BIOS
KISHA PETTTICOLAS, Esq.,
C0-FOUNDER
Kisha Petticolas is an Assistant Public Defender in Talbot County, Maryland, where she focuses most of her attention in the area of juvenile justice. Before joining The Office of the Public Defender, she was the first African-American member of the Talbot County State’s Attorneys Office, were she served for three and a half years.
Kisha graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2006 and was admitted to the Maryland bar in December of the same year. She is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association and was selected as a Fellow of the 2011-2012 Maryland State Bar Leadership Academy.
When not practicing law, she is heavily involved in community service. She co-founded the Eastern Shore Network for Change (ESNC), served on the board of the Pine Street Committee, and is an active member of the Dorchester County NAACP. She is also the owner of Covered in Love Quilts, which makes blankets and quilts.
Kisha graduated from Old Dominion University in 1996 with a degree in English. She spent six years on the campaign trail with candidates like Sen. Bill Bradley for President and Mark Warner for Governor of Virginia. Prior to attending law school, she spent a year working at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) as Special Assistant to the President and Director-Counsel, Elaine R. Jones.
DION D. BANKS, LMD-2012,
CO-FOUNDER
The eldest of two children, Banks was born in Cambridge, Maryland to the late Leroy Darnell Banks and Rose Banks. He was educated in the Dorchester County school system and graduated from Cambridge South Dorchester High School in Cambridge, Maryland. Dion completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Kentucky and ascertained a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management while serving in the United States Army from 1990 – 1994.
While in service to his country, Banks was deployed to combat from Friedberg, Germany to serve in Operation Desert Storm. During his career in the military, Dion D. Banks earned The Army Achievement Medal, The Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal – Saudi Arabia and the Kuwait Liberation Medal – Kuwait.
After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Banks spent several years in Chicago, IL gaining exposure to international business, working as an Operations Manager for Seaton Corporation, which is a global, publicly traded company that focuses on meeting the staffing needs of the world.
In 2002, Banks returned back to the Eastern Shore of Maryland to be closer to his father, whose health was slowly declining, as his priority became supporting his family. Upon his return, Banks solidified employment with Cambridge International, the world's largest metal belts manufacturer. Since then, Dion has been with this company over 15 years and has held a vast array of management positions, which have afforded him the opportunity to travel the world.
Additionally, since his return to Cambridge, Banks has played a very active role in community engagement and leadership. From housing and educational initiatives to matters regarding social issues and sustainability, Dion D. Banks continues to press forward in an effort to have a seat at the table, ensuring the entire city is represented.
Dion is a lifetime member of the Dorchester County NAACP, served on the Pine Street Steering Committee, 2012 graduate of Leadership Maryland, host of White House Roundtable on Renewable Energy for U.S. Department of Agriculture - 2012, member of the Maryland Thermal Energy Taskforce – 2013, part of Governor O’Malley’s Trade Mission to Brazil – 2013, past board member of Dorchester County YMCA, past board member of the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore, a member of the Cambridge Economic Steering Committee, 2017 incoming board member of the Upper Shore Workforce Investment Board, Diplomacy Speaker for the United States Department of State U.S. Speaker Program for International Information Programs, and co-founder of Eastern Shore Network for Change (ESNC). Because of their national acclaimed event, Reflections on Pine, 4 full days of events that commemorated the Civil Rights Movement in Cambridge, MD, The United States Embassy afforded them the opportunity to be ambassadors for change in Ethiopia for 10 days in February 2018. In April of 2022, Dion was appointed to serve as a member of the Commission on African American History and Culture for the state of Maryland by Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.
