WASHINGTON (July 31, 2012) – The Friends of Rhode Island Ave (FoRIA) have appointed three prominent community members to serve on the group’s board. Peter Shapiro, founder and director of the Chesapeake Center for Public Leadership and a former At-Large candidate for Council; Timothy Flanagan, Executive Director of the Washington Area Community Investment Fund; and Karla Butler, a defense analyst and editor of Hello! Neighbor, were elected by the Board to join the group last week.
“FoRIA is growing faster than any of us expected,” said James Holloway, Chair of the FoRIA Board. “and, bringing in Peter, Tim, and Karla’s experience and enthusiasm for our community will help us keep up with our mission.”
The new board members will begin their tenure immediately and serve a two year term. FoRIA Board Members are responsible for guiding the organization’s mission and assisting in its growth and structure.
Peter Shapiro is the founder and director of the Chesapeake Center for Public Leadership in Washington, DC as well as the founder and former director of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership’s Rawlings Center for Public Leadership at the University of Maryland. In 2012, Peter was a candidate for At-Large Council of the District of Columbia. Currently, he chairs the legislative committee for the Ward 4 Democrats and is a Board Member of DC Advocates for the Arts, and Sustainable Community Initiatives.
Timothy Flanagan is the Executive Director of the Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Inc (WACIF) and is a Ward 5 resident. Mr. Flanagan serves on the Board of Directors for Joy of Motion Dance Center in Northeast DC. He is an advisory council member for the DC Bar Pro Bono Program as well as the DC Small Business Development Center Network.
Karla Butler is a Ward 5 resident in the Woodridge community of Washington, DC and works as an analyst for a not-for-profit government consulting company in McLean, VA, supporting the Department of Defense. As a community activist, Karla has served as a campaign volunteer for newly elected Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and also created a community newsletter, Hello! Neighbor, to education residents on emerging and current events in Ward 5 and promote dialogue among residents in the Langdon community.
