2025-2026

President / Oana Brooks

Oana A. Brooks is a passionate public servant, an experienced trial lawyer, and an Association of Title IX Administrators’ certified Civil Rights Investigator.  She is the founder of BrooksLaw LLC, a boutique law firm with primary focus areas in higher education, employment law, and criminal defense. Oana focuses on defending students in Title IX and campus discipline cases, represents employees, and defends individuals involved in complex criminal matters.

Before opening BrooksLaw in 2018, Oana worked for the Johns Hopkins University’s (JHU) Office of Institutional Equity as an attorney investigator. In that role, she investigated claims of discrimination and sexual misconduct involving students, staff, and faculty on JHU campuses, domestic and abroad, as well as parts of the hospital.  Prior to joining JHU, Oana served as an Assistant State’s Attorney for the Office of the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City. She prosecuted felony violent crimes including attempted murders and sexual offenses, supervised attorneys and staff, and served as Chief of the Juvenile Division and Deputy Division Chief for District Court.

Oana is a refugee. She resettled in the United States when she was eleven years old, after her family fled communist Romania. She is a proud Baltimore City resident, a place she has called home for more than 20 years. Oana is a graduate of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and the University of Maryland at College Park. She is passionate about public service and voluntarism, and proudly served as the 2016-2017 President of the Junior League of Baltimore. She is a current member of the Northeasterners, Inc., where she served as the 2022-2024 National Corresponding Secretary and National Recording Secretary; a current member of the Serjeants’ Inn, a law club formed in 1961; and an inaugural member of The Riveters Law Club, a law club dedicated to the advancement of women in the legal profession.  From 2016 to 2018, Oana was the Advisory Chair for the Women of the World Festival (WOW). She previously also served as a member of the Ethics Panel for the Baltimore City School Board.

Oana was honored as a Maryland Super Lawyer, in 2024, 2023 and 2022.  She has been honored by the Maryland Daily Record as a 2022 Leader in Law, and was also selected as a recipient of the Leadership in Law award in 2019; the Top 100 Women award in 2018 and 2016; and the Leading Women award in 2014.  In 2016, Oana was honored by the United Way of Central Maryland, as a Philanthropic 5 Award recipient, and in 2014, she received the Junior League of Baltimore’s 2014 Mary Goodwillie Award.  Her firm, BrooksLaw LLC was voted “Best Employment Law Firm” and “Best Criminal Defense Law Firm” in the 2024 Maryland Daily Record Reader Rankings.

Secretary / Alicia Bello

Alicia is an antitrust attorney and currently manages antitrust policy at a technology company. She previously worked as an antitrust associate at an international law firm where her practice focused on antitrust litigation, internal investigations, and merger review.

Outside of law, Alicia has also worked with several non-profit organizations specializing in international development programs. She began her career at an NGO where she supported agricultural development programs in Central Europe and Eastern Africa. Alicia subsequently joined the National Democratic Institute where she was promoted into a newly-created role to manage grants for governance programs and serve as a liaison to the Central and West Africa team.

Alicia earned her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Spelman College, a MPP from Harvard Kennedy School, and a JD from Harvard Law School. Alicia was a Harvard Public Service Fellow, an Open Society for Rights and Governance Fellow, and was awarded the Susan C. Eaton Memorial Prize for her thesis on barriers for African women lawyers who seek to enter the judiciary.

Alicia joined the Junior League in 2021 and previously served as Communications Chair. Alicia is also a member of the For-Win-Ash Garden Club, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and a life member of the National Alumnae Association of Spelman College where she serves as President-Elect for the Baltimore chapter. In her free time, Alicia enjoys baking, gardening, travel, and interior design.

Treasurer / Aften Beeler

Aften Beeler studied psychology and English at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Following graduation, she served as an English Education Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of Moldova. This experience fostered her commitment to a service-oriented career and the decision to pursue a master’s degree in macro social work at the University of Maryland.

Aften is currently a Proposal Manager at Abt Global, a mission-driven research and consulting firm dedicated to improving people’s quality of life and economic well-being worldwide. In this role, she leads opportunity teams in developing compliant, compelling, competitive, and winning proposals for international donors. Before joining Abt Global, Aften served in business development, award management, and technical roles at Catholic Relief Services and the National Democratic Institute.

Given the international focus of her work, Aften joined the Junior League of Baltimore to connect with and serve her Baltimore community. She joined the League in 2023.

Community Impact Vice President / Lauren Johnson

Lauren J. Johnson is an accomplished woman in STEM, a public servant, and a proud native Kansan. She pursued her studies in biology at the University of Kansas, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. She then obtained a master’s in biology from Wichita State University, followed by a PhD in microbiology from The Ohio State University. During her doctoral studies, Lauren focused on transplacental Listeria monocytogenes infections and the resulting innate immune response. At OSU, she also served as President of the Microbial Infection and Immunity Graduate Student Society (MIIGS) for two years.

In 2021, Lauren moved to Baltimore after accepting a postdoctoral antimicrobial resistance fellowship from CDC/APHL at the Maryland Department of Health Laboratories. She currently works as an in vitro diagnostics scientific reviewer and subject matter expert at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Lauren joined the Junior League of Baltimore in 2023 to connect with like-minded professional women and build a community in her new city. She is an active member of JLB and has previously served two terms as Chair of the Partnership, Service, and Advocacy Committee. Lauren enjoys discovering new books by her favorite authors and is a proud aunt to two nephews. She loves Baltimore and is always seeking new ways to serve her community.

Membership Vice President / Coming Soon!

Nominating Committee Chair / Christine Peterson (Past President 2021-2022)

Originally from New York, Christine joined the Junior League of Baltimore to become more involved in the community and quickly found a passion for servant leadership. A practicing attorney, in her off hours Christine uses her legal skills to support non-profits working to promote urban agriculture and equitable food access.  When not working or volunteering, Christine can be found taking advantage of City life with her family, cheering from the sidelines of a youth sports field, or nurturing her garden.