ANNAPOLIS — Joe Goetz, a former two-term Kent County Board of Education member who served six years as president, has been named the new executive director of the Maryland Association of Boards of Education.
MABE’s board of directors announced Goetz’s hiring in a news release Tuesday, April 7.
His first day on the job will be April 27.
Goetz’s broad experience in both private-sector management and school board governance, as well as his past presidency of MABE, represent an ideal combination, according to MABE President Diana Hawley, who also serves on the Board of Education of Cecil County.
“Having worked with Joe during MABE efforts for several years, I can say without a doubt his leadership style and consensus-building abilities are real strengths that will surely benefit the entire MABE team,” Hawley said in the news release. “He is known for working collaboratively with education influencers and policymakers, while helping advance effective, non-partisan local board governance solutions. These savvy abilities in a challenging climate translate into great promise for MABE’s upcoming years.”
Goetz was elected to two four-year terms on the Kent County Board of Education [2016-2024], and served as president from 2019 to 2024.
He was an active member of MABE for close to a decade, serving as president in 2023. He also chaired the organization’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, served on the budget committee and was a trustee of MABE’s Group Insurance Pool.
Goetz also has more than two decades of private-sector experience in senior leadership roles, having most recently overseen complex operations, large budgets and long-term partnerships with diverse stakeholders in the foodservice and product sales industry.
He has been active with the Kent County Chamber of Commerce as a board member and, in 2025, as president.
Goetz is a graduate of Delaware Valley University in Pennsylvania.
He and his wife, Liza, live in Chestertown. Their son and daughter, both graduates of Kent County High School, also live in Kent County.
According to the news release, Goetz intends to focus on growing MABE’s existing advocacy efforts supporting quality public education; providing practical, relevant professional learning opportunities for membership; communicating the association’s value to education stakeholders; and meeting expectations overall that members have of MABE to meet their evolving needs.
He also will be working with the MABE team on cost-effective health insurance solutions for school districts to help control high health care expenses, and intends to spend a good portion of time in school board members’ counties.
“MABE has played a central role in my public service journey, making me genuinely excited to help lead the association into its next chapter,” Goetz said in a statement. “By serving MABE member school systems as well as our team is able, we help further MABE’s collective vision of serving as a champion for excellence in public education for all Maryland students. This vision, coupled with school board members’ dedicated efforts throughout our state, truly affect so many students, their families and their communities. I’m so honored to be a part of their collective efforts.”
Goetz succeeds Milton Nagel, who announced in December 2025 that he had accepted the job as Chesapeake College’s vice president for administrative services to begin in June.
MABE launched its search for a new executive director in January, and retained Bolton Talent Search Group to assist in its search.
MABE is a leading advocate for public education in the state. All 24 Maryland boards of education are members of the organization.
Trish McGee, owner and publisher of The Evening Enterprise, is president of the Kent County Board of Education. She did not contribute to this report.
