Howard County Executive Ken Ulman is known and respected for an approach to leadership that blends innovation and common sense, with a goal of providing the most efficient and effective government services possible. He has taken Maryland’s sixth-largest jurisdiction to new heights in education, healthcare, environmental protection and economic development.
In 2006, at age 32, Ken became the youngest person ever elected County Executive in the State of Maryland. He brought energy and enthusiasm to the office, boosting public safety and other core services while managing wisely through the worst economic climate in generations. Ken launched the Healthy Howard healthcare access plan that gained national recognition for making healthcare widely available, and led the effort to bring state-of-the-art broadband fiber, the infrastructure of the future, to Maryland. Voters endorsed his vision and he was re-elected in 2010.
In 2008, Howard County became one of the first communities in the nation to offer affordable access to healthcare for uninsured residents. The not-for-profit Healthy Howard Access Plan has earned numerous awards, including the “Government Innovation Award” from the Maryland Society of Public Administration and was the winner of the “Bright Ideas” award from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At the same time, Howard has been named by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations as the healthiest county in Maryland three consecutive times.
Ken took the lessons from Healthy Howard and successfully applied for a federal grant to start Maryland’s first health cooperative authorized by the Obama healthcare act, the Evergreen cooperative, which will offer affordable care to its members.
Ken launched the Maryland Center for Entrepreneurship to make sure businesses had the resources they needed to be successful, one of several efforts to position Howard to take advantage of the resources and growth at Fort Meade, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and the U.S. Cyber Command.
Ken has won numerous awards, and was named a Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine, a Top 25 Doer, Dreamer and Driver by Government Technology Magazine and a Regional Visionary by the Greater Baltimore Committee for his leadership to bring broadband technology to Maryland. Hundreds of miles of fiber, funded by a federal grant managed by Howard County, will make Maryland one of the most wired states in the nation, connecting schools, libraries and government buildings and providing the technology infrastructure that will attract jobs.
Ken holds leadership positions in the National Association of Counties, including vice-chairman of the Health Steering Committee. Ken has also served as president of the Maryland Association of Counties and as chairman of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, taking leadership roles in transportation, healthcare and fiscal affairs throughout Central Maryland.
Ken lives in Columbia, Maryland, with his wife, Jaki, and their daughters Maddie (12) and Lily (7).