LaToya Nkongolo – Maryland State Delegate

LaToya Nkongolo is a Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 31 in Anne Arundel County. She was born on August 8, 1978, in Wilmington, Delaware, and has built a career centered on mental health advocacy, behavioral health leadership, and public service. Nkongolo assumed office in the House of Delegates on January 10, 2025, and is currently serving a term that concludes on January 13, 2027.

Throughout her career, Nkongolo has held leadership roles in behavioral health organizations, served on nonprofit boards, and contributed to health and education policy discussions at the local level. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and has received community and leadership recognitions, including the Legislative Black Caucus’ Outstanding Community Service Award in 2022 and the Distinguished Graduate for the treatment and advocacy of mental health from Leadership Anne Arundel in 2020. She is married and has two children.

Education and Political Experience

Education

LaToya Nkongolo attended Christiana High School in New Castle County, Delaware. She earned a Bachelor of Social Work from Delaware State University in 2000. She later completed a Master of Science in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College in 2003, and a second Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work in Baltimore in 2013.

Political and Professional Experience

Nkongolo has held several key roles in behavioral health and public service. She served as Family Program Supervisor at Anne Arundel Medical Center from 2007 to 2013 and as Deputy Executive Director of Nick’s Place Substance Abuse in Beltsville, Maryland, from 2013 to 2015. She worked as Program Manager for Recovery Support Services with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health from 2015 to 2017 and has been an adjunct professor in the Human Services Department at Anne Arundel Community College since 2015. In addition, she founded and continues to operate Work Life Behavioral Health and Professional Training, LLC, starting in 2016.

Leadership roles include serving as President of the Maryland Addiction and Behavioral Health Professionals Certification Board from 2015 to 2018 and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore-Washington Medical Center Foundation. She has contributed to education policy discussions as a member of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education Citizen Advisory Committee, including chairing the Social and Emotional Learning Subcommittee from 2018 to 2019.

In politics, she first ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 31B in 2022, focusing on children’s mental health and parental engagement in education, though she was not successful in that Republican primary. She later ran for the Anne Arundel County Board of Education in 2024, aligning with advocacy groups such as Moms for Liberty. In 2025, she joined the Maryland House of Delegates as a Republican representing District 31.

In the legislature, Nkongolo sits on the Judiciary Committee, where she serves on the Civil Law and Procedure Subcommittee and the Public Safety Subcommittee. She is also a member of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. Her legislative interests include juvenile justice, public safety, and health policy, including efforts to expand health insurance coverage for scalp cooling systems.