television, and telecommunications issues. She served as vice chair of the Federal Communications Commission's Local, State Government Advisory Committee. Currently, she is chair of the Executive Committee for the Department of Homeland Security's Safecom program; vice-chair of Capital Wireless Integrated Network; and chair of the National Association of Counties (NACo) Telecommunications and Technology Steering Committee. She is a member of the NACo Board of Directors and a former president of the Maryland Association of Counties.
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Marilyn served for eight years, twice as president, and held leadership positions as president of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education and the National Federation of Urban-Suburban School Districts and as chair of the Northeast Region for the National School Boards Association. Her focus on the Board of Education included efforts to reduce class size, expand counseling and provide school space for day care and health services.
Moving to the
County Council in 1990, Marilyn successfully advocated for public
facilities such as schools, gymnasiums, libraries, parks, and recreations
centers, and established County fiscal policies and economic development
initiatives. She helped launch the Montgomery County League of Women
Voter’s Children’s Advocacy Program and took the lead
on NACo’s Doll Project initiative to raise awareness and assist
communities in developing advocacy programs for children.
Proudly, Marilyn counts daughter, Karen Praisner Cheek '82
as an alumna. And together with her sister, Anita Raitano Fenton
’66, she established the Ida Raitano Fund at Douglass College
to honor their late mother who never had the opportunity to attend
college.
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Marilyn
graduated from Douglass College with a degree in journalism, and
served on the Sacred Path and Orientation Committees, as editor-in-chief
of Quair, and WSRU Douglass director. Following graduation, she
relocated to the Washington, D.C. area to work for the CIA, and
served as president of the former Douglass Alumnae Club of Washington,
D.C. While with the CIA, Marilyn served as an intelligence analyst,
branch chief, and staff member for the deputy director of intelligence
before resigning to enter political office. Her first successful
campaign for public office was in 1982, when she led the field and
was elected to the Montgomery County Board of Education, whose school
system is the 18th largest in the nation.
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