Our Staff and Board

Staff

Chelsea Allinger

Executive Director

Chelsea Allinger (she/her) is GGWash's executive director. Before coming to GGWash in 2021, she spent nearly 15 years working in different capacities on land policy, urban policy, and community development. Outside of GGWash, Chelsea is a doctoral candidate in public policy and public administration at George Washington University. She served as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, DC, from 2019-2023.
Alex Baca

DC Policy Director

Alex Baca is the DC Policy Director at GGWash. Previously the engagement director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the general manager of Cuyahoga County's bikesharing system, she has also worked in journalism, bike advocacy, architecture, construction, and transportation in DC, San Francisco, and Cleveland. She has written about all of the above for CityLab, Slate, Vox, Washington City Paper, and other publications.
Kai Hall

Policy Officer

Kai Hall (he/him) is GGWash's policy officer and the DC Transportation Equity Network coordinator. He was raised in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, but now calls Columbia Heights home. Kai is interested in advancing rider dignity and joy in our transportation systems.
Kate Jentoft-Herr

Engagement Manager

Kate Jentoft-Herr is GGWash's Engagement Manager. Previously the Development Manager at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Kate is interested in exploring the relationships between land-use, racism, and the Climate Crisis and in making discussion of urban issues accessible to folks from all backgrounds. She loves DC and being able to walk to work.
Sandy Lawrence

Operations & Administration Manager

Sandy Lawrence (she/her) is GGWash’s Operations & Administration Manager. She comes to GGWash with a background in urban planning and 15+ years of nonprofit operations and administrative experience. When she’s not planning and organizing at work or in life, she’s busy exploring cities and nature and chasing her family around Capitol Hill.
Dan Reed

Regional Policy Director

Dan Reed (they/them) is Greater Greater Washington’s regional policy director, focused on housing and land use policy in Maryland and Northern Virginia. For a decade prior, Dan was a transportation planner working with communities all over North America to make their streets safer, enjoyable, and equitable. Their writing has appeared in publications including Washingtonian, CityLab, and Shelterforce, as well as Just Up The Pike, a neighborhood blog founded in 2006. Dan lives in Silver Spring with Drizzy, the goodest boy ever.
Caitlin Rogger

Deputy Executive Director

Caitlin Rogger is deputy executive director at Greater Greater Washington. Broadly interested in structural determinants of social, economic, and political outcomes in urban settings, she worked in public health prior to joining GGWash. She lives in Capitol Hill.

Interns

Beckett Neustad

Intern

Beckett Neustad is an intern this spring at Greater Greater Washington. He is a junior at School Without Walls High School in Foggy Bottom D.C. A lifelong resident of the District, he first became interested in urban planning from his experience biking to school. He is also passionate about D.C. history and public policy. For fun he likes to look at historic maps of D.C to see how the city has changed over the years and ponder how we can improve it in the future.
Gauri Girirajan

Engagement Intern

Gauri Girirajan is an Engagement Intern at GGWash. She was born and raised in the Rockville area in Montgomery County, Maryland and is a junior at the University of Maryland. She is majoring in Government & Politics with minors in Geographic Information Systems and International Development/Conflict Management. Gauri is excited to learn more about housing and transportation issues in the DMV area and contribute to GGWash's efforts!
Maya Hopkins

Engagement Intern

Maya Hopkins is an Engagement Intern at GGWash. She grew up in Gaithersburg, MD and is a senior at The University of Maryland, College Park. She is pursuing a double major in Operations Management & Business Analytics and Information Systems with a minor in Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation. Maya is proud to call the DMV metro area her home and is interested in using her degree to improve the quality of life of her DMV neighbors in any way possible.

Board of Directors

Alberto Rivera

Board Chair

Alberto Rivera, a Partner at Krooth & Altman, represents mortgage lenders in a variety of commercial real estate financing transactions involving tax-exempt bond financing, secondary financing, and low-income housing tax credits. Alberto has called the DC area home since he was four years old when he moved here from Honduras. He now lives in Sixteenth Street Heights with his wife and two kids, and they are always on the lookout for great pupusas and baleadas.
Ronit Aviva Dancis

Vice Chair

Ronit Aviva Dancis is the Employer Outreach and Proffer Manager for the Dulles Area Transportation Association. She works to increase sustainable commuting and mobility in the Dulles area, eagerly awaiting the opening of Silver Line Phase 2 stations. She previously spent three years as the Tysons Partnership's TMA Director. A Maryland native, she was President of the Action Committee for Transit 2016-2018, and continues to serve on the ACT board. She lives (sans car ownership) walking distance from the Silver Spring Metro station.
Amanda Cowley

Treasurer

Amanda Cowley is General Counsel and Senior Vice President responsible for Legal, Strategy and People at the global public health nonprofit, US Pharmacopeia. Amanda has a JD from Yale Law School, and graduated from Williams College. She is a member of the DC Bar. Amanda has lived in DC since 2004. An enthusiastic cyclist, she first met her husband during a five-month cycling tour from Khartoum, Sudan to Cape Town, South Africa. They now live in Bloomingdale with their two young children, with whom they enjoy cycling on a much more modest scale.
Tracy Hadden Loh

Secretary

Tracy Hadden Loh is Secretary of GGWash’s Board of Directors and she represents the District of Columbia on the WMATA Board of Directors. She loves cities, infrastructure, and long walks on the beach looking for shark teeth. She is a Fellow at the Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking in the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. She previously served two years representing Ward 1 on the Mount Rainier City Council in Prince George's County, MD.
Payton Chung

Payton Chung, LEED AP ND, CNUa, sees the promises and perils of planning every day as a resident of the Southwest Urban Renewal Area. He first addressed a city council about smart growth in 1996, accidentally authored Chicago’s inclusionary housing law, and blogs at west north.
Dannielle Glaros

Dannielle Glaros is the Assistant Vice President & Chief of Staff for the Division of Administration at the University of Maryland. Dannielle lives in Prince George's County with her husband and two kids. She has spent the last 20+ years advocating for affordable housing and transit-oriented communities, most recently as the County Councilmember for District 3.
Malcom Glenn

Malcom Glenn is an organizational consultant and public policy and communications specialist. He’s drawn to opportunities to use public policy to improve outcomes for people in local communities in areas like housing, transportation, education, criminal justice reform, and public health. He’s spent his career building partnerships between large corporations, nonprofits, and governments, and telling the stories of the impact of that work. A native of Denver, Malcom lives with his wife in Columbia Heights. You can learn more about him at www.malcomglenn.com.
Omari Hardy

Omari Hardy is a Director at Seven Letter, where he helps businesses, nonprofits, and national advocacy groups hone their messages and tell their stories. Before moving to D.C. and joining Seven Letter, Omari served in elected office in Florida, first as a City Commissioner in Lake Worth Beach, then as a state lawmaker, representing much of urban Palm Beach County in the Florida House of Representatives. The book Suburban Nation changed his life. He was a car guy until he first read that book. He now loves buses, trains, bikes, infill development, and densely populated cities, such as D.C.
Jayson Harpster

Jayson Harpster works in the healthcare industry to bring quality, affordable care to all. He is Director of Solution Operations at Embedded Healthcare and previously worked on staffing and hospital partnerships at Kaiser Permanente. Before working in healthcare he served as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, and separately worked on Democratic campaigns. Outside of work, he and his wife have two young daughters and live in Park View.
Pherabe Kolb

Pherabe Kolb is Founder and CEO of Reveillon Solutions LLC, a consulting firm that empowers nonprofits and other mission-driven organizations to work smarter. Previously she served in a number of strategic leadership positions at the Aspen Institute and the Smithsonian Institution. Originally from New Orleans, Pherabe has lived in Washington, DC, for more than 25 years and currently resides in Hill East in a 100+ year-old rowhouse she adores. She does not own a car and values the connections and experiences that come from walking, biking, and using public transit in a great city.
Pam Lee

Pam Lee grew up in Southern California, and has lived in DC since 2012. She works as an affordable housing developer at The NHP Foundation, and has prior experience working in mixed-income and townhome development, at EYA. She feels strongly about the right to housing, and lives in DC with her family.
Jessica Marfut

Jessica Marfut is an associate attorney at Paul Hastings LLP, where she represents debt funds, private equity funds, lending institutions, developers, and investors in a variety of commercial real estate transactions. She also has a background representing mortgage lenders on multifamily and healthcare facility loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Jessica has lived in Virginia, DC, and Maryland for over ten years. She currently lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, young daughter, and two Bernese Mountain dogs, Hudson and Otis. She enjoys long walks with the family around her neighborhood and eating Indian food on Fridays.
Elise Panko

Elise Panko is a nonprofit development and communications professional at Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH). She raises charitable funds and manages public relations for the regional developer, and believes quality affordable housing is a right. Originally from Pennsylvania, Elise and her husband live in Hill East and love walking their dog at Congressional Cemetery.
Jonathan Robinson

Jonathan Robinson, a Cincinnati, Ohio native who has called the DMV his home for the last 15+ years, lives in Rockville, MD with his wife, son, and dog. In his day job, Jonathan works in political philanthropy after spending the last decade working at the intersection of applied statistical research and progressive and Democrat electioneering and advocacy. As a part of his advocacy work in Montgomery County, Jonathan founded Affordable Maryland PAC, an organization dedicated to making Maryland a more affordable place to live, work, raise a family, and thrive by electing pro-housing politicians.
Rosie Romano

Rosie Romano is an attorney at Keller Postman. Originally from Iowa, Rosie first fell in love with DC more than a decade ago as a student at American University. She is passionate about voting, walkable cities, and bourbon. Rosie lives in Hill East with her husband, Grayson, and their rambunctious pups, Scout and Luna. She loves the bus.
Paul Ryberg

Paul Ryberg is the Director of Finance and Operations for Legal Counsel for the Elderly and has a held several positions in nonprofit finance in the DC area. Originally from Maryland, he moved to DC in 2016 and now resides in Capitol Hill. Before working in nonprofit finance and operations he worked in environmental management with a focus on the built environment. Paul is also a bike-commuter and advocate for safe cycling infrastructure.
Senthil Sankaran

As Principal of the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, Senthil is responsible for the oversight, deployment and management of Amazon’s commitment of over $2 billion in below-market capital, in the form of loans and grants, to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable homes in Amazon’s ‘hometown’ communities, including the greater Washington region. Prior to Amazon, Senthil has served in a variety of real estate development leadership roles in both the private and public sectors, including his roles as SVP of Real Estate Development & Capital Programs at the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), as Senior Director of Development at EDENS, and the Director of Real Estate Development for the Government of the District of Columbia in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development (DMPED). Senthil is a long-term Washingtonian who lives in Bloomingdale with his wife and two young daughters.
Nick Sementelli

Nick Sementelli has lived in DC since 2005 and currently resides in Edgewood. In his day job, he works as a digital strategist for progressive political campaigns and advocacy groups. Outside of the office, you can find him on the soccer field or at Nats Park. He currently serves on GGWash's Board of Directors.
Stan Wall

Stan Wall is a Partner at HR&A Advisors – a consulting firm providing services in real estate, economic development, and program design and implementation. He focuses on creating and implementing inclusive revitalization strategies for downtowns, neighborhoods, districts, cities, and regions through transit-oriented development, affordable housing, urban economic revitalization, and infrastructure.
Tommy Wells

As a two-term member of the DC Council, Tommy Wells helped spearhead and shape redevelopment of Yards Park and the Wharf as well as the renovation of public schools and libraries. Most recently, he chaired the DC Water and Sewer Authority and led the DC Department of Energy and Environment, promoting the restoration of rivers and streambeds, building energy efficiency, and Solar Power for All.