Mr. John Blake has been a Howard County resident for over 40 years. Before retiring in 2020, he had technical and leadership positions in the military and defense communities. He continues volunteering his time in service of the community. While his two children were young, he tutored math in the Howard County School System. Later, he taught ESL to adults who were deaf. From 2012-2017, he represented the deaf & hard of hearing community on the Howard County Commission on Disability Issues. At the invitation of the organization’s President, he was a member of the Board of Directors for Adaptive Living Inc. (ALI) from 2017-2018. Mr. Blake returned to ALI in July 2021 and was elected President in September of that year. He currently splits his time between his duties with ALI and his role as one of the founders of a cybersecurity startup. John and his wife Kay live within walking distance of ALI’s three houses in Columbia.