Gala 2019 Host Committee

Alan was born in San Jose, CA and raised in Syracuse, NY. He graduated from SUNY Oswego in 2012 with a joint degree in Marketing and Economics. Alan works as Director of Community Relations for Fulcrum Properties Group right here on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining Fulcrum, Alan worked for a Member of Congress and then served as the Director of Operations at the Pretzel Bakery, another local small business.

Alan and his wife Hannah have lived on Capitol Hill since 2014. They had their first date at Lola’s on Barracks Row and their wedding reception at Bluejacket in Navy Yard, a Capitol Hill couple through-and-through. They now reside in the H Street Corridor and frequently attend events at the Atlas Theater. They are thrilled to be a part of such a vibrant neighborhood with so many different offerings of the arts, dining, shopping, and entertainment.

An avid fan of the Syracuse Orange, Wizards, Capitals, Tottenham Hotspur, and Yankees, Alan enjoys all things sports and plays basketball and soccer in his free time. His diet is heavily made up of pretzels

Andrew Cohn began his development and investing career upon purchasing a single-family row home in Baltimore’s Washington Village in 2012 while still an MBA student at Hofstra University.  After several other successful residential ventures, Andrew created Liberty Group Holdings in January 2015 to capitalize on the increasing demand for well-managed apartment communities in Baltimore City and surrounding areas.  Under the banner of Liberty Group Holdings (and predecessor entities), Andrew has closed on and re-positioned over $9mm of under-utilized residential and mixed-use properties in Federal Hill, Mt. Vernon, Station North and Old Goucher and has honed his investment strategy to focus on value-add multifamily properties in core Washington DC and Baltimore neighborhoods with a long term holding period. 

In November 2017 Andrew became the CEO of Lustine Realty Company in Washington DC with responsibility for re-positioning not only a 300 unit multifamily and mixed-use portfolio but the company itself.  Started by J. Gerald Lustine in 1954, Lustine Realty Company has been a property manager and joint venture partner in Washington DC for six decades. Andrew Cohn is the third generation of the Lustine family to lead the storied company on its next phase of growth.  With the addition of the Lustine Realty portfolio, Liberty Group Holdings now has $30mm AUM.  

Andrew obtained his B.S.B.A. in Entrepreneurship from Suffolk University in 2008 and completed a dual-track MBA in Finance & Real Estate at Hofstra University in 2013. Andrew Cohn has worked at several prestigious Wall Street firms including the Ackman Ziff Real Estate Group, Bancorp Bank and UBS Investment Bank.    

Andrew has been a guest lecturer for real estate and career events at Hofstra University and continues to serve as the CFO of the North Laurel Animal Hospital in Laurel, MD, a family business.  Away from business, Andrew is a board member of the Zarb Alumni Association of Hofstra University and was a national level powerlifter having achieved podium finishes at National and World Championship events.  Andrew also enjoys the beach, ice hockey and traveling the world. 

Andrew Earle Simpson is an acclaimed composer of opera, silent film, orchestral, chamber, choral, dance, and vocal music based in Washington, DC.  His musical works make multi-faceted, intimate connections with literature, visual art, and film, reflecting his interest in linking music with the wider world, an approach which he calls “humanistic music.” 

One of America’s foremost silent film accompaniments, he has performed across the United States, Europe, and South America. He is Resident Film Accompanist at the National Gallery of Art and a regularly featured accompanist at the Library of Congress’ Mt. Pony Theater in Culpeper, VA, as well as Keyboard Artist for the Cantate Chamber Singers. He has performed silent film scores at the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, Italy, Lincoln Center in New York City, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, the Sala Cecelia Meireles in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Harvard Film Archive, UCLA Film and Television Archive, and festivals such as Cinefest, Slapsticon, Orphans, and the Library of Congress’ Mostly Lost workshops.  Simpson also conceived and co-founded Atlas Performing Arts Center’s Silent Film Series, entering its fourth season in 2019-20.

Simpson’s chamber, choral, and silent film music has been recorded on the Naxos, Albany, Fleur de Son Classics, Capstone, Athena, and other labels. His silent film scores have been broadcast on the Turner Classic Movies Channel, and many of his silent film piano and chamber scores are available on DVD through Kino-Lorber, Flicker Alley, Olive Films and All Day Entertainment.

Andrew Earle Simpson is ordinary (full) professor at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.  

For more information, works lists, and recordings, visit www.andrewesimpson.com

Andrianna has lived in the DC area with her husband, Kelly, for more than 15 years.  After being born and raised in Arizona, Andrianna attended college in Texas, where she received her BA from Baylor University. Andrianna Dunbar is Operations Director at Democracy Forward, a progressive nonprofit legal organization. Previously, she spent fourteen years in attorney development at WilmerHale LLP, an American Lawyer top tier international law firm.  She serves as the Chair of the Law Student Well Being Interest Group for the National Association of Legal Placement Lawyer and is an active parent at Georgetown Day School, where her son Parker attends. Andrianna is thrilled to again serve as a steering committee member for the Destination Atlas event and is excited to see the Atlas reach more DC residents with its vibrant art and cultural experiences.  

Donna serves as Vice President of Business Development for Comcast Beltway Region — a high growth market on the East Coast encompassing Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. as well as parts of West Virginia and North Carolina. The market is ripe with abundant mixed-use and large residential and commercial opportunities. In addition, local and state governments in this footprint are technologically forward-thinking and focused on innovative technology to advance governmental purposes. 

In this role, Donna identifies and secures large-scale real estate and governmental business opportunities, leveraging Comcast’s range of products and services. Further, Donna serves as a thought leader with external industry and governmental entities to advance the discussion and consideration of innovative technology solutions. 

Prior to this role, Donna served as Vice President of Government & Community Affairs for Comcast Beltway Region. In this role, she led government, regulatory and community investment activities. Donna and her team were responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with government, business and community leaders helping to position Comcast as the nation’s leader in video, high-speed Internet and phone services. Through these relationships, the team played a vital role in supporting the growth of residential and commercial business in the Region.  Previously, Donna served as Vice President Government & Regulatory Affairs for Comcast in the Metro Washington market where she oversaw all government, regulatory affairs, and community investment initiatives. And before joining Comcast, Donna was a partner at the law firm of Cole, Raywid & Braverman, LLP, currently Davis, Wright & Tremaine, LLP] and has been involved in the communications industry for more than 15 years.

A third-generation Washingtonian, Donna maintains a strong commitment to both business and civic organizations throughout the Region. She serves on the board of directors for the District of Columbia Building Industry Association, Washington Economic Partnership, District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Strathmore Concert Hall, and the Atlas Theatre. Donna is a graduate of Brandeis University and Georgetown University Law Center. She has also received a certificate in international relations from the Universite Haute de Bretagne, Rennes, France. She resides in Washington, D.C. with her family.

In addition to being a sought-after arts administrator, Douglas Yeuell is an acclaimed artist and choreographer having performed and taught across America and internationally. Prior to joining the Atlas and since 1989, Doug served as the Executive and Artistic Director of Joy of Motion Dance Center (JOMDC). Doug’s ability to leverage Joy of Motion’s “Dance is for Everyone” mission resulted in growing the organization from a one-room studio to a financially strong performing arts organization with three locations serving tens of thousands of children and adults every year. Under Doug’s leadership, Joy of Motion reached over 500 District of Columbia school children per week with free classes at 10 partner schools and provided scholarships for studio classes to more than 70 youth students during the 2013-14 school year. Doug has been a part of the Atlas Performing Arts Center since its beginning – he was part of the redevelopment team and helped plan Joy of Motion Dance Center’s flagship studios at the Atlas. He’s is a current board member of Cultural DC, and Culture Capital, former chair of Dance MetroDC, and was awarded the 2008 Alan M. Kriegsman Award for lifetime achievement and service to the metro DC dance community. Doug is a graduate of the University of Virginia.

Eric is the CEO and co-founder of a financial advisory firm based in Rockville, Maryland where he provides financial advice and planning to individuals and small businesses.  He has been a financial advisor for over 17 years.  Prior to this, Eric practiced law for eight years, first at Ross, Dixon & Masback, LLP, in Washington, DC, and then at the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.  Eric earned a Bachelor of Arts at Amherst College and a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School. 

Eric is actively involved in his community and is passionate about the arts and sports.  In addition to serving on the Board of The Atlas, Eric also is on the Finance Committee of Leveling the Playing Field, a non-profit organization that provides sports equipment to underserved youth.

Eric lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with his wife and three children.

James has worked directly for the MRP Residential Team for 6 years on Residential and Mixed-use Development and Acquisitions. James graduated from the University of Colorado with a BS in Sociology and Economics in 2010.

After College James Traveled through South America where he climbed Aconcagua, worked in Buenos Aires while completing a 6 month Spanish immersion program, traveled the coast of Brazil, worked at a hostel while volunteering for a non-profit teaching in a small town near Cartagena, then traveling south through Ecuador, Chile, and back into Patagonia, Argentina.

Upon returning from his time in South America, James attended Georgetown’s Masters in Real Estate Finance and Development while managing the construction of Washington Gateway’s Elevation – a 400-unit project that delivered in 2015 – MRP’s first residential building to deliver in Washington D.C.  James received his Masters in Real Estate Finance and Development from Georgetown in 2014.

James is an active member of ULI and has been on the ULI Programs committee for 2 years organizing ULI’s events and programs. James is also involved with ULI mentorship, as a coordinator, he works with mentors to plan the mentor events. James also sits on the committee for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington’s “Youth in Real Estate” Annual Luncheon which raises over $500,000 annually for the BGCGW.

Born into a family of chefs, Hellrigl was raised in kitchens in Italy and the United States, including New York City, where her mother and father owned Palio, an upscale Italian restaurant in Midtown. Her father, Andreas Hellrigl, was a Michelin-starred chef who set her up in a mini chef’s coat in the pastry section of the kitchen – the safest place for small hands. When her father passed away, Hellrigl’s mother took over the restaurant. Her mother’s resilience taught Hellrigl the importance of perseverance in a tough industry, while the chefs with whom her father entrusted his recipes and techniques taught her integrity in the kitchen.      

Hellrigl was previously Head Chef of Via Umbria and Boulangerie Christophe in Georgetown. Her experience also includes a stagiaire under Chef Jordan Lloyd of the Bartlett Pear Inn. In 2017, Hellrigl founded Johanna’s Table, a unique food and boutique catering business that included XII by Johanna’s Table, a monthly pop-up dinner series held throughout Washington, DC.     

Hellrigl’s dishes draw inspiration from the women of Southeast Asia she met during her four-plus years working for a democracy-building organization that focused on empowering women from around the globe to increase their political participation.  Says Hellrigl: “By day, I trained them on women’s leadership skills or we built new legislation through women’s caucuses in parliament. By night, they introduced me to their homes, their families, their communities and exposed me to different ingredients, flavors, and spices that now play a heavy role in my dishes and the Doi Moi dining experience.”       

Inspired by her time spent abroad, Hellrigl expanded Doi Moi’s Vietnamese and Thai roots to encompass new and exciting regional flavors from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. She introduced a more worldly Southeast Asian cuisine to Doi Moi’s menu to pay tribute to the cosmopolitan diversity of DC itself. In August 2018, Hellrigl and the Doi Moi team launched Birds Eye Coffee Bar & Eatery, a daytime option open daily for food lovers passing by on 14th Street.

Nick serves as the President of NCS. He oversees corporate investments, operations, and strategic initiatives. Nick has been involved in more than 100 solar projects totaling greater than 7 megawatts in the D.C. area.

Before BOVP and NCS, he held a management position with Lighthouse Solar and strategic development position Nextility, Inc. At Lighthouse Solar he was the General Manager and CFO for the D.C. Region. While with Nextility, his team worked on an energy technology platform for clients, ranging from restaurants to large private real estate companies and multi-family housing communities, to reduce their energy costs. Nick is also a recent co-founder of a DC-centric angel group, Beltway Angels, a group that directly invests in local entrepreneurs and helps provide strategic advice.

Early in his career, Nick was a retail banker with Wachovia, now Wells Fargo. He began his career with MBNA, at the time, the largest credit card company in the world, in a management development program, gaining experience in underwriting, marketing, technology, talent management, collections, and technology.

Nick holds a B.S. in Italian and International Relations from Georgetown University. He served as the Treasurer for the Georgetown University Chimes Alumni Association (7 years). He and his wife, Meghan, live in Alexandria, VA with their two young children.

Some of Silvan’s most cherished memories were formed at his family’s dining table in Switzerland, where it was less about food and more about togetherness. But at the age of 12, he took his first cooking class, and a broader view of hospitality bloomed.

As he began working in kitchens, he was alarmed by the tension that exists between servers and chefs. Instead of accepting this as the way things are, he sought to understand this struggling relationship and make it better. He hopped on the wait staff at a nearby resort and gained the valuable perspective he needed, learning that the only way to run a successful restaurant is to foster a sense of teamwork and partnership among servers and cooks.

Though hired as Chef de Cuisine at the venerable Essex House in NYC, he got a crash course in managing the staff there as well, and after three years, landed in D.C. as Dupont Circle Hotel’s Director of Food and Beverage. Chef Kraemer’s understanding of the complexities of a well-balanced and handcrafted cocktail has consistently placed Bar Dupont on TripAdvisor’s “Top 10 Bars of Washington, D.C. “

At Stable DC, Silvan has harnessed his gift for exceptional service and staff management. “Good food alone is not going to be successful,” he says. “Ideally, when the whole team is as sharp as it should be, the front of the house operates like the kitchen.” Fortunately for Silvan, Stable’s food is just as good as its service.

Steve Strazzella oversees the day-to-day activities for the apartment and for-sale homes group. Between these two companies, The Bozzuto Group has developed more than 45,000 rental units from urban high-rise properties to affordable housing and built more than 5,600 townhomes, condominiums, and single-family homes in 56 communities through the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. 

Steve has been actively involved in the real estate industry since 1989, having managed more than $1 billion in real estate construction and development projects for some of the largest firms in the country. 

Steve is a board member of the Washington DC Building Industry Association; an active member of the Urban Land Institute, The Economic Club of Washington DC and past President of the Washington Real Estate Group. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from The Catholic University of America. A Washington, D.C. native, Steve currently resides in the District with his wife and three children.

Susan E. Huhta is a civil rights attorney who has represented employees in a wide range of employment matters, including litigation in state and federal trial courts, appellate courts and administrative agencies, for over 20 years. She is currently the Partner in Charge of the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Outten & Golden, the largest law firm in the country focused exclusively on the employment rights of individuals. Ms. Huhta heads the individual practice group in Outten & Golden’s D.C. office, and she is Co-Chair of the firm’s Discrimination and Retaliation Practice Group. Before joining Outten & Golden, for over ten years Ms. Huhta ran the Employment and Public Accommodations Projects at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs, a local non-profit organization focused on the eradication of discrimination and poverty in the D.C. community, where she litigated civil rights cases on behalf of D.C. area residents. In addition to her volunteer activity on behalf of the Atlas Performing Arts Center, Ms. Huhta serves on the Leadership Advisory Council of the National Women’s Law Center, and she is a board member of First Shift, www.firstshift.org, a D.C.-based non-profit that provides employment-related legal assistance to low-income pregnant women and parents. She is a past president of the Washington Council of Lawyers, https://wclawyers.org, D.C.’s voluntary bar association that promotes public interest and pro bono work, and for many years has been an active member of the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association.

One of Wendy Wasserman’s first professional goals was to be a professional stage manager by the time she was 20.  She got a bit distracted from that path upon moving from New York to DC in 1989. Since then, she has accumulated 30 years of experience at the intersection of communications, public policy, and community outreach. Wendy’s professional background includes stints as a Congressional Aide, an educational programmer at the Smithsonian, and as the first community outreach coordinator at the Whole Foods Market in Logan Circle. She is currently the Director of Communications at the Appalachian Regional Commission, a federally-funded economic development agency. With a deep belief that cultural institutions are crucial cornerstones in community economic development, Wendy was delighted to join the Atlas Board in 2017. As part of her Board duties, she is Chair of the Operations Committee which oversees all aspects of the Atlas’ physical plant and fits right in with the stage managing dream she never quite gave up.