About Capitol Hill Village

After five years as a volunteer at CHV, Mary joined the staff and is currently the Director of Operations. She brings experience in DC senior services, including positions at the Department of Aging and Community Living lead agencies Seabury Resources for Aging in Ward 6 and TERRIFIC, Inc. in Ward 1. Mary also had a career in nonprofit information technology, leading the IT department at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and also at the Capital Area Food Bank.

She has lived on Capitol Hill since 1995, and currently resides in northeast DC with her husband and their dog. Mary has an MPA from the University of Colorado at Denver. In her free time, she loves paddling in a kayak on the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.

Ashvita is excited to help older adults stay active, connected, and supported as Capitol Hill Village’s Community Mobility & Wellness Program Manager. She brings a background in public health infrastructure and community health, and a deep commitment to programs that help older adults live well and independently. At CHV, she collaborates with members, volunteers, and local partners to enhance transportation access, social engagement, and aging in place.

Ashvita earned her MPH in Epidemiology from The George Washington University and previously served with AmeriCorps on community service and environmental stewardship projects. Originally from Massachusetts, she now calls DC home. Outside of work, Ashvita enjoys thrifting and upcycling clothes, trying cuisines from around the world, and exploring DC’s vibrant live music scene.

Sophia Ross is proud to serve as the Digital Media and Grant Program Strategist for Capitol Hill Village. Sophia developed a passion for working with older adults from their experiences in continuing care retirement communities and with the Alzheimer’s Association. Sophia is also an advocate for LGBT* older adults. They graduated from Towson University with a BS in Family and Human Services. Sophia manages Capitol Hill Village’s social media accounts and website.

Sophia also manages two grants, one for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and for the Washington DC Department of Aging and Community Living.

Cecilia (Ceci) C. Albert has lived in Capitol Hill for over 30 years. She became a Social Member of CHV in May of 2019. As a volunteer, she helped fit out the new CHV office, is a sector lead in the COVID-19 membership outreach program, and is making masks for use by CHV members.

Ceci works part time as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University. Ceci retired from active duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1999 after a career of almost 27 years.

Ceci’s avocation since 2003 has been costume and prop design for local Community Theater. She has predominantly supported productions by the St Mark’s Players on Capitol Hill and the Little Theater of Alexandria in Old Town. She holds a Master of Science, Computer Science from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics from Sweet Briar College.

Susan Sarfati is proud to be an association management professional. She succeeded in helping to create high performance teams, and organizations to achieve extraordinary results. For 25+ years, she served as executive staff and CEO of the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, the founding CEO of The Center for Association Leadership and Executive Vice President of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the largest and most prestigious organization in the nonprofit sector with 45,000 + members in the U.S. and over 50 countries. Members include chief executives and management staff of organizations such as AARP, American Medical Association, National Education Association, International Red Cross. Later in her career, she taught best practices to nonprofit professionals in countries including but not limited to Bangladesh, India, South Africa, Jordan, and Serbia to name a few.

She was named Non-profit Times Executive of the Year; recipient of the Spirit of Hospitality Award from Destination Marketing Association International; recipient of a Diversity and Inclusion Award from the Organization for Community and Justice; and was the first recipient of the ASAE Lifetime Achievement Award. Susan received a B.A. from the City College of New York and a M. Ed from Coppin State University. She lives in Capitol Hill with her husband and has two sons, a daughter and six grandchildren.

Christine Healey had an almost 30 year career in various Congressional staff and counsel positions, working on a range of national security, intelligence, and domestic issues, in both the House of Representatives and Senate. Most recently, in 2022, she was of counsel to the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. She also served as a senior counsel on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission).

Chris served three terms as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for the Capitol Hill neighborhood of ANC 6C01, first elected in November 2016. She is a graduate of Harvard University and the Georgetown University Law Center. In 1991, she and her husband Ryan Brown, founder and artistic director of Opera Lafayette, settled on Capitol Hill, where they raised their two sons.

Mr. James Kennedy is a native New Yorker who relocated to Washington, DC in 1974. He came to Washington with his oldest child and wife to join his sister who had resided in Washington, DC for ten years prior to his arrival. After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, at Manhattan College in New York City, he came to Washington to join an organization called the United Planning Organization (UPO). As a Counselor/Employment Specialist his motivation was to help marginalized people obtain a better quality of life educationally, economically, and socially in the metropolitan area. On his journey, he acquired skills as a tax preparer with H&R Block. He holds Certifications in Paralegal Studies, Courtroom Mediation, entrepreneurship, training people to research on how to open new businesses (National Federation of Teaching Entrepreneurship) in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and Sign Language.

James is also a founding member of an organization called Concerned Black Men (CBN), whose motto was caring for our youth. James has also directed a program called Project 2000 which works with youth in depressed areas in southeast to obtain academic achievement from 1st grade to an undergraduate degree in college. James has further worked with the Center for Youth Services as a GED Instructor for youth that had dropped out of school that had been referred by Court services. James is currently an Ordained Pastor who conducts bible study and Sunday Church Services at the Capitol Hill Towers Community Room Church. His expertise is in the area of program, design, development and evaluation. James is happy to be a part of Capitol Hill Village and its Board of Directors.

Peter G. May, AIA retired from the National Park Service in 2023, having served for more than 15 years as Associate Regional Director for Lands and Planning for the National Capital Region. There he was responsible for real property operations, major planning efforts, government affairs, and the establishment of new memorials on parkland in Washington, DC. He previously worked for the District of Columbia government, the Architect of the Capitol, Weinstein Associates Architects, Quinn Evans Architects, the National Building Museum, and the Warner Theatre.

He served as a federal representative on the District of Columbia Zoning Commission for more than 18 years, and he represented the Secretary of the Interior on the National Capital Planning Commission for 15 years. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Georgetown University and Master of Architecture from the University of Maryland. He and his wife Tina have lived on Capitol Hill since 1982, where they raised their three sons.

Linda has spent the last 39 years working as a Realtor in the Washington Metro Area. Together with her husband, they also developed small residential and commercial projects. During their ownership of the Lake Pointe Inn, Linda served on the Board of Directors of Select Registry, an association comprised of small hotels and Inns.

She is an active supporter of Hill organizations such as the Hill Center and Community Foundation and has been a Capitol Hill resident since 1978. In her spare time, she volunteers as a docent at the U.S. Botanic Gardens and also enjoys the outdoors at Deep Creek Lake. She holds a BA from William Smith College.

Stan Soloway is the CEO of Celero Strategies, a business strategy consultancy. He was previously the CEO of the Professional Services Council and served as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense during the Clinton Administration. Stan is also a Fellow and Vice Chair of the National Academy of Public Administration, and a member of the Defense Business Board, which advises the Secretary of Defense on management and operational issues.

He is also a Principal at the Partnership for Public Service, where he serves as a senior advisor to government executives and served for six years on the board of AmeriCorps (formerly the Corporation for National and Community Service). He and his wife Kathleen have lived on Capitol Hill for more than 40 years.