We bring you a special edition of Purple Line NOW news today! We'd like you to meet our Executive Committee and see why you have the most committed, enthusiastic, and generous group of volunteers working on behalf of the Purple Line. A few facts you may not know about them:

1) The Executive Committee meets every single month, rain or shine, snow or otherwise - and have been doing so for many years! Those meetings are used to share updates of the project, set strategy for moving forward, and make sure the calendar is covered for all Purple Line related meetings and gatherings.

2) The members of the Executive Committee - each and every one of them - gives an immeasurable amount of time each month to activities outside of PLN meetings to make sure the project stays forefront in the eyes of the public, elected officials, and MTA. In fact, most of their volunteer hours are spent in committees, testifying before councils, attending project updates, and visiting elected officials, along with maintaining a social media presence, speaking to the press, giving interviews, and writing articles.

3) Each and every member of our Executive Committee gives generously to our work out of their own pockets. As most of you know, Purple Line NOW is notunderwritten by developers or any other corporate entity. We exist because folks like you and our board members give both time and financial resources to see this project become reality.

Because we are at a standstill while we await the appeals process to make its way through the Circuit Court, Purple Line NOW has been waiting to continue the Envisioning the Purple Line series - an excellent opportunity for the public to keep abreast of the project through a series of forums which also serves as an important fundraiser to keep our doors open and our work ongoing.

We reach out to you once again to help us through what we hope will be a quick resolution to the delay in the project. Take a moment to read the bios of some very dedicated volunteers below and then join them in giving generously to Purple Line NOW as you are able.

President Ralph Bennett

I moved to Montgomery County in 1946 (I was 6) and have lived here with gaps since. As a YIMBY and architect, I have been involved with affordable housing since 1980 including building and as Chair and Commissioner of the Housing Opportunities Commission. The nexus of housing and transportation in affordable living is as obvious as [read more]

Vice President Greg Sanders

I grew up along with the Purple Line, creating Lego models of the Georgetown Branch, helping to clean up the right of way, distributing literature for supportive candidates, and scripting websites. I joined the board as Secretary in 2010 after my father passed away, like too many early supporters, before he could see the project through to completion. I donate my time because I have witnessed [read more]

Treasurer Tina Slater

While I always figured transit was a good idea, I didn’t have my eyes opened until we moved to downtown Silver Spring in 2005. The first thing we did was ditch one of our two cars --- walking, biking, the bus and Metro were now viable options. Then we heard about the Purple Line and found out that [read more]

Secretary Nancy Soreng

I joined the Board of Purple Line, NOW in 2008 when Harry Sanders suggested my experience with non-profit administration and advocacy would be helpful to the cause. I'm from Portland, Oregon and I go back every year to visit family there. I have seen the transformation that [read more]

At Large Miti Figueredo

I moved to Silver Spring with my family in 2001, after having lived in Chicago where we rode the El almost every day. I took one look at the Metro map and instantly [read more]

At Large Barbara Sanders

I have been involved since its inception in the mid 80's as the Georgetown Branch project for a trolley and trail Bethesda to Silver Spring. My husband, Harry, was one of the two people that pushed the Montgomery County Council to [read more]

Executive Director Christine Scott

I have been the part-time Executive Director of Purple Line NOW since October 2009 when I was hired by the wonderful Harry Sanders, Nancy Soreng, and Wayne Phyilliaer who were looking to take some of the administrative load off volunteer leadership as the project got closer to ground-breaking. My experience as an ED for other nonprofit organizations lent itself to the administrative aspect of the job, but learning the language of transit took a bit longer! Fortunately, I had the folks above to lead the way with their knowledge and guidance as we all pushed forward.

Nearly eight years later, this group hasn't lost a beat. I'm fortunate to watch how they mesh tenacity with a reasoned approach and I can tell you, as someone who has worked with many nonprofit boards along the way, we have some of the most dedicated folks you'll come across - all determined to finally see the Purple Line realized for all of us who live, work, and play in our community.

Please, join the folks above - get involved, come to a meeting, and help us stay on track by making a donation to Purple Line NOW.