Meet the Class of Change 2008!

Joshua Bernstein is president of Bernstein Management Corporation and Bernstein Development Corporation and a managing principal of their investment affiliates, Rock Creek Realty, Columbia Realty Venture and Rock Creek Opportunity Fund. The Bernstein entities own and manage 56 properties encompassing 3,100 apartments and 3.2 million square feet of commercial space in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

In 2007, as Chair of the Board and Chair of the school’s $56 million capital campaign, Bernstein led Sidwell Friends School’s development of the first LEED Certified Platinum building in Washington, DC. Bernstein currently serves as a director on the Washington Board of SunTrust Bank, the Federal City Council, the Meyer Foundation, the District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, the UJA of Greater Washington, the United Jewish Endowment Fund, the Capital Bank Board, and is vice president of the Diane and Norman Bernstein charitable family foundation.

Bernstein Management Corp tries to incorporate community work into its business activities through direct financial support of countless non profit organizations, matching employee gifts, promoting company wide service projects and sponsoring DC high school student interns.  BMC also has invested in moderate income neighborhoods utilizing New Market Tax Credits in an effort to “do good” while doing well.

 

Josh Carin is a native Washingtonian living in Montgomery County with his wife and two young children. After starting Geppetto Catering in 1989, Josh connected with several local non profits serving our region, including Leadership Greater Washington, WORC, Goodwill of Greater Washington, Cultural Alliance and DC Chamber of Commerce. Josh currently serves on the boards of The Levine School of Music, Greater Washington Board of Trade and The DC Central Kitchen. Additionally, as reflected on the Geppetto web page, Josh and his organization support several organizations through financial and in-kind contributions.

On the business side, Josh has been very active in the Board of Trade for the last 15 years, sponsoring numerous people and organizations at the BOT and mentoring at the BOT Small Business Academy for the last five years.  This past year Josh was honored as a finalist at the Washington Business Journal Small Business Philanthropist of the Year event, and his company has been further acknowledged for its giving for the past 8 years by the Washington Business Journal.

 

Allison Cryor DiNardo is General Partner of several wireless companies based in Alexandria, Virginia.  Most recently, her company King Street Wireless bid successfully in the FCC’s 700 MHz auction for spectrum being vacated by broadcasters in February 2009. DiNardo also manages Carroll Wireless which is currently developing PCS spectrum in 16 cities around the country and Barat Wireless, which is developing AWS spectrum in 17 markets.

DiNardo’s career has also included fundraising management including serving as vice president of development with a Washington, DC think tank, raising over $18 million annually in individual, corporate and foundation support, and as managing director of the University of Virginia’s $165 million athletics capital campaign.

DiNardo serves as Vice Chair of the Alexandria Community Trust; President of the Alexandria Volunteer Bureau; a member of the Executive Committee of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, Finance Chair of St. Rita Church; and on the boards of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, the Leakey Foundation in San Francisco and the Capital Campaign Committee of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation at the University of Virginia.  She is a member of the Economic Club of Washington.

She has previously served as Vice Chair of the Stone Ridge School Board of Trustees, as a member of Governor Mark Warner’s Early Learning Council and the founding board of the Charlottesville Catholic School.

 

Sarah Key is a member of Foley & Lardner LLP’s Government & Public Affairs Practice and the Food Industry Team.

Beyond her specialization in food and drug matters, Sarah has a strong professional and personal interest in matters relating to immigrants.

During law school, Sarah worked in the Public Interest Law Clinic at George Mason University, where she had the opportunity to help individuals and families who normally could not afford legal counsel. She currently volunteers with Just Neighbors and will join the Board of Directors in October 2008.

Sarah casts her net wide to recruit and train as many Foley attorneys as possible to assist with JN and other immigration cases, from summer associates to partners. She estimates that over the course of a year, she and her fellow Foley attorneys, including paralegals, contribute close to $1 million in pro bono services to Just Neighbors, a huge contribution for a non-profit organization with a small annual budget. Sarah comments: “It is so humbling to hear what people have gone through and to know that in some small way I can help.”  

 

Alex Lawson works at High 5 Consulting with clients on grassroots advocacy, web development and online communications, specializing in working with non-profit organizations.

On a volunteer basis Lawson founded DC Fights Back, a grassroots advocacy group that focuses on the HIV epidemic in Washington, DC.  Lawson steered the group for two years, helping it grow to over 200 members while garnering local, national, and international media and successfully influencing the local response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  Alex created and currently maintains the DC Fights Back website www.dcfightsback.org.

Lawson also serves as the HIV/AIDS Subcommittee Chair on DC Councilmember Marion Barry's Poverty Commission. Lawson has also donated many hours as a skilled volunteer around website development for local nonprofits.  He is also currently the co-chair of the Communications Committee for the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals and the Regional Volunteer Coordinator for the International Center for Equal Healthcare Access. Lawson was honored to be given the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration's \ 2008 Community Service Award, which is awarded by the faculty of the school for "tremendous contributions to enrich the quality of community service."

 

Jimmy Lynn is Vice President, Diversity Partnerships and Strategic Relationships for AOL's Office of Diversity and Inclusion.  The ODI is focused on creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace at AOL.  Lynn manages AOL’s Business Resource Groups, Employee Interest Groups, the B-to-B partnerships and community service organization partnerships.

Lynn serves on the Board of Directors of the Hoop Dreams Scholarship Foundation; AA LEAD; Super Leaders and the Giving Back Fund.  He is also on the Advisory Board of San Diego State University’s Sports MBA Program, the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and the Capitol Movement Project as well the Leadership Council of George Washington University’s Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management.  He also works closely with the Year Up organization and the Posse Foundation.

Lynn was one of the 2006 recipients of Time Warner’s most prestigious public-service prize, the “Andrew Heiskell Community Service” award.  This award is given to employees who exhibit outstanding leadership and accomplishment in voluntary public service, human rights and/or equal opportunity efforts.

 

Lynda Ramirez-Blust is owner of LSRB Consulting LLC and is committed to enhancing the financial management, accounting, and governance knowledge and understanding of nonprofit board members, management teams, staff, and volunteers. Lynda has nearly 13 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations in various capacities including board member, treasurer, CFO, external auditor, consultant, and volunteer. Lynda has been recognized by The Center for Social Leadership as a Best Practices Leader and by Standards for Excellence Institute as a licensed consultant.

Through her work with Nonprofit Congress and as a consultant with Greater DC Cares, Lynda has devoted many hours of her time to give back to the community. As a contributing member of Greater DC Cares’ Nonprofit Governance Network, Lynda has helped develop some of the tools used by the new group to reduce a nonprofit’s risks and exposures to liabilities that could prevent them from accomplishing their mission. She has also worked independently on projects through Greater DC Cares’ Pro Bono Consulting Program; her efforts to set up and train staff on an effective accounting system proved invaluable to Interstages, a group that provides opportunities for early adolescents in low-income neighborhoods to discover talents, develop and strengthen skills, and heighten self-awareness, setting the stage for a successful transition into young adulthood.

 

Rosetta Thurman grew up in the public housing projects of Cleveland, Ohio, and if it weren't for the nonprofits in her community who helped her family in times of need, she doesn't know where she would be today. She is proud to be a young nonprofit leader of color and her mission is to engage her generation in creating the world as it should be.

Rosetta currently serves as the Director of Development and Special Programs at the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington where she manages fundraising and directs the Future Executive Directors Fellowship. Rosetta is also an Adjunct Professor teaching nonprofit management in the School of Professional Studies at Trinity University. She holds a Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management from Trinity University and a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Rosetta is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and currently serves on three boards:  the DC Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, DC Central Kitchen and the DC Creative Writing Workshop. She is also a prolific blogger at “Perspectives From the Pipeline: Observations on the Nonprofit Sector from the Next Generation” and the Stanford Social Innovation Review. She also hosts a radio show podcast where she interviews inspiring nonprofit leaders and shares fresh ideas, career advice, and management resources to help others in their work - especially young nonprofit professionals and leaders of color.

 

Justin Vitarello grew up in the heart of the district and returned immediately after college to commit himself to identifying and addressing the problems of urban youth through a personal and bottom-up approach. Through his time spent at the U St. Boys & Girls Club coaching middle school boy's basketball, Justin teaches sports but also uses this time as an opportunity to act as mentor, male role model, and nutrition counselor, thereby exposing this demographic to a wide range of life-changing experiences.

In his position as Treasurer of the Neighborhood Association, Justin has collaborated to found a scholarship program for urban youth that is unique in his stipulation that it has no minimum GPA. This enables the scholarships to be awarded to students who have persevered academically throughout difficulty such as bouts of homelessness, physical/sexual abuse, or care giving for younger siblings, and identifies youth with intangibles that enable them to inspire and empower tenacity in their peers.

When asked about future plans, the firm component that emerges is Justin's commitment to stay in DC until he has created and executed a framework to empower urban youth to believe in themselves and convince area professionals to believe in them as well by highlighting unique, intangible skills. From the bottom up, Justin is gradually building the U street community by linking individuals from all backgrounds and creeds.

 

Kimberly Wilson is a teacher, designer, writer, activist, and entrepreneur with a master’s degree in women’s studies. She is the founder of Tranquil Space, named among the top 25 yoga studios in the world. Kimberly is the author of "Hip Tranquil Chick", a guide to living a mindfully extravagant life on and off the yoga mat. She is also the designer of the eco-luxe "TranquilT" clothing line and her work has been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and in Daily Candy, Fit Yoga, Yoga Journal, Lucky, and Shape.

Tranquil Space frequently hosts yoga classes in which donations are gathered and donated to local organizations, such as women's shelters and animal shelters. She is committed to donating a portion of her profits to the nonprofit community.

Kimberly also founded the Tranquil Space Foundation to assist women and girls with finding their inner voice through yoga, creativity, and leadership. The signature program, TranquilTeens, provides workshops for girls in 9th through 12th grades through partnerships with schools and community organizations. Partners so far include Duke Ellington School for the Arts, Joe’s Movement Emporium, B’nai Brith, For the Love of Children and Springbrook High School. Tranquil Space Foundation has an ongoing generosity committee that identifies programs and organizations aligned with its mission and gives small grants to further their causes.

 

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