MARVIN FOSTER

Most people know Marvin Foster as “Coach,” and it's easy to see why.

Foster arrived in Talbot County from Belle Glade, Florida, as a teenager in the mid-1990s. The mentors and opportunities he found here helped him become the first in his family to go to college.

Marvin is running for one of the 5 at-large seats in the county. A first-time candidate, he sees public service as a way to give back to the community he loves. His cybersecurity work with federal agencies, including the Pentagon, has shaped the problem-solving and leadership skills he'll bring to local government.

Many local families know him from the football field. When a youth sports nonprofit he served on dissolved almost overnight, parents worried their children would lose the season. Foster called a meeting at the fire hall, listened, and helped build what became Shore Hawks Youth Football & Cheer. A few years later he would start Delmarva American Youth Football and Cheer. Fifteen years later, he still leads it, and the program has become one of the largest youth football leagues on the Eastern Shore.

Through coaching, Foster has seen firsthand the challenges many Talbot families face: unaffordable registration fees, children without rides to practice, and one family that spent nearly a month without electricity. “You can't truly understand the needs of a community from behind a desk,” Foster says. “You have to be present. You have to listen to people, especially those who may not normally have a seat at the table.”

His campaign grew out of conversations with former players. “When former players tell me they don't come back to Talbot County after college because there's nothing here for them, that really hurts,” he says. As a father of four, he wants his children to have the chance to build their lives here.

His priorities include affordable housing and workforce rentals, strong schools, and better access to job training. He is also clear about the county's limits: local government has little control over grocery or electric bills, but it can better connect residents with food, utility, rental, and transportation assistance through nonprofits, churches, and schools.

Asked what success would look like after four years, he points to his neighbors: “We were heard, we were included, and we can actually see and feel the difference.”