Virginia Capitol Connections, Winter 2022 7 NADARIUS CLARK Nadarius Clark is a progressive community activist, organizer, and Democratic delegateelect in the 79th district. He comes from a military family with a background in business entrepreneurship. Nadarius grew up in a strong faith community and his family attends Holy Light Church of Deliverance in Portsmouth. Born in Norfolk, he attended I.C. Norcom High School in downtown Portsmouth. He worked his first job at the age of 14 at his local 7-Eleven. After a house fire destroyed his family home in 2013, he went on to college and graduated from Virginia Union University, an HBCU in Richmond. In 2016, after a KKK march disrupted classes at VUU, Nadarius co-founded the charter chapter of Generation Now Network, an organization committed to faith based activism, advocacy, and education. As a student leader at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference in 2017, Nadarius rallied with leaders of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike and he went on to lobby in Washington D.C. for comprehensive expansion to Medicare and Medicaid. Nadarius has organized to elect Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover, with the non-profit Virginia For Our Future, and the Virginia Democratic Party to help elect Congressman Bobby Scott, Senator Tim Kaine, and President Joe Biden. AC CORDOZA A resident of Hampton, AC Cordoza is a proud air force veteran who works in the engineering department at the shipyard maintaining network security. AC’s priorities inRichmond include: making our communities safer, improving opportunities for good paying jobs, and expanding education programs for Hampton youth. TARA DURANT Tara resides in Stafford county with her husband and three children. Tara is an educator, and will be focused on education, transportation issues, jobs and the economy, and health care. She is looking forward to get to work for the people of the 28th District. KAREN GREENHALGH Karen founded and developed Heritage Woodworks Inc., a highly successful custom cabinet manufacturing facility, which has spawned several growingVirginia Beach businesses. Karen knows how to make businesses grow. She knows what it’s like to be an employer and an employee. After selling Heritage Woodworks, Karen devoted herself to community service. She chose to volunteer as a counselor for local crisis pregnancy centers, where her mother had been a volunteer. When Karen’s business acumen was discovered, she was asked to join the staff as manager. While she streamlined the business operations and improved patient care, Karen continued to serve as counselor. The most rewarding aspect of her service was found in helping women who faced an unplanned pregnancy—for most women a crisis situation—by helping them make an informed decision and offering support no matter what they ultimately decided. It was a difficult but rewarding responsibility which created lifetime bonds with clients and shaped Karen’s empathy for thousands of women inVirginia Beach. Managing the medical centers included meeting regulations like HIPAA that mandate the privacy and security of patient information. Karen recognized the growing need for addressing privacy and cybersecurity risks in healthcare and started Cyber Tygr. In her continuing education, Karen earned three certifications: Health Care Information Security Privacy Practitioner (HCISPP)–ISC2 Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC)–HCCA Certified in Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC)–HCCA Karen’s business quickly became a success and Cyber Tygr now supports leading edge organizations like Mayo Clinic and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She often travels the US sharing cybersecurity best practices at national and regional healthcare conventions on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services Cybersecurity Work Group. As a parent, Karen has experience with public, private and homeschooling. Karen was one of the first homeschoolers in Virginia with Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV). Both of her children attended universities and graduated with honors. Karen is not a politician. She has real world experience in creating jobs and solving problems. She has demonstrated a deep compassion for the most vulnerable in our community. Karen always exceeds expectations. Karen gets things done. See The New 17, continued on page 8 is the only way. Parents should have the right to choose what educational model is best for their student. Whether public, private, or homeschooled, the parents are the first line advocate for their student and should be given the means through vouchers or tax credits to choose the education model that is best for them. Mike also believes every child deserves a strong education regardless of zip code. As Delegate, he will continue to fight for our schools to get the resources they need and will prioritize legislation addressing the learning losses that our children have faced during the pandemic. He believes we should be giving every student the opportunity to reach his or her maximum potential. MICHELLE MALDONADO A long-time resident of the Manassas area, Michelle Maldonado is an entrepreneur, business leader, mother, wife, and bridge-builder who represents the people of the 50th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. With a code of strong ethics, determination and vision, Michelle has spent over two decades supporting the development and performance of leaders across industries—ranging from teachers to corporate executives to law enforcement. She has worked in difficult environments to bring people together in order to achieve solutions for the greater good, including with partners such as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection leadership and agents as well as United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian aid workers. Michelle grew up in Massachusetts, Virginia and Texas and is the product of a family of firsts and of service as the daughter of educators and with every branch of our nation’s armed forces represented. Michelle is not a career politician, yet she understands the issues impacting families around our Commonwealth. She knows how to work together to get things done. She knows what it means to support and take care of our community—especially during difficult and uncertain times.
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