Shaina A. Hernandez serves as the Senior Advisor for Policy to County Executive Calvin Ball. In this role, Hernandez oversees the day-to-day operations of the Ellicott City Safe and Sound plan, a comprehensive flood mitigation and economic sustainability plan for Historic Ellicott City, and is the county executive’s liaison to Ellicott City. Hernandez also works on issues relating to emergency management, economic development, stormwater management, and acts as the county executive’s liaison to the Jewish community. In 2019, Hernandez was instrumental in ensuring passage of new regulations for developers in and around Ellicott City to provide adequate stormwater management infrastructure.
Prior to joining the Ball Administration, Hernandez served as the Director of Local Government Affairs and Strategic Initiatives for the Greater Baltimore Committee (GBC), the region's premier business advocacy nonprofit organization. In this role, Hernandez led the GBC's local lobbying efforts and served as the project lead on several of the organization's key projects, including an initiative aimed at increasing opportunities for justice-involved individuals, a joint study with Associated Black Charities on middle-skill STEM jobs, and the State of the Region report.
Hernandez also served for four years in the administration of former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, first in the press office and then as the Special Assistant to the governor's Chief of Staff. She currently sits on the board of the South Baltimore Learning Center, Roca Baltimore, the Ellicott City Partnership, and the Creative Alliance.
Hernandez is an alumnae of the AmeriCorps*National Civilian Community Corps program where she was heavily involved in disaster recovery in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She holds a bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in Language, Writing, and Rhetoric from the University of Maryland, College Park.