Community Council Members

The WAMU 88.5 Community Council consists of up to 21 individuals living within the coverage area of the station who are contributing members and who wish to preserve, promote and strengthen the public radio service provided by WAMU 88.5. The composition of the Council reflects the diversity of the community served by the station.

How Members are Chosen

Each year at the Fall Quarterly meeting of the Community Council, the Chair appoints a Nominating Committee to consider all of the suggestions for new members which have been received from current members of the Council, station staff and station supporters. After reviewing the bios of all of the candidates, taking into consideration the need to maintain an ethnic, racial and gender balance and to represent all parts of the listening community, the Committee makes it recommendations. The report of the Nominating Committee is submitted to the entire Council at the final meeting of the year in December and the full Council votes to recommend candidates to fill vacancies. Members of our listening public may also self-nominate. (See below) Following the action by the Council, Station Management makes the appointments. Council Members serve three-year staggered terms. The station’s legal advisor, Peter Tannenwald, serves as an ex-officio member of the Council.

Council Members who have completed their first three-year term on the Council may be nominated to serve an additional term. However after they have completed their second term they must take a leave of at least one year before being reappointed. The appointment to a second three-year term is not automatic and must be approved by the Council and station management.

More Information

For additional information about the WAMU Community Council and its activities, please call Anne Healy at 202/885-1264 or send an e-mail to ahealy@wamu.org. If you are a WAMU member and would like to be considered for membership on the Council, please submit your bio and a letter explaining why you would like become a Council Member to Anne before September 30th and she will bring your information to the attention of the Nominating Committee.

Officers

Every year, the members of the Community Council elect a Chair and a Vice Chair. The Chair convenes and presides over all Council meetings. The Vice Chair presides in the absence of the Chair. Laura M. Chambers is the 2013 Chair of the WAMU Community Council and Kent W. Lynn serves as Vice Chair.

Members of the 2013 Community Council:

Laura Chambers, Chair
Laura Chambers is Operations Officer for AARP Experience Corps. The mission of Experience Corps is “to create powerful opportunities for older adults to meet society’s greatest challenges.” Laura has had over 20 years of front-line advocacy experience. She served as the Deputy Executive Director of the Global AIDS Alliance, as the Chief Operating Officer for Civic Ventures and as Vice President of the Advocacy Institute. Laura and her family reside in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Kent W. Lynn, Vice Chair
Kent Lynn is a senior sales executive at the IBM Corporation in Washington, DC. A specialist on the telecommunications industry, Kent has been a principal IT consultant and has advised non-profit organizations and schools on technology issues. He has served as president of DC based Adventuring.org, is a member of the Victory Fund cabinet and volunteers at The Metropolitan Ear. Kent is a WAMU Leadership Circle member and a resident of the District of Columbia.

Barbara H. Bares
Barbara Bares is an attorney residing in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She is currently retired from practice. In addition to WAMU, Barbara’s principal volunteer commitment is at “Women for Women International” assisting in editing newsletters and reports and with administrative work. Prior to her retirement, Barbara was a Principal Attorney-Editor for West Group, DC responsible for legal text integrity and life cycle of multiple print products. Barbara is a WAMU Leadership Circle member.

Sharvell Becton
Sharvell Becton is the Director, Academic Tutoring and Mentoring Impact for the District of Columbia Branch of AARP Experience Corps. She is responsible for designing, monitoring and reviewing program services, and liaising with education and community groups. Her experience includes more than 18 years of experience designing and facilitating leadership and tools of advocacy workshops, board retreats, and seminars with activists in the U.S. and abroad. She has broad experience planning, organizing, and directing volunteer-led initiatives in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Sharvell is a long time WAMU listener and member, and she resides in the District of Columbia.

Christine D. Berg, M.D.
Chris Berg is the Chief, Early Detection Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute. In this position, she is Project Officer for the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) and the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST). She previously worked at Suburban Hospital as the Cancer Center Director and at the Georgetown University Medical School Lombardi Cancer Center as the head of Breast Cancer radiation oncology and as director of the residency training program. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Radiation Oncology, 

Colleen Boothby
Colleen Boothby is a Partner with Levine, Blaszak, Block & Boothby, LLP specializing in telecommunications law. Colleen joined the law firm in 1993 after ten years with the Federal Communications Commission where she served as the legal advisor to the Common Carrier Bureau Chief, legal advisor to the Deputy Bureau Chief for Policy, Deputy and Associate Chief of the Tariff Division, and staff and senior supervising attorney in the Tariff and International Facilities Divisions of the Common Carrier Bureau.

Paul DesJardin
Paul DesJardin is the Director of the Department of Community Planning and Services (DCPS) for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG). As DCPS Director, he is responsible for directing the Department’s technical and policy work in regional planning; land use/transportation and TOD-related studies; regional economic analysis and demographic forecasting; affordable housing; and foster care/child welfare. Paul is a member of the American Planning Association, National Capital Area Chapter and the co-chair of CAFN. He was recently appointed as a member of the PNC Community Development Advisory Board; and is currently a member of the vestry of St. Peter’s in the Woods Episcopal Church in Fairfax.

Patricia Hartge
Patricia ("Trisha") Hartge is an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute, where she has conducted research on the causes of cancer since 1977. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. She is a long time WAMU listener and member, and she resides in Chevy Chase, MD.

Rawn M. James, Jr.
Rawn James, Jr. is a civilian senior trial attorney in the Office of the General Counsel for the Department of the Navy. Before joining the Navy’s OGC, he worked as an assistant attorney general for the District of Columbia and, during his first years after law school, worked as an associate at Sutherland LLP. Rawn is also an author whose second book on desegregation will be published by Bloomsbury in 2013. He lives in the District of Columbia.

Jody Steiner Kelly
Jody Steiner Kelly is the Director of Clinical Administration for the Arlington Free Clinic (AFC) where she is responsible for all administrative aspects of the clinical program. In addition she serves as the Development Director for the Clinic’s major fundraiser and as AFC’s Media Spokesperson for national and international news radio and TV organizations. Jody was a Member of the Leadership Arlington Class of 2011.

Kim Y. Jones, Esq.
Kim Jones is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc. (AJE), an organization dedicated to the support, education and legal representation of parents with special needs children. AJE provides comprehensive system of support for parent with children in the public schools of the District of Columbia. Kim is an attorney who has worked extensively in the area of government relations and education policy. She has joined WAMU as a sustaining member and she resides in Columbia, Maryland.

Virginia “Ginny” A. McArthur
Ginny McArthur is an attorney and the founder of McArthur Franklin PLLC, which represents individuals in estate and gift tax planning, trust and estate administration, charitable planning and probate. She is listed in the Best Lawyers of America and was recently named as one of the top 50 female attorneys in DC. Ginny currently serves as the Vice Chair of WAMU’s Development Advisory Council and is the DAC’s liaison with the Community Council. She is a WAMU Leadership Donor member and a resident of the District of Columbia.

Lawrence T. McCarthy
Lawrence (Larry) McCarthy currently serves as Co-Chair of Publicity and Membership and as a member of the Curriculum Committee of American University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. He is also a member of the University’s Institutional Review Board. A retired Federal Executive, he was responsible for intelligence operations, program management and budget development for various military and civilian agencies. Larry is a resident of the District of Columbia.

Amy L. Nakamoto
Amy Nakamoto is the Executive Director of DC Scores, a recreationally-linked education program for public school students. As Executive Director, Amy guides the day-to-day operations of after school programs in 27 DC public elementary and middle schools serving more than 800 students. In November of 2011, Amy was one of three Nonprofit Executives to receive a 2011 Exponent Award from the Meyer Foundation, and she was also honored by The Century Council for her commitment to our country’s youth, health and safety. Amy serves as a Board Member and Secretary of the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates.

Margaret K. O’Bryon
Margaret O’Bryon is president and CEO of the Consumer Health Foundation (CHF) The foundation supports local grassroots and community-based organizations in the metropolitan Washington, DC area that work to improve these communities overall health and to secure access to equitable, quality health care. Prior to joining CHF, Margaret worked for Prince Charitable Trusts. She also served as the Associate Director of the Institute for Urban Development Research at George Washington University. She was named a Kellogg National Fellow and she serves on the boards of a number of nonprofit associations.

R. Daniel Okonkwo
Daniel Okonkwo is the Executive Director of DC Lawyers for Youth, a nonprofit organization focused on juvenile justice reform in Washington, DC. In this position, he is responsible for the everyday operation of the organization and supervising DCLY staff as well as reporting to the Board of Directors. He also serves as the DC representative in the National Juvenile Justice Network. Daniel graduated from Georgetown University Law Center where he received the Juvenile Justice Award in 2005. He recently joined WAMU as a sustaining member. Daniel resides in the District of Columbia.

Delphine Peck
Delphine Peck is a member of the Board of Directors and Education Chair of The Mental Health Association in Talbot County, which conducts on-going mental health related programs on the Eastern Shore. She also serves on the Board of Directors of The League of Women Voters of the Mid-Shore of Maryland. This organization studies local issues and produces election year forums for state and local candidates in Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline counties. Delphine resides in St. Michaels, Maryland and represents the Eastern Shore on the Community Council.

Micaela Mejia Pond
Micaela Mejia Pond is a lifelong elementary educator. She was inspired to go into education by her teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was the teacher aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. She has spent most of her years teaching at Francis Scott Key Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia. She has been a presenter at the National Association of Bilingual Education Conferences. Micaela has taken the year off to focus on being the Minister of the Department of the Interior for the Pond Family and writing her first screenplay.

Donald R. Quayle
Don Quayle is a Member and former Chair of the Board of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at American University. He has had a long and distinguished career in public broadcasting, serving as the first President of NPR and then as Director of Broadcasting at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Don resides in Bethesda, Maryland.

Anthony R. Sarmiento
Anthony Sarmiento is the Executive Director of Senior Service America, Inc., a national nonprofit organization providing employment and community service opportunities to older adults. Retired from the national AFL-CIO staff, he currently serves on the board of directors of the Maryland Workforce Corporation, the American Youth Policy Forum, and the Poverty and Race Research Action Council. He is a WAMU member and graduate of American University. A lifelong resident of the Washington area, Anthony resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Thomas F. Walls
Tom Walls is a principal with Dentons in the Public Policy and Regulation practice. He relies on broad experience in the public and private sectors to provide strategic government relations advice to clients on a broad array of issues, including telecommunications, trade, health care, agriculture and energy. As a member of the firm's political law compliance team, he works to ensure that clients who pursue an aggressive policy agenda comply with key legal and ethical requirements. Tom is Capitol Hill veteran. Before joining Dentons, he served on the staff of three United States Senators. 

Ex Officio Member

Peter Tannenwald
Peter Tannenwald is a Communications Attorney and a Member in the firm of Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth, PLC. He has been practicing law in the District of Columbia for more than 40 years. Peter has served as an invaluable advisor to WAMU 88.5 on communications issues for nearly all of these years.