About CPCA

Cleveland Park has been my home since 2005, first as a renter, then as a homeowner in a wonderful condominium building on Connecticut Avenue. I went to American University for my B.A. and M.A. and moved from AU Park to Cleveland Park when I was hired by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Unsure on which side of the county I would be teaching, I decided Cleveland Park provided easy access to wherever I landed. I continue to live in Cleveland Park for the wonderful neighbors, and easy access to DC. I have worked for MCPS as a Special Education classroom teacher working with highly impacted kindergarteners and today as an Early Interventionist visiting homes in Silver Spring and surrounding communities. I recently completed a graduate program in Social Justice Education and think about equity in our schools and community every day. 

I bring to the CPCA board years of out-of-the-box thinking, school and community leadership and a progressive vision of how Cleveland Park can embrace the changing world while still keeping its charm.

In 1993 I moved to Cleveland Park for a temporary job and have remained ever since! My first home was an apartment in the Kennedy-Warren where I found many friends, younger and older, who shared my enthusiasm for the tree-lined streets, parks, and shops. My temporary job turned permanent, and I am fortunate to continue to call Cleveland Park my home along with my family, two dogs, and our home on Lowell Street amidst many new neighbors.

During the day I am curator of musical instruments at the Library of Congress and, when not at work, I have been active in our neighborhood, whether serving on the boards of the Cleveland Park Historical Society, Cleveland & Woodley Park Village, and the Cleveland Park Club, or as founder of Girls on the Run-DC and Prince George’s County. I founded Girls on the Run in Ward 3, at my daughters’ school, with the goal of serving all girls in all Wards. I enjoy celebrating our neighborhood with programs and activities for all while at the same time finding ways to support issues that face our changing and growing community. I enjoy collaborating, thinking outside the box, and I whole-heartedly agree with the CPCA bright and cheery sign that reads: Everyone’s Welcome Here!

My husband Dave and I have lived in DC since 2013 and moved to Cleveland Park with our two young children in 2022. I am an attorney specializing in election law and currently serve as the Legal Director for a voting rights non-profit. We love everything about this neighborhood – the tree lined streets, beautiful old homes, walkable streets, proximity to downtown, access to nature and friendly neighbors. Our children attend John Eaton Elementary and I have been very involved in the school community and serve on the Home School Association Board.

I am excited to join the CPCA board to expand my neighborhood volunteer work and to contribute to continuing to make Cleveland Park a wonderful place to live. I am especially interested in improving pedestrian safety, particularly along the 34th street corridor, supporting DCPS and expanding opportunities for families in our neighborhood to connect. 

This position has a term that ends in 2026. This vote is to elect a new officer to complete a vacated term.

I have lived on lower Macomb Street since 2012. Originally from New York City, our family moved permanently to Washington in 2007 from New York via Paris. We did a great deal of research before choosing to live in Cleveland Park, prioritizing a strong, walkable community where we would know our neighbors. I have a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Teaching from Columbia Teachers College. In New York, I worked for over 15 years as an elementary school teacher and then as an admissions director. My special interests are schools and education; public safety and native plantings. 

On the CPCA board, I have learned a great deal about both local and citywide challenges and issues. As an optimist, I believe that my neighbors and fellow Washingtonians generally operate with good intentions in their desire for a vibrant, peaceful and safe community. Good neighborly relationships are key to effective communications and problem solving. I support sensible growth in our neighborhood, and believe I am well positioned to act as a bridge between those who would preserve Cleveland Park as it is and those who envision a livelier and densely-populated neighborhood that is attractive to and more affordable for singles, young families and sustainable businesses.

I moved to Cleveland Park in 2021 with my husband Dan and our daughter Maya, born in 2020.  Our family has been shaped in many ways by the pandemic, and we feel fortunate to have joined such a vibrant and engaged community.  Together we have explored the area’s abundant green spaces, conquered playgrounds, admired front porches and gardens, cooed at dogs, cats and babies, and enjoyed getting to know our neighbors.  I am inspired by the CPCA’s storied history and motivated by its commitment to evolving along with our neighborhood and city.  I am particularly interested in working on initiatives focused on families with young children and contributing to much-loved traditions such as the annual Halloween parade.  I am also eager to support and learn from long-time residents, as my family has cherished the intergenerational friendships we have formed since moving to the neighborhood.  I look forward to working with the Board, and I am excited to learn more about our special community.

Stephen is a native of Cheverly, Maryland. He brings extensive expertise from two decades in real estate acquisition, development, and construction. Graduating with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland – College Park, he has worked in the real estate industry in the Washington Metro area for the majority of his career. He also serves on the Board of NAIOP’s DC|MD Chapter supporting the commercial real estate community. He is passionate about place-making, environmental sustainability, and the continued vibrancy of the Cleveland Park area.

My wife, Tara, and I moved to Cleveland Park in 2014 after many years abroad. I work in international development and spent the past seven years with USAID. We bought a beautiful 1940s mid-century on Rodman Street and have spent the past decade making this house and this community into our home.

Our daughters, 8 and 5, have grown up here, playing at Macomb Park, exploring the forests and trails in Reservation 630, and attending Hearst Elementary. This is the perspective that I bring to the CPCA Board: that of a father who views our neighborhood through the eyes of his two young children, and through the needs and experiences of a young family.

I love working with our Board to help CPCA evolve into an organization that both reflects and meets the needs of Cleveland Park as it is today — a community full of young families, a neighborhood that is welcoming and embraces diversity, and a community that is connected to the city around it. I believe that CPCA’s programming and advocacy should reflect the energetic, fun, and youthful nature of our neighborhood, while embracing its distinctive, historic character. Like every community, Cleveland Park continues to evolve, and CPCA must be willing to evolve with it. I support sensible growth, an economically vibrant commercial corridor, and a walkable, family-friendly neighborhood.

I moved to Washington DC after college, and made Cleveland Park my home in my first apartment on Connecticut Ave. in 1995. My husband Michael and I purchased our house on Idaho Ave in 2001, which we share with son Nate, daughter Iris, and 6 pets. We love this community and all that it offers all of us. 

While much of my focus over the years has been on my career in government and the private sector, night law school at Georgetown, and then raising my family, in recent years I’ve been able to spend more time in our neighborhood. As a native New Yorker, I appreciate how fortunate we are to enjoy access to the natural beauty of park lands and green space, and to be able to walk everywhere. The love of being outdoors drew me daily to Hearst Park first with my children, and later with my dogs where I met a lively and engaging dog crowd. Our shared concern over the lack of transparency surrounding the then-rumored Hearst Park renovation led to us joining others in 2016 to form Neighbors for Hearst Park, hoping to preserve its natural beauty and protect its Heritage Willow Trees. The journey we began together led us to learn a great deal about engaging with local officeholders and government bureaucrats, but also about trying to come up with consensus and solutions to address complex matters of shared concern. It has been enormously gratifying to work with such interesting and dedicated people who have since become close friends. 

I am a happy new gardener at the Cleveland Park Community Garden, and some years back enjoyed a plot at the Newark Street Garden. During the pandemic, I was able to take on a second, part-time position teaching four-year olds in a learning pod at the Cleveland Park Club, and last year I substitute taught at NPS. I was a court-appointed-special-advocate for a child in DC Foster Care.  I served on the Board and as co-chair of the Public Policy Committee of the Tahirih Justice Center, which serves immigrant women and girls. 

Activism in my teens led me to run Federal campaigns in college and I began my professional career in politics and policy. I ran legislative operations on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives for a decade under Democratic Leader Gephardt and worked on tax and budget policy in the Department of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration. Since then I have worked in the private and nonprofit sectors, and went back to work on Capitol Hill last fall. 

I greatly appreciate CPCA for providing a constructive forum for matters of interest to Cleveland Park. I look forward to meeting more of our great community and supporting the vital work of the CPCA. 

My wife and I moved to Cleveland Park 12 years ago, and I continue to marvel (having grown up in New York City) at being ten minutes from downtown DC by Metro while living among trees and birds, rabbits and foxes, while still having wonderful, walkable neighborhood amenities. We love it here, and I’ve always believed in supporting the things that matter to you. So, I joined the CPCA board 10 years ago and am excited to continue working on issues important to Cleveland Park and, more broadly, to promoting and strengthening our community.

My goals include (1) continuing to grow our membership and maximize ways to hear from members, so we can continue to identify and advocate from common ground for the community, (2) expanding our efforts to inform the neighborhood and promote community connection and spirit, through CPCA and joint events, and (3) engaging as needed on city-wide issues critical to our neighborhood’s wellbeing as DC confronts some extraordinary challenges.

We are in a time when we need to come together not just for our neighborhood but our city, and when coming together as neighbors to enjoy and support one another may be particularly welcome. It has been a pleasure and privilege to serve on the CPCA Board. As I run to do so again, I ask my fellow CPCA members to find the time in your busy schedules to be involved and also to encourage your neighbors who may not yet be members to join in too.