Marla Bilonick was named Latino Economic Development Center’s Executive Director in 2014. As Executive Director, she leads LEDC’s regional efforts to drive the economic and social advancement of low- to moderate-income Latinos and other D.C. and Baltimore area residents by equipping them with the skills and tools to achieve financial independence. Prior, she worked for Seedco with businesses in Lower Manhattan affected by the 2001 attacks of 9/11 so that they could be retained and grow. As director of the Upper Manhattan Business Solutions Center, her team worked with entrepreneurs in Harlem to launch and expand businesses. With DAI, she worked on microfinance projects in Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and her native Panama. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received her MA from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies-SAIS.