Christopher Wolf, Chair
Chris Wolf is a fourth-generation Washingtonian who is enormously proud of his city. He is a retired law partner at Hogan Lovells US LLP and had a nearly four-decade career specializing in litigation, internet, and privacy law. MSNBC called him “a pioneer in internet law.” He is the Founder and Board Chair of the Future of Privacy Forum. Chris’s extensive DC board service includes Food & Friends, National Symphony Orchestra, Capital Jewish Museum, Young Concert Artists, WETA Radio and Television, and the Washington Chorus. From 1989 to present, Chris has been actively involved in the Anti-Defamation League, including as DC Regional Board Chair and now as a member of the National Board. He received a BA from Bowdoin College cum laude and a JD from the W&L University School of Law magna cum laude, Order of the Coif. He also attended the London School of Economic and Political Science. Following law school, Chris clerked for US District Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr. (DDC).
Adé Heyliger, Vice Chair
Adé is a Partner in Weil’s Public Company Advisory Group. He regularly advises public companies, corporate boards, and foreign private issuers on a broad range of Securities & Exchange Commission disclosure and regulatory matters, securities regulation, corporate governance, and compliance issues. His diverse practice encompasses counseling companies on corporate and securities law compliance in mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, capital markets transactions, and bankruptcy/ restructuring matters. Before joining Weil, he served in SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. Adé has a JD from Harvard Law School, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Joe Svatos, Treasurer
Joe Svatos has been active in commercial real estate development in the Washington, DC-Baltimore metropolitan area and in North Carolina for over 40 years. He has been involved with the entitlement and development of many award-winning office, life science and mixed-use projects. He has also restored several historic structures including a 1790’s cabin in Sperryville. Joe is affiliated with several professional organizations in addition to his role as Treasurer of the DC History Center. He earned a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Virginia.
Alison K. (Kim) Hoagland, Secretary
Kim is Professor Emerita at Michigan Technological University, where she taught history and historic preservation for 15 years. Previously she served as the Senior Historian at the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service. She came to Washington in 1977 for graduate school at George Washington University, where she received her MA in American Studies with a concentration in Historic Preservation. Kim has written a number of books and articles, including The Log Cabin: An American Icon (University of Virginia Press, 2018), and is currently working on a study of Washington rowhouses.
Eileen O’Connell Andary
Eileen was Chief Administrative Officer for the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID). She helped the DowntownDC BID grow from a start-up into one of the largest and most effective BIDs in the country, offering multifaceted services and employment opportunities for 100 safety, hospitality, and maintenance ambassadors annually. She also coordinated the corporate startup of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District, and was instrumental in the successful growth of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Eileen received a BA from Trinity Washington University and an MBA from George Washington University.
Harold A. Closter
Harold is Director Emeritus of Smithsonian Affiliations. From 2004 to 2017 he led the Affiliations office, overseeing efforts to establish long-term partnerships between the Smithsonian and museums, educational organizations, and cultural institutions across the United States. His long tenure at the Smithsonian included service as the Senior Management Advisor in the Office of National Programs and as Associate Director for Public Service at the National Museum of American History, where he oversaw the museum’s educational and public programs as well as the design and installation of more than 150 exhibitions.
Joseph W. Creech
Joe is Co-chair of the Commercial Real Estate Practice Group at Venable LLP. He represents real estate investment trusts, institutional lenders, commercial developers, real estate advisers, investors, and real property owners in commercial real estate transactions across major U.S. markets. Joe has led negotiations on transactions involving all major property types, including the acquisition, development, financing, leasing, and disposition of office buildings, industrial facilities, retail centers, multi-family projects, and healthcare and senior living facilities. He holds BA from Duke University and a JD from Duke University School of Law.
Linda Crichlow White
Linda Crichlow White, native Washingtonian and retired School Librarian, currently serves as president of the James Dent Walker Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. Having had the responsibility of cleaning out the homes of several elder family members and discovering photos, diaries, letters and other historical documents, Linda believes that family history is key to understanding our collective history. As Henry Louis Gates states, as we do our family trees, we add specificity to the raw data from which historians can generalize. Linda has been volunteering at the National Museum of African American History and Culture since it opened, working primarily in the Family History Center there. She is the author, with her mother, of Back There Then, a Historical and Genealogical Memoir.
Cindy DiBiasi
Cindy has built a reputation as a leading communications consultant for global organizations. As a Co-Founder of 3D Communications, she specializes in helping the best and brightest become powerful communicators, grow as leaders, and inspire and motivate audiences to action. Cindy has lived in Washington DC since 1983 when she came to the District to work as a general assignment reporter for WUSA Channel 9 to cover DC life, politics, and crime. As a resident of the Shaw neighborhood, she is active in working to protect the safety and history of her local community. Cindy serves on the Advisory Council for Strong Women, Strong World/World Vision — one of the world’s largest non-governmental agencies that works to overcome poverty and injustice across the globe. Cindy has two daughters who live in Washington, DC.
Emily Eig
Emily is the founder and president of EHT Traceries, a women-owned company incorporated in Maryland and headquartered in Washington, DC. As the head of EHT Traceries, she combines management of a 15-person firm with her work as an architectural historian and preservation consultant. Her technical knowledge is focused on late 19th– and 20th-century buildings and the integration of new buildings into historic settings, including historic sites, campuses, and districts. Through her role as the head of EHT Traceries since 1989, she has participated in numerous exceptional preservation-related projects around the country. She is considered an expert in architectural history, resource evaluation, preservation planning, federal and state Historic Preservation Certification processes, Section 106 mitigation, and the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Bryan Greene
Bryan Greene is Vice President of Policy Advocacy at the National Association of REALTORS® where he oversees all legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of the association’s 1.5 million members. Bryan joined the REALTORS® after nearly three decades of federal government service where, for ten years, he led the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Bryan is a freelance writer, who contributes regularly to Smithsonian Magazine and other publications. A 2017 article he wrote on the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival led to renewed interest in the music festival and to Bryan serving as the consulting producer on the 2021 music documentary, “Summer of Soul,” winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award. Bryan is also a guitarist and singer in the Washington, DC-based band, Suspicious Package. A native of New York City, Bryan has lived in Washington, DC since 1992. Bryan earned his degree in Government from Harvard University.
Evan Johnson
Evan is founding owner and partner of Wardman Residential at Compass, a residential real estate team based in Washington, DC. Evan and his team represent DMV clients with buying, selling, renting and investing in real estate. As team co-owner, he uses his 20+ years of real estate experience to oversee team operations, guide the strategic direction of the organization, and focus on mentoring newer team members. Wardman Residential is among the distinct list of Best of Washingtonian real estate teams year after year. Evan has served on numerous boards including education, residential communities and banking institutions.
Dania M. Jolley
Dania brings a wealth of experience as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Cultural Affairs at Events DC. In this role, Dania co-manages the Office of the President and CEO of Events DC where she builds relationships with public and private partnerships and community cultural leaders. She also ensures that Events DC delivers cultural programs and events that are impactful for the city’s residents and visitors. The office produces Passport DC and the Around the World Embassy Tour, two iconic programs that highlight Washington’s international and diplomatic communities. Previously, Dania was Chief of Staff in the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME) and served as a special assistant to the Chairman and CEO of Black Entertainment Television. Dania received a BA from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia and an MBA from Trinity University in Washington, DC. She has been an active member of the Hampton University Alumni Association and the Washington, DC Chapter of the National Black MBA Association.
Jill Landefeld
Jill is a Principal and Portfolio Manager at Brown Advisory. With more than 15 years of financial industry expertise, Jill specializes in investment management, asset allocation, and portfolio construction for a client base that includes foundations, endowments, cultural institutions, trusts, families, and private individuals. Prior to Brown Advisory, Jill was a Vice President at Stifel providing broad investment management services to a selection of institutional and private clients. Jill holds a bilingual (English/ Spanish) Masters in Business Administration from IESE Business school in Barcelona, Spain, and Bachelor of Arts with Distinction in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. She is a current Ambassador and former Board Member for an international charity that works to increase the quality and availability of education for girls in developing countries. She also serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for an international chamber of commerce that fosters trade and dialogue between the US and its neighbors.
Frank Leone
Frank is the co-founder and co-chair of the Foggy Bottom Association History Project. He writes the project’s bi-weekly Funkstown blog and co-authored chapters on Foggy Bottom and The White House neighborhoods for Washington on Foot, 6th Edition. Frank also serves on the DC Preservation League Committees on Landmarks and Historic Districts. He is an avid reader, and enjoys traveling, and has had a lifelong interest in history. Frank holds a BA from The University of Virginia (1982) and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School (1985). Frank was a litigator with Hollingsworth LLP (a Washington, DC law firm) from 1985 to 2020. He retains his D.C. Bar License and has added a DC tour guide’s license.
Toby Millman
Toby is the Regional Partner for Perseus TDC, Transwestern’s real estate development group, where he is responsible for overseeing and directing the company’s development pipeline in the Mid-Atlantic region. Toby has thirty years of experience leading development projects from small urban infill sites to large master planned communities. He has been involved with the development of over 15 million square feet of residential, office, and retail space. Prior to joining Perseus, Toby was most recently Senior Vice President of Development for Brookfield Properties and, prior to that, Senior Vice President at Vornado Realty Trust. Toby also owned and operated Agora Development, a development and homebuilding company that acquired and developed urban infill properties for small lot, single family communities. He also previously worked at award-winning Washington-area developers EYA and Abdo Development. Toby holds an undergraduate degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Gerren Price
With over 15 years of experience directing and supporting large-scale programs and initiatives in the government and non-profit sectors, Gerren brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective to our community. He currently serves as the President and CEO of the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID). Previously, he served as the BID’s Director of Public Space Operations. In this role, he directed and managed the BID’s team of 80+ ambassadors and worked to ensure that the downtown area is clean, safe, welcoming, and economically viable. Prior to joining the BID, Gerren served as Senior Associate, National Community Strategies at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. He has also held a variety of leadership roles with the District of Columbia Government including Deputy Director of the city’s workforce agency and Director of Programs for the District’s Department of Parks and Recreation.
Rohulamin Quander
Rohulamin is a native Washingtonian and retired Senior Administrative Law Judge for the District of Columbia. He is a member of the Quander Family, whose distinguished history in the Washington, DC area is traced to the 1670s. The Quander legacy includes Mount Vernon Plantation enslaved ancestors Sukey Bay, Nancy Carter Quander, and West Ford, all of whom were in service to George Washington. Rohulamin periodically serves as an advisor to Mount Vernon, most recently in the exhibit, Lives Bound Together, Slavery at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. He has written extensively on the Quander family, and is also a licensed DC tour guide. Rohulamin holds a BA from Howard University and a JD from Howard University School of Law.
Elizabeth Ratigan
Elizabeth’s professional career centered on the defense and intelligence communities, including with the Central Intelligence Agency. There she managed projects, personnel, operations, and organizations, including complex technical operations overseas. Upon retirement, she volunteered at Washington Ear, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, and the DC History Center. She has served on the boards of the Aid Association for the Blind of Washington, D.C., the Ethics Advisory Committee of Sibley Hospital, and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, whose Board she also chaired. She has been a long-time reference volunteer in the Kiplinger Research Library of the DC History Center. Previously she served as Treasurer of the DC History Center Board.
CHAIRS EMERITI
Mark G. Griffin
Kathryn Schneider Smith
Thornell K. Page
Carl C. Cole
James E. Nathanson
Julie B. Koczela
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Mary Beth Corrigan
Carolyn Crouch
Douglas E. Evelyn
Newman T. Halvorson
Judith Hubbard
Eileen Kessler
Eugene D. Kinlow
Myles V. Lynk
Nikki DeJesus Sertsu
Helena Wright