8,)
43;)6 WASHINGTON’S MOST INFLUENTIAL
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55 EDITOR'S LETTER
FEATURES
CHARITY SPOTLIGHT Everybody Wins! DC .....
THE POWER LIST ...........................................
N Street Village Gala ............................................ Hilary Geary Ross Meet and Greet...........................
FYIDC
Tadashi Shoji Spring Preview...................................
INSIDER'S GUIDE ........................................ SOCIAL CALENDAR ...................................
ELLE Women in Washington Dinner ........................
OVER THE MOON A Rich Heritage .................. Heart Ball ..........................................................
POLLYWOOD
Washington Performing Arts Gala.............................
EMBASSY ROW ..........................................
Sips and Suppers ..................................................
Japanese Embassy's Cherry Blossom Reception .........
Boys and Girls Club Day of Advocacy .......................
HOLLYWOOD ON THE POTOMAC .......
Parties, Parties, Parties! ...........................................
American Task Force for Lebanon Dinner.................
Yayoi Kusama's 'Infinity Mirrors' Opening..................
World Affairs Gala ..............................................
National Gallery Della Robbia Exhibit Opening..........
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LIFESTYLES FASHION EDITORIAL Clean Lines................
JEWELRY REPORT Jewel Stones .................... TREND REPORT Khaki's Comeback.................
HOME LIFE INSIDE HOMES Nora Pouillon's Art Deco Georgetown Residence ....................................
AROUND TOWN En Pointe .............................
REAL ESTATE NEWS ................................... OPEN HOUSE .............................................. MY WASHINGTON United States Institute of
Children's Ball .....................................................
Peace President Nancy Lindborg................................
WASHINGTON SOCIAL DIARY
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ON THE COVER: Power portraitsTOP FROM LEFT: (Photo by Tony Powell); Lonnie Bunch (Photo by Tony Powell); Nora Poullion at her Georgetown Home (Photo by Tony Powell); SYDNEY EVAN Yellow gold rainbow huggie hoops ($880), Sydneyevan.com; THEPERFEXT Jessica high waisted leather leggings ($1,495); DELPOZO cotton-poplin top ($1100); GUCCI leather beret ($410); SAINT LAURENT stud belt in black ($750) (Photo by Luis Aragon); 2015 Virginia Gold Cup (Photo by Ben Droz)
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WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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T H E I N S I D E R’S G U I D E TO P OW E R , P H I L A N T H R O PY, A N D SO C I E T Y S I N C E 1 9 9 1
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Nancy Reynolds Bagley EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Virginia Coyne SENIOR EDITOR
Kevin Chaffee DEPUTY EDITOR
Erica Moody ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Catherine Trifiletti CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Roland Flamini COPY EDITOR
Evan Berkowitz COLUMNISTS AND CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Janet Donovan, Steve Houk,Vicky Moon, Stacey Grazier Pfarr and Donna Shor ART DIRECTOR
Matt Rippetoe PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHER
Tony Powell CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Joy Asico,Tony Brown, Ben Droz, Alfredo Flores,Vithaya Phongsavan, Kyle Samperton, Erin Schaff and Jay Snap
PUBLISHER & CEO
Soroush Richard Shehabi SALES AND MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE
John Arundel BOOKKEEPER
Michelle Frazer WEB TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT
Eddie Saleh,Triposs Mihail Iliev LEGAL
Mason Hammond Drake, Akerman, LLP EDITORIAL INTERNS
Emily Kim, Kelsey Kroning and Sterling Lucas
FOUNDER
Vicki Bagley CREATIVE DIRECTOR EMERITUS (*)
J.C. Suarès CHAIRMAN, EXECUTIVE BOARD
Gerry Byrne Washington Life magazine publishes ten times a year. Issues are distributed in February, March, April, May, June, July/August, September, November, and December and are hand-delivered on a rotating basis to over 150,000 homes throughout D.C., Northern Virginia, and Maryland. Additional copies are available at various upscale retailers, hotels, select newstands, and Whole Foods stores in the area. For a complete listing, please consult our website at www.washingtonlife.com. You can also subscribe online at www.washingtonlife.com or send a check for $79.95 (one year) to: Washington Life Magazine, 2301 Tracy Place NW, Washington D.C., 20008. BPA audited. Email us at info@washingtonlife.com with press releases, tips, and editorial comments. Copyright ©2011 by Washington Life. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial content or photos in any manner without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed in the United States. We will not be responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. *deceased
EDITOR’S LETTER
N
POWER & INFLUENCE
o doubt about it, compiling our 12th annual Power 100 List posed a significantly bigger challenge than in recent years. Much of this had to do with the results of the 2016 presidential election of course, and we got started earlier than usual to research the power players who would be at the top of our list — especially those working in the political and lobbying fields with strong connections to the Trump administration. I am grateful to Contributing Editor Roland Flamini, who took the laboring oar on this daunting task with admirable energy. We do not just focus on the political influencers; but had a bit of fun as we strayed from the usual suspects in the fields of endeavor we generally include (business, media, law, real estate, etc.) to add personalities as diverse as a prominent bishop, the masters of the Middleburg Hunt and Franco Nuschese, the inimitable owner of Cafe Milano, where the powerful dine. Given the shifting winds, more than 50 percent of this year’s list is new, with 47 entries in the world of politics and advocacy. The list gives more ink to new additions such as first daughter Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, who undeniably have the president’s ear as his most trusted advisors. They may hold White House titles, but do not receive a government salary, and thus met our criteria, which is: (1) knowledge is power; (2) influence is power; (3) access is power; (4) the perception of power is power; and (5) money can translate to power if it is used effectively. Thirteen entries highlight the power of the pen, including David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post who this year won both the George Polk Award and Pulitzer Prize for his relentless reporting of candidate Trump; we also included Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow, because of the close association with Steve Bannon. Another thirteen entries focus on culture and include such luminaries as Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. There are also individuals in the fields of law, business and real estate and D.C.-based influencers acting on the world stage. Those in power need to dress the part, so we centered our fashion editorial on the timeless color palette of black, white and red with outfits that command authority. Our backdrop was the architectural
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masterpiece that houses the United States Institute of Peace, a nonprofit organization working to reduce conflict around the globe. Inspired by the amazing work they do, we decided to take a deeper dive and interviewed USIP president Nancy Lindborg for our My Washington feature. Riding on that same wave of inspiration we took a closer look at the mission of the largest literacy organization in Washington, Everybody Wins! DC and reaffirmed the immeasurable value of picking up a book to read with a child. Among the most powerful figures in the Washington culinary world is Nora Pouillon, who founded the first certified organic restaurant in the country, 38 years ago. For this month’s Inside Homes we were invited to see Pouillon’s stunning Art Deco Georgetown residence and can report back that the colorful furnishings and appointments are as vibrant as Nora herself. In our party coverage you will find WL-sponsored events including the Children’s Ball, The Washington Life team at the WLAmerican Heart Association’s sponsored Tadashi Shoji spring preview. Heart Ball, N Street Village gala and Tadashi Shoji’s spring preview at the brand’s new outpost in Tysons. Stay tuned next month for our wealth and philanthropy issue which will include our annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner coverage.
Nancy R. Bagley Editor in Chief Readers wishing to contact Nancy Bagley can email her at nbagley@washingtonlife.com
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| M AY | washingtonlife.com
FYIDC The Insider’s Guide to Washington
E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL IN CONCERT
GOLD CUP & PREAKNESS
EQUESTRIAN ANTICS Spend the day at the steeplechase with two premier horse racing events, the annual Virginia Gold Cup in scenic Great Meadow, Va., and the Preakness in Baltimore. Wear seersucker and fascinator hats while sipping mint juleps and Black Eyed Susans to truly get into the spirit.The Gold Cup has a hat contest, and the Preakness has Sam Hunt and Good Charlotte performing. Gold Cup, May 6, general admission car pass is $100, vagoldcup.com;The Preakness, May 20, Pimlico Race Course, tickets start at $40, preakness.com.
GEORGETOWN SHOP AROUND
PREPPY PURCHASES
Shop for the season at the Junior League of Washington’s premier spring shopping event. They’ve partnered with the Georgetown Business Improvement District and more than 10 stores for the fundraising event, which will include retail deals, pop-up shops, giveaway prizes and treats. Free for members, $5 for nonmembers, May 13, jlw.org.
THE WEEKND AT VERIZON CENTER
STARBOY SHOW
SYMPHONIC SPIELBERG
See the classic Steven Spielberg film in a new light with the Strathmore’s innovative programming. Jack Everly will conduct John Williams’ Academy Award-winning score live as the family-friendly film is projected on a giant HD screen. The Music Center at Strathmore, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Movie and Music: ET the Extraterrestrial in Concert, May 18, 8 p.m.
MARCUS LüPERTZ EXHIBITIONS
MODERN MONOGRAPHS The Phillips Collection and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are teaming up to present the first U.S. museum survey of works by German artist Markus Lüpertz, known for his neo-expressionist paintings. It also marks the first formal collaboration between the two District art museums.The museums will present “distinct yet complimentary examinations” of his work. Opens May 24 at the Hirshhorn & May 27 at the Phillips, hirshhorn.si.edu & phillipscollection.org.
Catch the Grammy Award-winning artist on his first-ever world tour, Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour. The Canadian singer, songwriter and producer will perform his infectious hits like “Can’t Feel My Face” and “Starboy.” May 18, Tickets start at $66, verizoncenter. monumentalsportsnetwork.com/events.
EU EMBASSIES OPEN HOUSE
CONTINENTAL CULTURE Throughout the month of May, Cultural Tourism DC’s “Passport DC” program offers 31 days of programming by 70 embassies and more than 40 of the District’s very best cultural institutions with mostly free events. Don’t miss the EU Embassies Open House that will showcase the “authentic music, dance, food, film and art” of 27 distinctive nations. May 13, free, culturaltourismdc.org. 12
BALLETX AT HALCYON STAGE
DARING DANCE
The music is sure to be en pointe at Halcyon Stage’s innovative presentation of contemporary dance company BalletX performing to the music of Amy Winehouse and indie-rock band Beirut. Dock 5 at Union Market, May 13, 8:30 p.m. performance, 10:00 p.m. DJ set and meet-the-artist dance party; $40, unionmarketdc.com. WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| M AY | washingtonlife.com
V I R G I N I A G O L D C U P P H OTO BY JAY S N A P; S H O P P I N G P H OTO CO U RT E SY O F J U N I O R L E AG U E O F WA S H I N GTO N ; P H OTO O F T H E W E E K N D V I A W I K I P E D I A ; E T I M AG E CO U RT E S Y O F T H E S T R AT H M O R E ; M A R K U S L Ü P E R T Z , A R K A D I E N – D E R H O H E B E R G ( A R C A D I A —T H E H I G H M O U N TA I N ) , 2 0 1 3 . M I X E D M E D I A O N C A N VA S , 5 1 1 /4 X 6 3 3 /4 I N . P R I VAT E C O L L E C T I O N (C O U RT E SY O F T H E P H I L L I P S C O L L E C T I O N ) ; B A L L E T X I M AG E C O U RT E SY O F B A L L E T X .O R G
BY ERICA MOODY
FYIDC | SOCIAL CALENDAR
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MAY
CITYDANCE DREAMSCAPE
Dance into the the night at CityDance’s annual DREAMscape gala (hosted by Emmy award-winner Debbie Allen) after live performances by renowned dancers and talented students. Proceeds support CityDance’s free after-school dance and mentor program. Lincoln Theatre; 8 p.m.; ticket prices start at $25; sponsorships start at $250; contact dreamscape@ citydance.net
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KENNEDY CENTER SPRING GALA
David Duchovny will host the annual gala paying tribute to John Lennon and his lasting impact on music and culture. Philanthropists Joan and Sanford Weill and Citizen Artists Aaron and Afa Sadykhly Dworkin will be honored with the Kennedy Center Award for the Human Spirit. The Kennedy Center; 5:30 p.m.; tickets start at $45; sponsorships start at $1,000; for VIP information, contact springgala@kennedy-center.org
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HEART’S DELIGHT WINE TASTING & AUCTION
Enjoy the American Heart Association’s four-day event featuring world-class wine and prime cuisine. Prominent political leaders and other distinguished guests will gather to support an end to heart disease and strokes. For more information visit heartsdelightwineauction.org
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P H OTOS BY TO N Y P OW E L L
BALL FOR THE MALL The Trust for the National Mall will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its partnership with the National Park Service by honoring philanthropist David Rubenstein with the History, Heroes and Hope Award. National Mall; tickets $1,000; sponsorships start at $10,000; contact Vanessa Chebli, vchebli@ nationalmall.org
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HELEN HAYES AWARDS The award ceremony recognizing excellence in professional theater across the metropolitan area will be followed by a lively afterparty at the 9:30 Club. Lincoln Theatre; 6 p.m.; creative evening attire; tickets start at $150; contact 202-337-4752.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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PHILLIPS COLLECTION GALA The evening will celebrate German art and culture. German Ambaassador Peter Wittig and his wife Huberta von Vos-Wittig will chair the spring soirée. The Phillips Collection; black-tie; sponsorships start at $5,500; contact Elizabeth Temme, etemme@phillipscollection.org or 202-387-2151 Ext. 365.
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HALCYON AWARDS GALA The inaugural event will feature world class cuisine, an auction and performances as top minds in the nation gather to honor three trailblazing individuals. Halcyon House; 6:30 p.m.; tickets start at $650; sponsorships start at $2,500; contact David Corson; d.corson@halcyonhouse.org or 202-796-4240.
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EVENING OF WISHES This signature fundraising event for the Make-a-Wish Foundation aims to fund more than 130 wishes for children in the Mid-Atlantic region.The event will feature a live auction and stories from youth who have been touched by the foundation’s mission. The RitzCarlton,Washington D.C.; 6:30 p.m.; tickets start at $500; sponsorships start at $5,000.
Kaya Henderson and Valerie Jarrett at the 2016 Kennedy Center Spring Gala
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MARCH OF DIMES GOURMET GALA 50 U.S. senators and representatives will participate in this celebrity cook off benefiting the March of Dimes’ efforts to support health care for mothers and their babies. National Building Museum; 6 p.m.; sponsorships start at $5,000; contact Tina Cavucci, ccavucci@marchofdimes.org
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EMBASSY CHEF CHALLENGE Sample authentic cuisine from embassy chefs at the ninth annual gala. Winners will be honored with the coveted Judges’ Choice and Peoples’ Choice Awards. Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center; 6 p.m.; tickets start at $65; sponsorships start at $2,500; contact ethornell@eventsdc.com
Derek David and Claire Aniela at the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards
SAVE THE DATE :/ 6321625(' (9(176
JUNE STEP AFRIKA! GALA JUNE WILL ON THE HILL Tablescape at the 2016 Phillip’s Collection Gala
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POLLYWOOD The Nexus of Politics﹐ Hollywood﹐ Media and Diplomacy | Embassy Row, Hollywood on the Potomac and more!
Nobuko Sasae, Japanese Amb. Kenichiro Sasae, Joseph Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Arabella Kushner at the Japanese Embassy’s Cherry Blossom Reception. (Photo by Tony Powell)
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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POLLYWOOD | EMBASSY ROW
The Moving Village Trump Receives Diplomats | What Retired Ambassadors Do | Movies and History BY ROLAND FLAMINI
ARRIVALS: President Donald Trump’s first
White House presentation of credentials ceremony welcoming new foreign ambassadors into the Washington swamp included Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui, ambassador of Morocco and first cousin of the nation’s King Mohammed VI, also Sheikh Meshal Hamad Al-Thani Qatar, brother of the Emir of Qatar, and himself a vice-emir. Others among the 17 envoys were Pedro Morenés, Spain’s new chief of mission, Hynék Kmonícek of the Czech Republic, and Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández, ambassador of Mexico, who may not, after all, see NAFTA – the North American Free Trade Agreement – dismantled under his watch as Trump had threatened, and may not even have to climb a newly constructed wall should he want to return to Mexico City. The presentation of credentials is a timehonored diplomatic ceremony that formally marks the beginning of an arriving ambassador’s assignment. It generally includes a one-on-one meeting with the president, who also meets the envoy’s family, and an official photo marking the occasion that goes on display in the residence. The last presentation of credentials held at the White House was in September, although President Barack Obama, apparently pressed for time before the transition, took the unusual step of authorizing the State Department to receive a new batch of ambassadors in his stead in December 2016. DEPARTURES The diplomatic world is a moving
village, and April had its share of announced departures. French Ambassador Gérard Araud, who always makes a serious effort never to take himself too seriously, departs in June to retire from the French foreign service. He says he plans to put an ad on the Internet offering his services as a French butler (so he can be rude to people) because a diplomatic career is no preparation for any other profession; but one does get to know
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high-quality movies that thrived under communist control or even because of it, often satirizing the system with just enough subtlety to get past the censor. Today, some of the best of those movies are useful weapons in the friendly cultural rivalry between the Polish and Czech embassies (not that either would admit to it). For example, both embassies recently paid tribute to two of the world’s great filmmakers – Miloš Forman and the late Andrzej Wajda. The Czech embassy, which has for years run a Film and Beer series at the Bistro Bohem in Northwest Washington, saluted Forman’s 85th birthday with a showing of his 1967 comedy “The Firemen’s Ball,” which retains its humor and warmth. In March, the Polish Embassy paid tribute to Wajda with a showing of his last Argentine Amb. Martín Lousteau and his wife Carla Peterson, movie, “Afterimage,” based on the life of will soon depart Washington. (Photo by Tony Powell) Polish avant-garde painter Wladyslaw Strzemhow to set a table. Pressed, however, he admitinski, whose work was banned by the Polish ted that he was considering some more suitable Communist regime. Forman moved to the West options. Argentina’s Martín Lousteau and his where he made “Amadeus,” the beloved film of movie actress wife Carla Peterson are leaving Mozart’s life and death that swept the Oscars after barely a year in Washington. Lousteau, an some 30 years ago; Wajda remained at home, economist and former government minister, where he made such outstanding films as “Ashes wants to resume his political career and run in and Diamonds” and “Man of Iron.” Argentina’s upcoming elections. Then there’s the case of Hungarian Ambassador Réka Szemerkényi, who, according to the Budapest press, has been recalled. A high profile ambassador who had just moved the embassy to a new chancery, Szemerkényi was a close adviser to Hungary’s nationalist, anti-refugee and increasingly anti-Western Prime Minister Viktor Orbán before coming to Washington. But the Hungarian press reports that her recall reflects the prime minister’s disappointment at not receiving an invitation to visit Donald Trump. The Hungarian embassy confirmed the ambassador’s departure without going into details. SCREEN One of the remarkable by-products of
Cold War Eastern Europe was the production of
Ambassador of Morocco Princess Lalla Joumala Alaoui (Courtesy of the Moroccan Embassy)
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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Rep. Robert Pittenger Ivanka Trump WL EXCLUSIVE
CHERRY BLOSSOM RECEPTION Japanese Ambassador’s Residence PHOTOS BY ERIN SCHAFF AND TONY POWELL
FLOWER POWER: Japanese Ambassador Kenichiro Sasae and his wife Nobuko welcomed guests to their home on a perfect spring evening to celebrate Japan’s 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees to the United States. Cherry Blossom Princesses representing all 50 states were among the guests along the American and Japanese Cherry Blossom Queens. Security got noticeably tighter when Ivanka Trump arrived with her young son and daughter, who were delighted to meet a Pokemon Pikachu mascot. During opening remarks, the ambassador noted the embassy’s special guest and led a sake toast to continued cultural bonds between the two nations. The crowd enjoyed views of the resident koi pond while dining on a spectacular array of sushi and other Japanese delicacies.
Regina and Roger James
VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Kenichi Kobayashi, Cindy Bergman and Rep. Jack Bergman
Yuki Shimono and Rachel Bohn
Kristen Rutherford, Boyd K. Rutherford and Briansha Frazier
Nobuko Sasae, Hilary Geary Ross and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Japanese Amb. Kenichiro Sasae WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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POLLYWOOD | HOLLYWOOD ON THE POTOMAC
FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC Grammys on the Hill draws musicians and policy makers to the same stage B Y J A N E T D O N O VA N
Neil Portnow and Keith Urban
on’t let Keith Urban’s soft-spoken demeanor fool you. The New Zealand-bor n, Australian-raised musician is a powerhouse on the country music scene and a staunch advocate for arts education. He recently tacked on another award to his growing list of accolades (ahem, four Grammys) at the Grammys on the Hill celebration, where he graciously accepted the Recording Artists’ Coalition Award for his dedication to the music community. The annual event, held at The Hamilton Live in downtown Washington, gathers the music community and Capitol Hill lawmakers for an open dialogue about important arts issues that include funding and legislation. On the red carpet, Urban maintained his humility while expressing appreciation for the award’s ability to shed light on music education for young people. “The opportunity to work with aspiring musicians and kids who are just discovering music for the first time really inspires me,” he told journalists. “Creativity is at the heart of an innovative society – it brings people together and teaches children self-expression, creative confidence and improvisational skills that are
essential to their development.” Neil Portnow, president and CEO of The Recording Academy, described Grammys on the Hill as an institution at the crux of entertainment and education. “We have an audience of people from Congress who ultimately make decisions on laws and legislation that affect our community, so it’s an opportunity to interact with them in a social way,” he said. Jonathan Wolff, music composer for “Seinfeld,” echoed Portnow while addressing more than 60 members of Congress in the audience. “It’s important that the arts are supported, and those lawmakers who are here with us tonight get it. We hope they can carry that message to their colleagues,” he said. One can only assume he was referring to the Trump Administration and its threats to cut essential programs such as the National Endowment for the Arts. “It’s pretty sad,” Latin Grammy- winning duo Jesse & Joy, told us. “It’s something we are going to be talking about tomorrow, not only music but arts in general. It’s such a great escape for people, not only emotionally but for some of us perhaps mentally as well.”
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D
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and Wynonna Judd
With fear of budget cuts on the horizon, lobbying efforts are moving at a frantic pace. There was no time for hangovers the next morning as hundreds of music professionals from across the land flooded Capitol Hill for Grammys on the Hill Advocacy Day to discuss important issues affecting music creators. According to its mission statement, The Recording Academy boasts a 24,000member lobbying corps that works to “protect the rights of music makers and advance their interests on important policy matters.” Abdul “Duke” Fakir, founding member of famed Motown act the Four Tops, described his experience as a performer unprotected by copyright. “In the ’60s, when I first started selling records I was wondering why the writers who wrote our songs were getting paid and we weren’t when I heard it on the radio,” he said. “You know, what would their song be if we weren’t on it?” Country legend Wynonna Judd shied away from the red carpet but hit a home run with her performance, jokingly chastising Congress members singing along. “If I’m going to pay the kind of taxes I pay, you freakin’ better know the words to my song, boy.”
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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P H OTOS BY PAUL M O R I GI /G E T T Y W I RE I M AGE S F O R T H E R ECO R D I NG ACAD E M Y
Abdul “Duke Fakir” and Judy Tint
Rim Abboud, Samia Farouki and Lucky Roosevelt Prince Abdullah Al-Saud, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia
AMERICAN TASK FORCE FOR LEBANON DINNER
Rep. Darrell Issa (center) with co-honorees Rima Al-Sabah (left) and Carmen Debbane (right)
Fairmont Hotel | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL Strengthening a historic bilateral relationship and promoting the independence, national unity and prosperity of a democratic Lebanon has long been the goal of prominent Americans of Lebanese heritage. Now that more than one million Syrian refugees have entered the country, the American Task Force’s of Lebanon’s mission has an added — and crucial — importance that was not lost on guests who gathered to honor the work and commitment of two women who have done so much to help: Carmen Chahine Debbane, founder of the Lebanese Center for Special Education, and Kuwaiti Sheikah Rima Al-Sabah, who has raised millions for relief efforts with, as Gen. James L. “Jim” Jones pointed out, “the energy of a dozen four-star generals.”
New Hampshire Gov. Christopher Sununu
Amb. Dina Kawar of Jordan
VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Diane Rehm and JJ Yore WL SPONSORED
Frank Islam, Megan Beyer and Debbie Driesman
Patricia Harrison, Edie Fraser and Rep. Jim Moran
WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL GALA Ritz-Carlton, Washington | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL EVENING FOR EDUCATION More than 500 guests from government, business, media and academia gathered for the annual World Affairs Council’s Global Education Gala to honor five individuals including Blackboard CEO Bill Balhaus and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CEO Pat Harrison accepted the award) for their commitment to world education. WORDS TO REMEMBER: In her keynote, Jane Goodall told the story of how, after reading “Tarzan of the Apes” at the age of 10, she became determined to go to Africa and live with the animals. “We didn’t have much money. Books and clothes were second hand and I was just a girl,” she said. “But mother said, if you want this thing, you’re going to have to work really hard and take advantage of the opportunity and never give up. This is what I tell young people in different communities around the world.”
Jane Goodall
Nancy Lindborg and Afghan Amb. Hamdullah Mohib
VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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SPECIAL FEATURE
POWER
100
PORTRAITS BY TONY POWELL
JA R E D K U S H N E R A N D I VA N K A T R U M P/G E T T Y I M AG E S
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or want of a better word our annual list of un-elected, non-governmental heavy hitters is called “The Power 100.” But it’s the default headline. All those negative quotations about power have clung to it, giving it a bad name. Mention of Lord Acton’s invariably misquoted observation is almost de rigueur here: “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” If not “Power 100,” then what? “Clout 100” has violent connotations. “The Influential 100” would be closer to the truth, if only it were more eye-catching as a headline. Because in reality this list brings together overachievers who do get things done as well as those who can make it possible for others to get things done. So, by default, “Power 100.” If Washington is a “swamp,” then inside it lurk some rather brilliant creatures who know how to make the best use of their talents. Add to the mix some very rich creatures who know how best to use their wealth. Deeper down are the lobbyists and lawyers — the more distinguished of whom are also recognized. In the end, our 100 were chosen because in some way or another they dazzle, enrich, educate, support, entertain, anger (but only a few) and amuse the rest of us, and in the process make the nation’s capital what it is today. The rules we follow when determining who appears in the “Power 100” have not changed over the years. They are: (1) knowledge is power; (2) influence is power; (3) access is power; (4) the perception of power is power; and (5) money can translate to power if it is used effectively. In addition, the list does not include anyone drawing a government salary as there are numerous directories that compile such information. And, yes, it’s a subjective list. Included are the president’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, even though they are officially White House staffers. The fact that they hold unpaid positions provides sufficient leeway to include them, reflecting their strong, broad-based influence with President Trump. Few, if any, federal capitals around the world, created for the same reason that Washington came into being, as the seat of government, have made the same quality leap as the District of Columbia in recent years, and much of the credit goes to our 100 and many others like them. >>
POWER COUPLES IVANKA TRUMP & JARED KUSHNER White House Advisors As senior White House advisor, Kushner, a neophyte in both politics and foreign policy, is at the center of policy making, with a portfolio that would daunt an official with years of experience. He is involved in the Middle East peace process, relations with China, and a project to make the bureaucracy more efficient by applying business techniques. Initially, Ivanka had no official role in the administration, but had an office in the White House, a staff, and security clearance. By the end of March, the President changed course and brought his daughter on as a West Wing employee, in part due to backlash about ethics concerns. “I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the President in my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules,” Ivanka Trump said, “and I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House Office, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees.” Together with presidential economics advisor (and former chairman of the investment bank Goldman Sachs) Gary Cohn, the couple is said to represent a moderating force in the byzantine maneuvers of the White House, pushing against the more extreme conservative elements led by Steve Bannon. Fox News recently called Kushner the most powerful advisor within the president’s inner circle and is said to be behind the slippage in Bannon’s influence with Donald Trump and his recent marginalization, and Ivanka is known to have worked on her father’s first address before the U.S. Congress and to be in part responsible for its uncharacteristic restraint. She and her husband pushed for the White House statement pledging to leave intact a 2014 executive order that protects LGBTQ workplace rights. With President Trump’s wife Melania remaining in New York, Ivanka has emerged as the de facto first lady. She recently sat next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a round table of German and American entrepreneurs. In April, Ivanka Trump traveled to Germany upon the invitation of Merkel to speak on a panel on women’s empowerment during the W20 Summit. The notion of the president’s unelected daughter and her husband, both with no previous government
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or political experience, freely roaming over the policy minefield causes unease in Washington; but any restraining effect on the erratic and unpredictable president is surely welcome. STEVE & JEAN CASE Founders, Case Foundation Digital pioneers who cofounded America Online, the husband and wife team created the Case Foundation in 1997 “to invest in people and ideas that can change the world.” Steve Case’s book last year, “The Third Wave: One Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future,” was a study of where the Internet was going and how entrepreneurs could determine its future direction. He has been an outspoken critic of President Trump’s immigration policies, saying they would hurt entrepreneurship, and added a new chapter about the issue to his book after the 2016 election. His Revolution LLC, a venture capital investment f irm devoted to innovative and dynamic new companies, has contributed to vitalizing the Washington area with its support of hi-tech startups. In 2016, Jean Case became chairman of the board of trustees of the National Geographic Society, with which she has been connected for the past decade. The same year, Forbes estimated that the couple’s net worth was $1.36 billion. Forbes said the McLean, Va. residents have joined Warren Buffet’s Giving Pledge, along with other wealthy entrepreneurs, to donate the bulk of their fortunes to philanthropic causes.
POLITICS & ADVOCACY JEREMY BEN-AMI Founder and President, J Street At the 2016 annual conference of this progressive pro-Israel Jewish American organization, Vice President Joe Biden and then-Secretary of State John Kerry were among those present. Not surprisingly, no senior
member of the current administration attended this year’s conference, held six weeks after Trump took off ice. Even so, conference participants appeared buoyed by indications that the Trump agenda was not as close to that of the Israeli rightwing government as had appeared in the campaign; and that the central objective of the J Street group — a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side-byside in peace – might not be completely lost. Trump said in a press conference that he didn’t care if the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ended up with a two-state solution, or one state. But other members of the administration have since suggested Washington may continue to insist on a two-state solution. Another aspect of J Street’s continued strength is that the majority of American Jewish voters had cast ballots for Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump. This may be one reason why, contrary to Trump’s stated intentions, the U.S. Embassy had not moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and Trump had publicly urged Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to restrain settlement activity – something Trump’s predecessor had never stated in public.
KIRK BLALOCK & KIRSTEN CHADWICK Partners, Fierce Government Relations This f irm takes its unusual name from its founder, longtime lobbyist Dan Fierce. With revenue in 2016 of $12.8 million and more than 50 clients ranging from Dow Chemical to Sprint, Fierce Government Relations qualif ies as a top Washington lobbying outf it. All of their senior staff have Republican White House or congressional experience. Blalock was staff liaison to the business community in the George W. Bush White House, special assistant to Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour and worked on Sen. John McCain’s 2008
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presidential bid. Chadwick worked in the White House legislative affairs off ice and worked on the Central America Free Trade Association (CAFTA) and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Association) both of which President Trump says he wants to renegotiate.
members represent $6 trillion in revenue and collectively employ a workforce of 15 million share some of Trump’s growth policies, notably a tax overhaul, deregulation and trade promotion. But Bolten supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) from which the Trump administration has pulled out, and the Roundtable generally JOHN BOEHNER TRENT favors multi-lateral trade agreements. LOTT & JOHN BREAUX DANIEL BOSTON Strategic Advisor and President, Health Policy Source Senior Counsels, After offering key strategic Squire Patton Boggs Following Boehner’s tearful advice and guidance to resignation as Speaker of the clients during the 2009-2010 House in 2016 the question healthcare reform debate was whether he would quit leading to the creation of Obamacare, Washington for a quiet life it’s back to square one for this veteran in his native Ohio. But healthcare lobbyist as the Trump the former Republican administration and a GOP-dominated congressman who was forced Congress try to bury the greatest out by GOP conservatives achievement of Barack Obama’s domestic remains inf luential among legacy with “repeal and replace” as its moderate Republicans, who tombstone. “Changes are coming in the look to him for advice. He healthcare industry – potentially different has taken the well-trodden changes than those we have already been path to K Street and found a new home at preparing for,” he recently warned in a Squire Patton Boggs, one of Washington’s rallying cry to Health Policy Source’s leading lobby shops, where he is a “strategic numerous healthcare organization clients. advisor,” rather than a lobbyist. The firm NORM COLEMAN already employs former senators Trent & MATTHEW BROOKS Lott (R-Miss.) and John Breaux (D-La.) Executive Director, as senior counsels. Its long list of clients Republican Jewish Coalition includes the People’s Republic of China. You can’t say Brooks and his Some years back, Boehner led a successful new chairman Coleman aren’t effort in the House to make China’s Most doing their best to reverse the Favored Nation status permanent. established trend of Jewish JOSHUA BOLTEN voters overwhelmingly voting President and CEO, Democratic, but 71 percent Business Roundtable voted for Hillary Clinton in The Business Roundtable, 2016, and marginally fewer the powerful lobbying group for Trump (24 percent) than for Romney in for the CEOs of America’s 2014. Still, Trump won the election, the GOP top corporations, has hired a former chiefgained control of both houses of Congress of-staff of President George W. Bush and the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and an outspoken Republican critic of said it “couldn’t be happier” with the result. President Trump as its new president. But Other Jewish organizations – notably the Antiinsiders say that doesn’t necessarily mean Defamation League – had openly criticized that big business is poised to push back on anti-Semitic behavior by some of Trump’s Trump’s agenda. The Roundtable, whose supporters, but Brooks and Coleman, backed
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by such major donors as Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson and venture capitalist Elliott Broidy, focused on Trump’s seeming commitment to a hawkish, far-right oriented Israel policy, which is the core mission of their organization. The prospect that Trump would reverse the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal, which the Coalition had fought hard against but failed to block, has buoyed the RJC. JOSEPH CIRINCIONE President, Ploughshares Fund In the closing days of the Obama administration an appeal was made to the president urging him to take America’s 1,000 or so nuclear warheads off hair-trigger alert and ready to launch at a moment’s notice. The originator of the initiative was Joseph (Joe) Cirincione, head of the Ploughshares Fund, a venerable arms control advocacy group that quarterbacked the deal that prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and his stated aim was to stop incoming President Donald Trump from “impulsively blowing up the planet.” Cirincione’s appeal failed: The country remains on high nuclear alert as it has been since the start of the Cold War; and given Trump’s confusing signals on the issue since taking office, coupled with his threats to dismantle the Iran nuclear agreement, the Ploughshares Fund is set to join the battle line of advocacy groups, environmentalists, lobbyists, political figures and others in the coming offensive against President Trump’s key demolition projects (trade and climate agreements, U.S. nuclear and Iran policy, etc). JEFFREY DEBOER Founding president and CEO, Real Estate Round Table Since 1997 the Roundtable represents leaders of the nation’s publicly held and privately owned real estate, development, and lending firms. With a developer in the White House, real estate is in sharper focus than ever before. The retail and industrial properties owned by Roundtable members are valued at $1 trillion. After a rocky few years the U.S. real estate market has calmed down, but how will it fare in a Trump administration? In interviews, DeBoer says he is
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cautiously optimistic. One issue with ramifications for the real estate industry is the Republican Party’s determination to overhaul the tax system and threat to remove the mortgage interest deduction. Another is Trump’s infrastructure plan if it focuses on rolling stock and ignores the water grid and the electrical power grid — both badly in need of renovation. DeBoer says he expects President Trump, himself a real estate developer, to take a particular interest in real estate issues. Where that would lead is anybody’s guess. LISA DONNER Executive Director, Americans for Financial Reform Under Obama, Americans for Financial Reform fought for and won the “Best Interest” Rule, otherwise known as the “Fiduciary Rule.” This rule requires retirement investment advisors to favor the interest of their clients over the interest of their investment company. In a drive to push for greater deregulation of the financial services industry, the Trump administration issued a presidential memo to delay the rule. Following the memo, AFR launched what will likely be one of many campaigns to defend against Wall Street deregulation and the attack on this rule. Forbes estimates that it will save retirees some $17 billion in unnecessary fees that would otherwise have eaten into their nest eggs. Donner and AFR’s broad coalition of civil rights groups, consumer advocates, community organizations, labor unions and pro-(small) business advocate for Wall Street regulation and attempt to make financial and trade issues understandable to the layman. THOMAS DONOHUE & SCOTT REED President and CEO, and Senior Political Strategist, U.S. Chamber of Commerce In the election campaign, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce dismissed Donald Trump’s trade program as protectionist. Did this mean the Chamber, traditionally seen
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as Republican-leaning, was switching sides? The reality is that the Chamber of Commerce represents big business interests, which don’t always coincide with Trump’s campaign promises, much less the best interests of the U.S. economy, according to critics. For example, the Chamber endorsed the Trans-Pacif ic Partnership (TPP), supports other multi-national trade deals, and doesn’t think globalism is a dirty word. But the Chamber does see eye-toeye with Trump on tax reform and deregulation. It focuses on getting pro-big business candidates elected or re-elected. In the 2016 elections, it held the top spot on OpenSecret’s lobbying list with more than $ 84 million spent on political contributions, and not much of that went to the Trump campaign. As senior political strategist of the more-than-acentury-old organization Reed played a major part in the 2016 effort, a role he is gearing up to repeat in the midterms. STEVE ELMENDORF Founder and partner, Subject Matter The experts’ view is that Elmendorf leads one of the top lobbying firms that retains inf luence in Washington even as the Democrats face an unpredictable presidency bent on draining the swamp, and a fractious Congress. Remarkably, he’s developed one of the go-to bipartisan shops in town, without losing his partisan identity, which is on display for all to see on his Twitter account. Elmendorf, a prominent gay lobbyist, together with Paul Frick and Dan Sallick, the principals of Home Front Communications, his corporate partners, have a long history in D.C. dating back to their time working together for then-House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt. Lobbyist revenues have been hit in recent years in part by more restrained corporate spending, and also by years of congressional gridlock. But the two firms remain healthy with a strong client list that includes Ford, Verizon, the NFL and Union Pacific Railroad
among others, and $25 million revenue. ADAM FALKOFF Founder, CapitalKeys and CoChairman, Circle 4 Entertainment As the head of a Washingtonbased global public policy firm, with a residence in Palm Beach where he’s a regular at the Mar-a-Lago Club, Falkoff has long been friendly with Donald Trump. For a strategic consultant that’s a clear advantage. He jumped on the Trump bandwagon early on as an outside strategic advisor and, following Trump’s election, provided background on the intricacies of Washington to the transition team, advised the President-elect on Cabinet appointees and the few appointments the administration has made in its remarkably lethargic selection process that leaves the corridors of power still largely empty after 100 days. Falkoff is still said to have the President’s ear. As one of President Trump’s trusted confidants, the 20-year political veteran sits at the nexus of Washington and Hollywood, where his Circle 4 Entertainment has produced such films of note as “Walt Before Mickey,” and “Swing State.” EDWIN FEULNER President, The Heritage Foundation In late March, the conservative think tank that had a sizeable ongoing role in shaping Trump’s administration and his hard-line policies, suddenly purged its leader, former South Carolina senator Jim DeMitt, and replaced him with Edwin Feulner, a former Heritage president whose previous 36-year tenure “transformed the think tank into a powerhouse,” according to its website. The reasons behind DeMint’s undoing were not known, but what is being called a coup ref lected the widely reported in-fighting to dominate Trump’s agenda. Reports pointed out that the Heritage board that ousted DeMint included Rebekah Mercer, a top Trump donor, and patron of White House chief
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strategist Stephen K. Bannon. Heritage briefed the Trump administration on conservative solutions to issues ranging from poverty to national security, and the president publicly praised Heritage input in the search for a Supreme Court justice. Feulner was already close to the Trump administration, where many Heritage staffers have found employment. THOMAS FITTON President, Judicial Watch Fitton is the aggressive, high profile head of this rightwing legal advocacy group that successfully sued the Obama administration for the release of Hillary Clinton’s State Department e-mails. Now, Judicial Watch is heavily engaged in providing material in support of Trump’s Twitter claims and the administration’s policies, and against what it regards as an entrenched bureaucracy hostile to the president. It is currently suing to find out which EPA employees used the “Signal” email encryption app to leak Trump’s plans to decimate the EPA. MICHAEL FLYNN Founder, Flynn Intel Group Retired Major General Flynn was dismissed from the post of National Security Council director for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian officials during the election campaign. The extent of his Russian ties, and their real implications, could become more clear following the current investigations. But in addition to the Russian cloud hanging over his head, it has since emerged that Flynn was also lobbying for a foreign client (Turkey) while he was attending sensitive intelligence briefings as part of Trump’s campaign team. As a result, the former general became toxic to the White House. Or did he? Some anonymous insiders have said he still has access to Trump who puts great stock in loyalty from his supporters, and Flynn was nothing if not loyal. At big campaign
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rallies, his eyes burning with Trumpian fervor, he led the chants of “Lock her up!” – referring to Hillary Clinton – revealing a squalid side to him that shocked many former military colleagues. JACK GERARD President and CEO, American Petroleum Institute In 2016, with the nation’s average gas price hovering at $2 per gallon, the Obama administration scrapped plans for increased Atlantic oil drilling and signed the Paris climate agreement that imposes tougher global emission restrictions. But since January, American fossil fuel has a new champion in the White House. Donald Trump promises to go beyond what Gerard, long-time voice of the inf luential oil lobby at the American Petroleum Institute, has been advocating for – expansion of fossil fuel exploration and production. Trump is also threatening to roll back government regulations and has renewed the periodic cry of “energy independence” in the United States. But make no mistake, when he speaks of “energy independence,” he’s not talking about kicking our environmentally destructive oil habit. NEWT GINGRICH Informal advisor to the White House, Senior Advisor, Denton’s The former Speaker of the House, and a current senior advisor for Dentons, the world’s largest law firm, was reportedly one of President-elect Donald Trump’s closest advisors during the transition. He claims he took himself out of the running for a Cabinet position, saying he’d rather be a “chief planner” for the President from a position outside of the White House. The New York Times reports that Gingrich “talks more with Mr. Trump’s top advisors than he does with the president, but his presence permeates the administration.” He is an avid backer of the president’s controversial aide, Stephen Miller, who authored Trump’s inaugural address
and wrote the discriminatory travel ban immigration order, which has been stopped by the courts. Gingrich has continued to be an outspoken Trump surrogate on the airwaves, most recently making headlines for an appearance on ABC’s “This Week” during which he said Trump, despite his low approval ratings, could win re-election in 2020 if he were to stimulate the economy. JULEANNA GLOVER Political consultant Juleanna Glover, well known as a Washington hostess with an electronic Rolodex of contacts going back to her Bush administration days, is also a powerhouse corporate strategist whose eponymous firm advises companies “with high-stakes public and governmental affairs challenges in a myriad and diverse range of issue areas.” Her most recent achievement, which ref lects her entrenched inf luence, was securing a place for client and SpaceX founder Elon Musk on President Trump’s manufacturing council as well as on the business advisory council headed by Blackstone CEO Steve Schwartzman. Glover was formerly a senior advisor at Teneo Intelligence, a self-described global advisory firm working exclusively with CEOs and the heads of global corporations providing strategic counsel and before that, was one of the original members of the Ashcroft Group, a consulting company named after former Attorney General John Ashcroft, one of its founding members. JO ANN JENKINS CEO of AARP Jo Ann Jenkins heads an organization that had to change its name to catch up with reality. The non-profit AARP has retained its initials, but dropped what they used to mean, which was the American Association of Retired Persons. Many of the AARP’s 38 million paid-up members aged 50 or older are not retirees, but remain active in the workplace. Thanks to a large membership and the fact that American senior citizens have a high voter
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MICHAEL HAYDEN Former NSA and CIA Director; Principal, The Chertoff Group; CNN National Security Analyst Knowledge, access, influence, Hayden has it all. Now as a major power presence and principal at The Chertoff Group, a global advisory firm, he provides coveted advice on technological intelligence while also serving as one of the few public faces of the intelligence business on cable TV. From the 1970s to 2009, Hayden was steeped in military and intel work. The retired Air Force general was successively director of the National Security Agency (1999-2005), then briefly principal deputy director of National Intelligence in 2005, followed by a three-year stint as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, until 2009. Following 9/11, Hayden deftly used the attack as an opportunity to push through his multi-billion-dollar budgetary requests for a comprehensive data collection and surveillance regime; and with the Bush administration’s encouragement, significantly expanded the operation, which some former high ranking NSA whistle blowers say entailed unconstitutional and illegal eavesdropping on all American citizens. Thereafter, Hayden
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shrewdly briefed the chairmen of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi, disclosing how the NSA was spying on all communications between and among American citizens. These briefings effectively “inoculated” Bush and Cheney from the possibility of impeachment proceedings once it was leaked that the NSA was engaging in proscribed surveillance of U.S. citizens. Shortly before 9/11, Hayden also shelved project “THINTHREAD,” a fully functional, constitutionally-compliant and cost-effective intelligence gathering tool, in order to promote his multi-billion-dollar project “TRAILBLAZER,” which was not yet operational. Under his leadership, the NSA next embarked on a massive build-out of project “STELLARWIND,” which required constructing multiple “sprawling data cities” to store the domestic calls, emails and texts of every American; his critics claim this was misguided as there could never be enough intelligence analysts to assess such a massive quantity of gathered data, analogizing that it would be “akin to sucking up every grain of sand on the beach to find one valuable coin, rather than using a metal detector.” For some, Hayden’s illustrative career is as controversial
as it is impressive. Leaving aside whether such indiscriminate domestic data collection and storage is too easily susceptible to abuse, Hayden’s critics question whether it is better suited for the retroactive targeting of political enemies rather than the prevention of terrorist attacks. Hayden’s impact and legacy of total domestic surveillance continues to this day, as there are still few checks on the government agencies accessing this raw data given his elimination of THINTHREADS’ privacy protections and audit functions, which provided the ability to monitor who accesses such data. He has also been one of the more aggressive Republican intelligence figures pushing the Trump-Russia connection, goading Trump into taking a more hostile line towards Russia. “It’s remarkable that [Trump has] refused to say an unkind syllable about Vladimir Putin,” Hayden complained. “He contorts himself not to criticize Putin.” Hayden also lashed out at Trump for rejecting calls to topple the government of Syria through force, accusing him of echoing the “Syrian, Russia, Iranian narrative.” Criticism like this from advocates of intervention turned to effusive praise when Trump authorized a cruise missile strike this April on the Syrian military’s Shayrat airbase.
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turnout Jenkins’s organization is one of the most powerful lobby groups in U.S. politics today. The Association’s current number one target is the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Jenkins, who became CEO in 2014, is the second woman to head the AARP after its founder, Ethel Percy Andrus 59 years ago. Jenkins says that with the nation aging rapidly AARP membership has nowhere to go but up, and so does its political clout. HOWARD KOHR Executive Director, The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) At AIPAC’s 2016 spring conference Howard Kohr had a bit of a problem. Delegates and Jewish activists at this predominantly Democrat gathering were threatening to boycott then GOP candidate Donald Trump’s appearance. In an effort to ward off any unpleasantness from the f loor, Khor, who has led the Likudaligned Israel lobby since 1996, used his opening speech to the audience of 18,000 to stress the importance of having bipartisan support and the need for “building relationships with all candidates for federal office.” Kohr also took the unusual step of not introducing the presidential candidates before they addressed the conference, thus avoiding a negative reaction from the audience when he introduced Donald Trump. Now, President Trump – hardly a favorite with Jewish voters – is threatening to roll back the Iran nuclear deal, which AIPAC had strongly opposed but failed to halt in the biggest defeat in its history. It is a testament to Kohr’s power that he was able to stanch some of his membership losses despite AIPAC’s sharp partisan turn on the Iran deal. Trump has also promised to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. So, where does that leave Kohr? AIPAC now seems to have an ally in the White House on right-wing Israel policy – even if an unpredictable one. He has brought his sonin-law Jared Kushner into the White House apparently with a brief to resuscitate and
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oversee the dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process; but more recently has indicated that he has no interest in continuing America’s involvement as honest broker, and wants the Israelis and the Palestinians to “make their own deal” (as he put it). MARc LAMPKIN & AL MOTTUR Shareholders, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Lampkin, once an aide to former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), and Mottur, a Democratic strategist and top bundler on K Street for presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, have reason for satisfaction. The small firm Norm Brownstein founded in Denver in the 1990s has become one of the most powerful power lobby shops in Washington. After being in the top 10 for years, it is now rated the second highest, with $25.6 million in revenue in 2016. Mottur, a long-time Democratic strategist, recently wrote in the Huffington Post urging Democrats “to be more united and more focused on winning than ever before.” Reflecting the firm’s bi-partisan approach, Lampkin was one of the few K Street lobbyists on the Trump transition team. WAYNE LAPIERRE & CHRIS COX Executive Vice President & Executive Director of Institute for Legislative Action, National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association was one of Donald Trump’s earliest campaign supporters, and spent $30 million to help get him elected. President Trump has acknowledged its support, calling NRA members “great people” who “love our country.” The NRA clearly sees the Trump administration as an ally in strengthening its position and furthering its agenda. The NRA’s top legislative priority now is the removal of a ban carrying a concealed weapon outside
the state where it was bought and licensed. In recent statements LaPierre, who has led the NRA since 1991, has said the pro-gun movement was set to defend Trump from violence by the insurgent left frustrated at losing the presidential election. Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s legislative arm, directs its lobbying, voter registration drives and government relations as well as a “Victory Fund,” which propelled most of NRA-endorsed candidates to key election wins in 2016. LEONARD A. LEO Executive Vice-President, The Federalist Society Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, was brought to the president’s attention by Leonard Leo, executive vice-president of The Federalist Society, an organization – since 1982 – of right wing judicial activists who among other core beliefs regard the Constitution as set in stone, contrary to what is inscribed on Thomas Jefferson’s memorial, and open only to narrowly rigid interpretation. Leo also coordinated the administration’s effort to get Gorsuch approved, but that was just the beginning. The New York Times reported recently that Leo is “playing a critical role in reshaping the judiciary” at a time when the federal bench faces a record number of vacancies waiting to be filled – in large part because the Republicans held up confirmation of so many of President Obama’s nominations. The Trump administration has an unprecedented opportunity to appoint 124 new judges so far, with more retirements on the way. COREY LEWANDOWSKI Founder and Managing Partner, Avenue Strategies Lewandowski was Trump’s campaign manager before he was fired and was succeeded by Paul Manafort (who was then replaced by Kellyanne Conway), but his ties with Trump were not broken. He joined CNN as a pro-Trump commentator,
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providing news “balance” and remained in touch with Trump throughout the election, sometimes even accompanying the candidate on the campaign trail. Following Trump’s election Lewandowski set up Avenue Strategies, a lobbying firm with offices a block away from the White House. Lewandowski said he was staying out of the administration because “I can help outside the formal structure of government.” The reality, according to insiders, was that he failed to get an inf luential White House job because of opposition from other staffers who reportedly balked at his aggressive manner and combative nature. Still, no one denies he has access to the president: according to a White House insider, Lewandoski recently called Trump with a special request and is now slated for a trip on Air Force One in the near feature. CHRISTOPHER LIBERTELLI Head of global government relations, Netflix Christopher Libertelli is a pioneer of sorts. He broke new ground as the first representative in Washington from the world of hi-tech. His key success at Netf lix has been the establishment of so-called net neutrality despite opposition from internet service providers (ISPs) like Verizon and Comcast. Net neutrality encapsulates the idea of a free and open internet in which ISPs can’t charge Netf lix and other sites a fee to ensure its films run at a speed that makes streaming possible – all of which, Netf lix argued, worked to the advantage of the consumer. Netf lix spent millions of dollars campaigning for the change in the way the Internet is regulated until net neutrality was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission – the FCC – and upheld in the courts. It probably helped that Libertelli had been senior legal advisor to the FCC chairman and knew from the inside how the regulatory agency worked. But that was before Trump’s election and his appointment of Ajit Pai, a former Verizon lawyer, as the new FCC chairman. In keeping with Trump’s offensive against
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government regulation, Pai is expected to attempt a reversal of net neutrality, which the New York Times recently called the “tech centerpiece of the Obama administration.” So what is Libertelli’s public response? With Netf lix consuming more than onethird of today’s internet bandwidth at peak times, the video-on-demand streaming service is simply too big to undermine. LAVINIA LIMON CEO & Executive Director. U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Lavinia Limon is among the key names in the push back against the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict immigrants and its fourmonth halt in resettling refugees from certain Arab countries, including Syria. In 2016, the Obama administration resettled 85,000 refugees, and USCRI had worked with about 12,000 of them. But even before temporarily closing the door to refugees, the Trump administration had already said it would limit the intake to 50,000. Limon, who took over as head of USCRI in 2001 after having worked on refugee re-settlement in the Clinton administration, has campaigned along with other refugee organizations against the Trump administration’s 120-day halt on the basis that the screening process was already sufficiently thorough and it sometimes took years for a refugee to be admitted. STEVE LOMBARDO Chief Communications and Marketing Officer, Koch Industries The publicity shy Koch brothers (Charles and David), owners of the country’s second largest privately owned conglomerate (mainly coal, oil, and gas) spend millions on advancing their environmentally destructive agenda, but let their money do the talking – with a strong assist since 2014 from Steve Lombardo, their chief of communications and marketing. He joined the organization from Burson-
Marsteller, a public relations firm primarily known for its crisis management and political lobbying. Long active in Republican politics, Lombardo also worked on George H.W. Bush’s 1992 presidential campaign and was communications advisor on the Romney for President campaign. Part of his job is to demystify the Koch brand, which many view as shadowy. Mention of the Koch Industries, Lombardo told an audience recently, “causes you to shudder or smile, depending on your political perspective.” In reality, the Koch brothers’ attempts to shape the political and policy debate nationwide (for example, they have spent $79 million on climate change denial) is one of politics’ worst kept secrets. They operate through a network of movements and advocacy groups such as the Club For Growth and Americans for Prosperity and others mainly financed through the Arlington-based Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, which functions as the Koch bank. The Koch brothers have a long-standing connection with Vice-President Pence, but did not support Trump’s election. However, Marc Short, who headed Freedom Partners, is now Trump’s director of legislative affairs. SUSAN MOLINARI Vice President for Public Policy and Government Affairs, Google Former Staten Island Republican Rep. Susan Molinari is Google’s point person in Washington. Her main challenge has to do with the corporation’s proDemocrat image, and indeed reputation, as she confronts ongoing issues between Google and the government relating to confidentiality, encryption and suppressing competition. Google participated in Trump’s December “hi-tech summit” but insiders say residual suspicion remains. In the presidential campaign, 1,400 Google employees contributed $1.4 million to Hillary Clinton, compared to $26,000 by some 300 employees to the Trump camp.
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GROVER NORQUIST Founder & President, Americans for Tax Reform Since founding Americans for Tax Reform at President Reagan’s request in 1985, Norquist has worked diligently to recast the direction of America’s budget. All but 16 Republican representatives and six senators have been persuaded to sign his group’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which pushes for no new taxes and no reduction in deductions without matching lowered rates. Norquist’s ultimate goal, he says, “is to reduce the size of government … and eventually get it small enough that if you wanted you could drown it in a tub.” Norquist says President Trump has told him he will sign the pledge, but he has yet to do so. Still, with Trump in office, Norquist sees things going his way. The GOP-dominated Congress and Trump appear to be on the same page regarding tax reform and Norquist is expecting abolition of the Death Tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), plus additional tax cuts he says will boost the economy and ensure that not a single additional dollar in revenue goes to the U.S. government. BARACK OBAMA Former President of the United States Most former U.S. presidents can’t wait to shake the dust of Washington from their feet at the end of a presidential term. The truth of this is reflected in the fact that Barack Obama is the first exception to this hurried exodus since Woodrow Wilson in 1921. The Obamas’ decision to remain in Washington until daughter Sasha graduates from Sidwell Friends in two years time has given them a ringside seat to his successor’s attempts to dismantle key parts of his legacy. So far, he has been a “good” silent spectator even as Donald Trump alleges that Obama had his phones tapped during the election campaign and complains of having inherited “a mess.” Obama’s presence, however, makes it easier for key Democrats to stay in touch as they rebuild their shattered party. Besides, being in
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Washington could be helpful to Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as they work on their books under a contract with Penguin Random House, which The New York Times speculates “stretched well into eight figures.” If either of them has writer’s block there are plenty of landmarks to refresh the memory. THOMAS PEREZ Chairman, Democratic National Committee In Thomas Perez, the former Obama administration Secretary of Labor, the Democrats chose a close ally of both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to lead the party, which has been hemorrhaging power at the national and state levels for the past eight years. Perez beat Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, the candidate backed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and the party’s progressives. Perez now faces the task of rebuilding the party, with 2018 midterms as a target date. The fact that he is the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic certainly didn’t harm his chances of winning. Plus, as a prominent civil rights lawyer he had been closely involved in cases involving police action against illegal immigrants. Obama appointed him head of the Civil Rights division at the Justice Department where he occupied the office that once belonged to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Actually, it was a homecoming of sorts for Perez who had worked there previously under Presidents Reagan, Clinton and George W. Bush. As the Republicans squabbled among themselves, the new DNC chairman took measures to contain factionalism in his own party by promptly naming Ellison vicechairman. Ellison, for his part, called on his backers to support the new party chief. MICHAEL PETRUZZELLO Founder and managing partner QorvisMSL Group After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis,
the Saudi Arabian regime scrambled to protect its reputation in the United States behind a wall of Washington lawyers and public relations organizations. Leading the massive image repair job was Qorvis, then a year-old communications firm. Qorvis has retained Saudi Arabia as a client through thick and thin, along with an impressive list of other domestic and foreign clients. The firm’s affable and perceptive founder suggests that the Arab ruling class has looked to the United States to give them the stature and legitimacy they don’t necessarily enjoy in their own countries – but wonders aloud if that will continue. Michael Petruzzello: Most of them went to school here, they have homes here, and their children went to school here. America is their second home. Plus they have a great appreciation of American power, influence values and America’s unique position in the world to effect change. At the same time, they wonder what direction we’re going in. But the most important thing is, they’re our allies. Washington Life: What do foreign clients want from a Washington communications firm? Petruzzello: I would say image. What they are really looking for is a better cultural understanding. There are few Americans who have had the opportunity to travel to the Middle East, and they see the Middle East on television, which gives the impression of things being very tumultuous, sometimes violent. But if you live there or spend some time there, that’s not the way people live or work or raise their families. WL: How has the work environment changed over the past 17 years of Qorvis’s existence? Petruzzello: We started before the age of social media. Facebook and Twitter have obviously accelerated the news cycle. Things move so quickly that it takes away from some of the thoughtfulness that we once had. The environment in D.C.
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was more cordial, more collaborative. If you didn’t agree on issues both sides tended to show a little more respect and courtesy. Washington has become a tougher neighborhood. ERICH PICA President, Friends of the Earth Pica, a fearless champion for a healthy and just world, has positioned Friends of the Earth (FOE), a 47-year old environmental organization founded by David Brower, to drive policy change through hardhitting, well-reasoned climate science, robust economic policy analysis, advocacy campaigns and grassroots mobilization. Under Pica’s leadership last year, FOE secured an agreement from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to make California (the world’s sixth largest economy) nuclear free by agreeing to shut down its two Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors. The FOE nuclear team, led by Damon Moglan and David Freeman, created a road map for how utilities, local, state and federal authorities can reach agreements to close down dirty and dangerous fossil fuel and nuclear power plants and replace them with costcompetitive renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, without a spike in greenhouse gasses or the proliferation and terrorism related risks of nuclear power. They also extracted a startling admission from PG&E, namely, that operating these nuclear facilities made no economic sense. Pica and FOE had another big win last year in their campaign to champion the cause of bees and pollinator protection by utilizing hard science and mobilizing grassroots activists to take direct action against their local garden retailers. Armed with FOE funded tests showing that companies were selling plants laden with bee-killing pesticides, thousands of FOE member-activists directly engaged Lowes, Home Depot, Costco and other retailers to ban bee-killing pesticides, successfully forcing 74 percent of growers to eliminate the use of bee-killing neonicotinoids in production in 2016. Given its clarity of purpose and omnivorous use of strategies and tactics in the fight for a
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healthy and just world, we are sure to see more from Pica and FOE as they continue to take polluters and climate deniers to task. TONY PODESTA Founder and Chairman, Podesta Group Podesta is something of a legend in the Washington inf luence business, with his f lamboyant ties, remarkable and sometimes shocking collection of contemporary art, and the gossip about his now-ended marriage to Heather Podesta – a fashion Aurora Borealis. There’s also the enviable fact that he heads one of the town’s most powerful lobby shops with revenue of $23 million in 2015. Even the malignant stories spread by his enemies are over-thetop, like the “Pizzagate” rumors somehow linking him and his brother John, at the time chairman of the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential bid, to a non-existent pedophile ring. Companies turn to the Podesta Group in the greatest time of need (he represented BP after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill), but companies also leave him. According to a Bloomberg news report, Trump’s victory, coupled with the GOP gaining control of House and Senate has led to seven clients parting company with Podesta’s Democrataffiliated firm in search of a Republicanleaning one – a lemming-like exodus that is part of the periodic ritual of shifting power in Washington. His critics charge that his lobby firm benefited from his closeness to the Democrats during the Clinton and Obama administrations. But the same critics say he lobbied – unsuccessfully – on behalf of a powerful Russian bank seeking to remove Obama’s sanctions against Russia. That’s Washington for you. JOHN F W ROGERS Exective Vice-President, Goldman Sachs For years, the Wall Street powerhouse had no lobbying presence in Washington, relying for access on senior staffers who went to work for a succession of
administrations in top positions. But that changed following the 2008 financial crisis. To counter its negative image, Goldman Sachs established a strong Washington presence and mounted a major public relations offensive. Rogers, a partner and executive vice-president, is the most durable power player in Washington in part because of his past political connections. In the 1980s he had a succession of posts in the White House, the U.S. Treasury and the State Department. Now he oversees press and public relations at Goldman Sach’s Washington D.C. government affairs office, as well as the company’s considerable philanthropic efforts. The bank was one of Trump’s favorite whipping boys in the campaign, but in a remarkable about-face he has brought in a throng of Goldman staffers and alumni. On the strength of the administration’s performance so far, the question the bank’s leadership must be asking itself is: does that mean the bank can relax its own public relations operation in the capital, or increase it? ANTHONY D ROMERO Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union This is certainly a banner year for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its executive director, Anthony Romero. On January 30, only 10 days after Trump took office, the Washington Post reported that the ACLU had received $24 million in online donations during just the preceding weekend, six times its yearly average, and that membership had more than doubled. According to Business Wire and Charity Navigator, during the first 100 days of the Trump administration, donations to the ACLU increased 8,000 percent. The ACLU has been on the front line fighting against Trump’s national originbased travel ban and his immigration and deportation policies, as well as other attacks on civil liberties and personal freedoms. Donations have been rolling in from across the political spectrum, from libertarians to liberals, and Americans concerned with the
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rumblings about expaneded government control and loss of basic freedoms. But even before the election, Romero had already presided over the largest membership growth in the organization’s history since taking the helm in 2001 (and breaking barriers as the first Latino and openly gay man to hold the post). He has expanded nationwide litigation, advocacy and public education efforts nationally in defense of personal freedoms, including human rights, technology privacy rights, religious freedom, reproductive freedom, criminal law reform, LGBT rights and racial justice. ZAHER SAHLOUL & MAJD ISREB Chairman, Global Relief Committee and Chairman, Syrian American Medical Society Under the leadership of Zahloul and Isreb, the heretofore little known Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), which claims to be a “nonpolitical, educational and humanitarian organization,” has grown from a modest pre-Syrian-war budget to a well-oiled multi-million dollar advocacy organization that has found inf luential allies like Republican Sen. John McCain. With over $5.8 million in funding from the U.S. government, SAMS has provided medical care in exceptionally dire conditions, setting up hospitals in conf lict ravaged “rebel”-held territory in Syria and in refugee camps like Zaatari in Jordan. But in Syria, SAMS assistance coordination units send aid and set up hospitals within territories exclusively held by Al Qaeda affiliated “rebels”. According to their annual report, SAMS operates 100 hospitals in Syria, though independent monitoring and evaluation is virtually impossible, as Western reporters in these areas are routinely kidnapped, publicly beheaded and otherwise killed. Salhoul’s recently created American Coalition for Syrian Relief has endorsed President Donald Trump’s call for “safe zones” in
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Syria, a euphemism for No Fly Zones that would require U.S. military engagement to enforce. Sahloul also operates a WhatsApp group for journalists where he shares potent images targeted to evoke an emotional response that supports the case for direct U.S. military intervention against the Syrian government. In his recent piece in the Huffington Post, former U.S. Iraq weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a SAMS critic, notes that “organizations like the White Helmets, the Syrian-American Medical Society and the Aleppo Media Center have a history of providing slanted information designed to promote an anti-Assad message” and “make use of a sophisticated propaganda campaign involving video images and narratives provided by forces opposed to the regime of Bashar al Assad.” It’s curious that at SAMS’ annual gala gathering of medical doctors on March 6, former State Department special advisor on Syria, Frederic Hof, now with the Saudifunded Rafik Harriri Center, called for stepped-up arms shipments to Syrian rebels, a U.S. led No Fly Zone for Idlib, (the Syrian province controlled by Al Qaeda’s local affiliate), and for preventing reconstruction of Syria’s shattered infrastructure until Assad is removed. SAMS life-saving efforts are laudable, and it is a testament to their burgeoning public relations power that SAMS has also been an effective advocate for greater U.S. military intervention in Syria. PETER SCHER Regional Chairman and head of corporate responsibility, JPMorgan Chase When JPMorgan Chase lost about $2 billion in 2012, it fell upon the f irm’s regional chairman and head of corporate responsibility to help mitigate the crisis. Scher is seen by many as a permanent member of the Washington establishment. These days though, he is not the bank’s most senior presence in Washington – at least not all the time. Bank chairman Jamie Dimon
is one of President Trump’s economic advisors. Scher made waves leveraging the banking company’s major philanthropic gifts, including a Global Cities initiative and a partnership with the Brookings Institution to help cities understand how to participate more effectively in the global economy. He has spent his working life at the intersection of government and banking. As a staffer in the Trade Representative’s off ice under President Clinton Scher helped negotiate China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. On March 31, 2016, JPMorgan Chase had a value of more than $217 billion. EILEEN SHIELDS WEST & MICHEL GABAUDAN Refugees International Eileen Shields West is chairwoman and Michel Gabaudan is president of Refugees International, a leading non-profit organization based in Washington that advocates for lifesaving assistance for refugees and the internally displaced and promotes solutions to displacement crises. In 2016, a year when conf licts and natural disasters displaced more people than at any other time since World War II, they and their staff traveled to such troubled areas as South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Iraq and Turkey to witness at first hand conditions in refugee camps and then lobbied the United Nations, the U.S. government and other countries to improve conditions. One of their signal successes of 2016 was to persuade the U.N. and the U.S. to increase humanitarian aid to Syria by $400 million. Because Refugees International is privately funded and receives no government money, says Gabaudan, “When we push for an increase in appropriations in Congress the fact that not a cent comes to Refugees International gives us a certain leverage.” As for 2017, “We will keep on showing what’s missing in the field,” Gabaudan adds. “We’ll have to keep on pushing.”
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AUGUSTA THOMAS Vice president for Women and Fair Practices, American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) In January, 94-year-old Thomas testif ied before Congress against the Off icial Time Reform Act 2017, which seeks to regulate times when labor representatives can discuss union issues during working hours. Given the Trump administration’s perception of the federal workforce as oversized, overpaid and under-employed, Thomas and other AFGE off icials will likely be making the trek to the Hill more frequently in the coming months. Already, Trump has ordered a federal hiring freeze and has assigned his sonin-law, Jared Kushner, to lead a task force aimed at making government more eff icient based on the experience of the private sector. Thomas is likely to be on the front line as the administration embarks on its mission of reducing the federal workforce of 670,000 in the name of eff iciency and economy. RICHARD TRUMKA President, AFL-CIO For Trumpka, the leader of the nation’s largest labor union (36 member organizations representing 12.5 million workers), Donald Trump is both good news and bad news. The AFL-CIO endorsed Hillary Clinton for president and Trumka himself was a featured speaker in the Democratic convention – but Trump won with strong blue-collar support. Trumka says the two meetings he had with President Trump since the election were “constructive.” The labor leader who has headed the AFLCIO since 2009 has publicly welcomed Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which organized labor had opposed all along, supports promised renegotiation of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Association) and can’t wait for the administration to start the much touted $4.5 trillion infrastructure program, with its promise of new jobs. But
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RONNA ROMNEY MCDANIEL Chair, Republican National Committee As chair of the Michigan Republicans, McDaniel played a key role in Donald Trump’s victory in a blue state no GOP candidate presidential candidate had carried in a national election in 28 years. She was also the only member of the Romney clan to support Trump even as her Uncle Mitt, the 2012 failed Republican presidential candidate, was trading insults with him. Trump’s reward was to support her bid to chair of the Republican National Committee succeeding Reince Priebus, and she won by unanimous vote. As head of the RNC her main challenge is to unite the party behind Trump’s presidency and to use the momentum of the GOP’s current political strength to raise funds in the hope of making further gains in the 2018-midterm elections.
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Trumka’s organization is opposed to the GOP’s dismantling of Obamacare, is likely to have much to complain about in Trump’s cost-cutting first budget and is critical of Trump’s choice of Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court because his nomination was promoted by conservative groups. DAVID URBAN & DAVID METZNER Lobbyists, American Continental Group With very few exceptions lobbyists were barred from the Trump transition team: they were part of the swamp. Among the exceptions is David Urban, who leads the American Continental Group, owned by David Metzner, and whose clients include Hewlett Packard and Raytheon. After helping run the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, the burly veteran of 101st Airborne and former chief-of-staff to the late Sen. Arlen Specter, decamped to Pennsylvania where he played a key role in turning a blue state red for Trump. Back on K Street, Urban is one reason why Trump’s war on lobbyists is likely to be highly selective. RANDI WEINGARTEN President, American Federation of Teachers With the appointment of Betsy DeVos, strong supporter of charter schools, as Secretary of Education, Randi Weingarten finds herself in the forefront of what’s likely to be one of the fiercest battles of Trump’s presidency. At stake is the survival of the American public school system. When DeVos was nominated Weingarten warned that “her drive to privatize education is demonstrably destructive to public schools and to the educational success of our children.” But DeVos scraped through, even if it took Vice President Pence’s vote to break a tie, and it’s no exaggeration to say that Weingarten and the AFT’s 1.6 million members have a major fight on their hands. In fact, the AFT wasn’t
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exactly cozy with the Obama administration, in part because of differences over the Common Core standards. The federation had backed Hillary Clinton, hoping for a friend in the White House. But with Trump’s victory, Weingarten’s organization is more out in the cold than ever, and the combative union leader is gearing for a fight. JAMES ZOGBY President, Arab-American Institute Since 1985, the bipartisan institute founded and run by Zogby has been the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. It is based on the belief that electoral politics is the key to empowerment, registering voters, getting Arabs to run for office, supporting candidates who support them. As such it represents the interests of the country’s four million Arab Americans, only one third of whom – contrary to popular perception – are Muslim, the other twothirds being Arab Christians. In fact, the largest component group of Muslims in the United States are African Americans, followed by Asians. The Institute is the voice of Arab Americans, but is anyone listening? Not nearly enough, Zogby complains, in a brief interview. Take television news, for example, “We [Arab Americans] don’t speak for ourselves any more and it’s an intolerable situation.” Washington Life: What action is the institute taking in response to the Trump administration’s recent travel bans? James Zogby: We’ve spoken against it and we’re formulating a broader response, but I think we’re in the middle of a war for the definition of the soul of America. Who are we going to be? And in history this struggle has taken place time and time again as our better angels have battled our more sordid angels. Washington Life: Considering that Arab Christians are arguably suffering worse persecution at the hand of Muslims in centuries in their respective countries, and indeed that’s why so many of them have
settled in the U.S., can the institute speak for the community as a whole? Zogby: Arab Americans are a single community even though there are differences of country of origin and religion. In polling that we’ve done they strongly oppose Islamophobia and any form of discrimination against Muslims. And this president has enabled that kind of bigotry to take hold, not only in this administration, but in the country at large. Washington Life: How do you think this confrontation will develop? Zogby: America has the capacity to take in people from everywhere in the world and make them Americans. We’re not Germany or England, where you can be there for three generations and remain an immigrant in the country. The notion of who we are is in danger today, and I say bring it on and let’s fight it out.
ENTERPRISE THOMAS BARRACK Chairman, Colony Capital Inc. Here’s a thought: When movie actor Ronald Reagan came to Washington, he turned his back on Hollywood and imported no one from the movie world into his Cabinet or the administration. Trump, who talks of his top appointments as nominees from central casting and still watches his TV ratings has three former Hollywood executives in close orbit: Steve Bannon, Tom Barrack and Steven Mnuchin. Until 2016, Barrack, considered one of Trump’s closest friends, owned Miramax, the Hollywood powerhouse (along with partners actor Rob Lowe and Qatari investors). The American-born son of Lebanese-Syrian Christian immigrants, Barrack is articulate, fluent in Arabic, has good connections in many of the Arab countries President Trump regularly excoriates as terrorist infested, and controls $36 billion in private equity around the world and global real estate investments including $200 million in the Arab world. It was Barrack who urged Trump to visit Mexico in the midst of his campaign, and who is rumored to have
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recently arranged an introduction to presidential advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner for United Arab Emirates Ambassador Yousef AlOtaiba. Trump appointed Barrack chairman of his presidential inaugural committee, but the $90 million extravaganza was something of a disappointment to Trump, who had clearly expected a larger turnout. Barrack, who declined a cabinet appointment, will however remain an influential voice outside the White House because of his long history with Trump as friend, advisor and sometimes business rival. JEFF BEZOS Owner, Amazon.com, Washington Post The arrival of Donald Trump has led to a flurry of high-end real estate purchases by superrich executives moving to Washington to serve in his administration. But the founder of the world’s largest online shopping retailer is unlikely to have bought his new $23 million home in Kalorama to be close to Trump. Bezos was one of his most outspoken critics among the hi-tech barons during the campaign, and like most of Silicon Valley, Amazon opposed the administration’s recent moves to curb the influx of refugees and visa holders. The house purchase will, however, bring him closer to his newspaper, The Washington Post. Since acquiring the paper in 2013 Bezos has so far kept in touch through an hourlong phone call with top staffers every two weeks. At his suggestion the Post has put more content into its website, transforming it into an all-round digital news site. Members of Bezos’ staff insist that the Amazon.com owner has not moved to Washington, and that his 25,000-square-foot D.C. property is a pied-à-terre, which is a bit like calling Buckingham Palace a crash pad in London. WES BUSH Chairman, CEO and President, Northrop Grumman Corporation Donald Trump’s defense budget boost was good news to Northrup Grumman just as it is to the whole defense industry. But Bush was
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predicting what he called “a significant re-capitalization wave across a number of our customer communities” before the election, whichever candidate won, because a spending cycle had been “deferred for quite a long time.” In 2015, the fourth largest defense contractor had won an $80 billion bid to build the new B-21 Stealth bomber for the Air Force, the first to be built since the Cold War. Northrop also is building a laser-based drone that detects sea mines. Bush has headed the company since 2011, shortly before the Californiabased company moved its head office to Falls Church in order to be closer to the Pentagon and other government customers. LORENZO CREIGHTON President, MGM National Harbor Creighton has come to personify the Washington area’s single largest economic project, the $1.3 billion MGM National Harbor, which had its ballyhooed opening on December 8, 2016, and then proceeded to do $42 million in gambling and other business in the remainder of its first month. Creighton, the MGM National Harbor’s president and chief executive and a veteran of the gambling business who once actually ran a gambling river boat in Mississippi, has nurtured the resort ever since its ground breaking in 2014 – although it’s the hands-on general manager Bill Boasberg who oversees the resort’s day-to-day operations. The f lavor of Las Vegas is maintained by top line, if sometimes antique, performers – like Cher and Sting. There’s also the promise of some fine dining, but as always with casino resorts, it’s the “ca-ching” that counts. That $42 million reported in December, incidentally, is about what MGM National Harbor will pay the state of Maryland in annual taxes. RICHARD DAVIS President & CEO, Sibley Memorial Hospital Sibley Memorial Hospital has been in existence since 1890, but its emergence as
one of the best in the Washington area dates to its acquisition by Johns Hopkins, which in 2010 ranked among the nation’s best hospitals. Richard Davis came from the new owner in Baltimore and has been responsible for a quality leap in the medical facility located in the Palisades neighborhood in Upper Northwest D.C. His first undertaking was the $100million addition of a new state-of-the-art tower adding 200 hospital beds. Opened in 2016, it boasts 18 private delivery suites, 50 postpartum rooms, five operating rooms, a full rehabilitation clinic and an oncology center. Oncology is one of Sibley’s specializations along with surgery, obstetrics and orthopedics. RICHARD FAIRBANK Chairman and CEO, Capital One Financial Corp. The fact that he must know Jennifer Garner, star of Capital One ads, may not be the most important piece of information about Fairbank. For example, he is an ice-hockey player even though he’s old enough to know better. But mainly, he has transformed the broadly diversified McLean-based financial services company into the seventh largest commercial bank in the United States, with some 45,000 employees, 1,000 branches in six states and revenue of $24 billion. As for what’s in his wallet, he doesn’t draw a cash salary, but his personal net worth has been estimated at $800 million. That was before 2017, when he exercised stock options netting $22 million before taxes at the advantageous unit price of $50.99 compared to the current trading price of $88.87. SHEILA JOHNSON Founder and CEO, Salamander Hotels & Resorts Where to start with Sheila Johnson, an accomplished violinist, co-founded the television network BET (Black Entertainment Television) who with her first husband Robert, serves as vice-chairman of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and is the first African-American woman to have a stake in four professional sports
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teams, including the NBA Washington Wizards, the NHL Washington Capitals and the WNBA Mystics. Her Salamander Resort & Spa, which opened in 2013 in Middleburg in the heart of Virginia’s horse and wine country, was the start of another avenue of investments that includes five hotels in Florida and two more planned in New Orleans and Charleston, S.C. The violin is important because music lessons helped fund the company in the early years and Johnson secured the first loan. More recently, the early television experience led to an interest in film production, and she helped finance the critically acclaimed movie “The Butler” directed by Lee Daniel, about the grandson of a former slave who worked as a servant in the White House. TED LEONSIS Majority Owner and CEO, Monumental Sports and Entertainment His Capitals hockey team is having one of its best seasons in professional sports, earning it the sobriquet of the “Golden State Warriors of the ice;” and beyond a winning record, the Caps have a soaring revenue stream. Leonsis’s Wizards basketball squad is in the 2017 NBA playoffs. The two teams play in the Leonsis-owned Verizon Center, which in March 2016 also hosted the f irst Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament north of the Potomac in more than a decade. Thanks to his 33 percent equity interest in Comcast Sportsnet MidAtlantic, the Caps and Wizards are playing on a sports channel he owns. Leonsis heads a closely knit network of wealthy Washingtonians, many of whom are part owners of Monumental Sports and support each other in philanthropic activities. They are Raul Fernandez, Sheila Johnson, David Blair, Scott Brickman, Neil Cohen, Jack Davies, Richard Fairbank, Michelle Freeman, Richard Kay, Jeong Kim, Mark Lerner, Roger Mody, Anthony Nader, Fredrick Schaufeld, Earl Stafford, George Stamas, Cliff White.
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BILL MARRIOTT & ARNE SORENSoN Excecutive Chairman Marriott Inc. & President & CEO of Marriott International Bill Marriott doesn’t own every hotel room in the world; it just looks like he does. With the recently f inalized acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts (Sheraton, Westin, W and St. Regis hotels), the Marriott global footprint has gone from 81 to 122 countries and territories, making it the world’s largest hotel chain with a total of 6,000 properties and 1.1 million rooms. The Marriott chain’s revenue in 2015 was $14 billion. By 2019, Sorenson announced recently, the company’s target is to add 300,000 more rooms. PHEBE NOVAKOVIC CEO, General Dynamics President Trump’s promise to boost defense spending has to be music to the ears of Phebe Novakovic since General Dynamics is one of the government’s largest defense vendors. In December 2016, for example, General Dynamics launched the Navy’s newest and most advanced nuclear attack submarine, the Virginia-class U.S.S. Colorado. Hillary Clinton’s campaign had Novakovic earmarked for a possible senior Pentagon position. Her husband, David Morrison, once worked for Tony Podesta, head of the Podesta Group and a strong Clinton supporter; but when Trump called top chief executives to the White House for a chat, Novakovic sat two places away from the president. Trump’s Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, was on the General Dynamics board. The daughter of Serbian immigrants, Novakovic took over as CEO in 2013 and since then the company’s shares have risen 100 percent (revenues in 2016 were $30.6 billion). But you are unlikely to hear that from Novakovic, who is famously media shy – not surprising for a former CIA officer. In a rare public appearance recently she said,
“Performance speaks for itself. I’ve lived in this town for a long time and I’ve learned that it’s best to f ly underneath the radar screen.” DAVID RUBENSTEIN President and CEO, Carlyle Group and Chairman, Kennedy Center With an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion, Rubenstein is one of the wealthiest people in Washington, with a well-earned reputation as a civic patriarch who focuses his multi-milliondollar financial support on what he calls “patriotic philanthropy,” supporting historical landmarks and national cultural institutions. In 2007, he paid $21.3 million for an original manuscript of the Magna Carta and gave it to the National Archives. More recently, he has contributed $50 million as the lead donor to the Kennedy Center’s expansion project, paid for the repair of the Washington Monument after it was damaged by an earthquake, and in 2016 contributed $10 million towards the completion of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. He has also funded panda procreation at the National Zoo. So, where does all the money come from? The source of Rubenstein’s great wealth is the Carlyle Group, the giant private equity company he co-founded and built up, and of which he is co-CEO. Former President George W. Bush and one time British Prime Minister John Major are among its list of distinguished advisors. Rubenstein is a regular participant in international conferences on the global economy. At Davos in January he warned that the strong U.S. dollar is “the greatest risk to the global economy in 2017,” arguing “the biggest blow-ups in emerging markets have happened when the dollar has been particularly strong.”
INTERNATIONAL KATHRYN BUSHKIN CALVIN President and CEO, United Nations Foundation In 1998, CNN founder Ted Turner donated $1 billion to the United Nations and
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J KNOX SINGLETON CEO, Inova Health Systems, Inc. After 25 years under Singleton’s leadership, the not-for-profit health care system Inova serves more than two million people each year across Northern Virginia. But Inova is still expanding in significant ways. By 2018, Singleton expects to open the 240,000-square-foot Inova Dwight and Martha Schar Cancer Institute as part of a 117-acre medical campus in Merrifield, Virginia. The institute is named after billionaire homebuilder Dwight Schar and his wife Martha who gave $50 million for the state-of-the-art cancer project to recruit top specialists and provide them with the equipment and facilities they need to research the disease and develop treatments. Schar also helped the health system to acquire the former ExxonMobil campus on which the institute is being constructed.
initially the U.N. Foundation was set up to disburse it. Today, the foundation, headquartered in Washington, has evolved from a grant-making institution to developing campaigns on behalf of the world body, raising funds from corporations, philanthropic donors, and the government. The U.N. Foundation provides “a way for companies (and individuals) to help the United Nations solve problems around the world,” says Calvin, who became CEO in 2009 and president in 2013 having come from running what was then the AOL Time-Warner Foundation. The U.N.
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Foundation’s campaign to eradicate polio worldwide, currently 99 percent successful, is one of its signal achievements. To combat malaria in Africa the foundation raised $35 million to buy and distribute bed nets for protection from mosquitoes. JIM YONG KIM President, The World Bank In July 2016, Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-born American physician and anthropologist, was nominated to head the World Bank for a second term over the
objections of Bank employees about his leadership. With many client nations like China and India no longer needing the Banks for low interest development loans, Kim, co-founder with Paul Farmer of Partners in Health (and president of Dartmouth College until his current post) has shifted his objectives to reducing extreme poverty levels to below 3 percent of the global population and growing the incomes of the bottom 40 percent of every country. The Bank’s 189 member countries approved the change and supported Kim’s re-appointment, but many of its 1,500 economists and area specialists were
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no longer a good fit for clean energy projects in Southeast Asia, refugee support in Syria, the fight against Ebola in Africa and poverty programs in a broad spectrum of countries. CHRISTINE LAGARDE Managing Director, International Monetary Fund Lagarde may well be the French president France never had – at least so far. This presidential election year, not for the first time, an unofficial committee supported her candidacy, and a barrage of tweets encouraged her to stand. Lagarde is no stranger to French politics, having held ministerial posts in Prime Minister Dominique Villepin’s government, including minister of finance. But the French-born lawyer and politician has remained in Washington as managing director of the International Monetary Fund. A year ago, the Fund’s executive board reelected her to a second fiveyear term. As head of an international organization with a budget of more than $1 billion, a strong role in advancing the global economy and in nurturing development in Africa and elsewhere, she is without question one of the world’s most powerful women. Over the past several months, Eurozone problems, the ever-changing economic landscape, and the monetary consequences of the largest refugee crisis since World War II have been among her major challenges at the IMF. She will also be remembered for bolstering the participation of women in the workforce as a means to reduce poverty. Through it all she remains calm and collected, a discipline she attributes to her synchronized swimming career as a young girl. LUIS ALBERTO MORENO President, Inter-American Development Bank As head of the IDB, Moreno has the dubious distinction of being the first target of the Trump Administration’s planned draconian
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cuts in U.S. foreign aid. In March, he announced that the U.S., for the first time since 1959, would not contribute to the IDB’s funds. He broke the news at an IDB replenishment meeting in Paraguay to top up the bank’s resources, where the participating countries promptly agreed to cover the missing U.S. contribution. At the last such meeting, in 2007, the U.S. committed $150 million: in March 2017: zero. The IDB has been the leading source of developing financing to 26 Latin American and Caribbean nations with a broad spectrum of contributing member countries, led in the past by the United States and including Japan, Canada and the European Union. Improved economic conditions in the Hemisphere have allowed many member countries to borrow from the banks, but the IDB still paid out $11.3 billion in 2015 for poverty programs and a variety of other projects.
LAW RICHARD ALEXANDER Chairman, Arnold Porter Arnold & Porter, one of Washington’s largest, busiest and best known law f irms got considerably larger in January when it merged with one of its long-time rivals, the New York-based Kaye Scholer. Almost overnight, the emergent new f irm was an enormous organization of more than 1,000 lawyers (Arnold & Porter’s original strength was 700 attorneys) with off ices all over the U.S. and several locations overseas. Both f irms spoke of the synergy of the two f irms. The D.C. f irm was noted as specialists in litigation and regulatory issues; Kaye Scholer, which was smaller and, incidentally, older, focused on f inancial services and life sciences. But the specialized media said that, as with most legal outf its, both f irms had seen declines in revenue in recent years, and were hoping their combined strength would redress that. At Arnold & Porter, for example, 2015 revenue
was reported to have slipped 6.4 percent to $650 million. The professional view at the time was that the high prof ile merger would herald others, but the trend has yet to appear. One legal trend, however, has surfaced as a result of the Trump election. Law f irms have been busy challenging President Trump’s two executive orders on constitutional, statutory and hardship grounds. Arnold & Porter is appearing pro bono in a legal case brought by the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans and others against President Trump’s discriminatory national origin-based travel ban. STEPHEN J BROGAN Managing partner, Jones Day Even in the legal world, which is not exactly known for its lack of discretion, the law firm of Jones Day’s culture of secretiveness is legendary. Information about Fortune 500 clients (Goldman Sachs, General Motors. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., IBM, among others) is held very close and there is no bigger secret than what each partner earns, a subject they are barred from discussing even among themselves. The partners rarely vote on anything: managing partner Stephen J. Brogan “has authority to make all management decisions, including designating a successor,” as it says in the firm’s statement of principles. So there’s a certain irony in this very tightlipped firm – the sixth largest in the U.S. by revenue – emerging as the go-to legal outfit for an extrovert like President Trump and his online eff lorescence. Jones Day lawyer Donald McGahn was legal advisor to the Trump campaign and prior to the election it was McGahn who arranged candidate Trump’s peace talks with key Republican lawmakers and the meeting was at the firm’s Washington office. McGahn followed Trump into the Oval Office as White House counsel; and so far, another 11 Jones Day members have also joined the administration – five in the White House, four in the Department of Justice and two more elsewhere.
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GUS ATIYAH Partner, Shearman Sterling LLP Atiyah is the firm’s lead lawyer in representing financial institutions, private equity sponsors and other areas of corporate finance, but Shearman Sterling is also known for its international business. Professional sources rate it among the handful of major U.S. law firms that have made the largest strides in the race to dominate the global legal landscape. In the Middle East its list of clients ranges from Morocco to the Persian Gulf states. In late 2016 in Saudi Arabia, the firm was involved in the state-owned Saudi Aramco’s controversial monster public offering of $2 trillion in equity, a key step in widening the scope of the Saudi kingdom’s oil-dependent economy. TIMOTHY HESTER & JON KYL Chairman and Senior Advisor, Covington & Burling Covington & Burling is an elite Washington law off ice that specializes in Wall Street f irms and banks (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup) and, as a result, many of its clients were directly involved in the f inancial collapse of 2008. They came under scrutiny from the Department of Justice where the Attorney General, Eric Holder, was a former Covington attorney – a connection that his critics have not ignored, particularly when questions were raised why Obama’s Justice Department (i.e. Holder) had failed to pursue criminal prosecutions for banks responsible for the mortgage meltdown. It is a fact that not a single banker or f inancier went to jail for the plunder of the U.S. economy. Holder worked at Covington from 2001 to 2009 before heading to the Department of Justice. In classic revolving door fashion, he returned to his old f irm in 2015 where an 11th f loor corner off ice had been reserved for him in Covington’s new building. Hester, an anti-trust lawyer who has been chairman
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for almost two decades, suggested in interviews that Holder’s return at the close of the Obama administration had been a foregone conclusion. In January, the f irm found itself under attack from conservatives for taking on the state of California as a client – and a Los Angeles Times headline made no bones about the reason: “California braces for a Trump presidency by tapping U.S. Atty Gen Eric Holder for legal counsel.” Former Sen. Jon Kyl joined the f irm after becoming free to lobby and has been boosting its revenues over the last year and a half. KIM KOOPERSMITH Chairman, Akin Gump In February, Akin Gump moved from the Washington office opened nearly half a century ago. Their new footprint is small, but the move “ensures that we will remain a fixture” in D.C., said Koopersmith. She moved to the post in 2013 succeeding Bruce McLean, who had been chairman for 20 years. Akin Gump’s recent foreign activities – a strong area for the firm – was helping Iceland re-structure its debt and advising clients on doing business with Cuba following the resumption of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations. STEVEN KUPKA Partner, King and Spaulding Kupka has a lot of inf luence in a lot of places, and the long list of memberships on his website, including the United States Cattlemen’s Association ref lects the broad base of his friends and contacts. Not included on the list is the Alfalfa Club, the exclusive Washington club that meets for dinner once a year. Kupka is an expert on public policy as well as international trade promotion, foreign regulatory issues with special expertise on Latin America and the Caribbean. His government and public policy experience includes working for the White House Office of Management and Budget and the Central Intelligence Agency. A native of Omaha (where he once ran for Congress), Kupka is closely connected with the Trump
camp and Vice President Mike Pence in particular. He has also recently reportedly met with Vladimir Putin in Russia to discuss grain and beef imports from the U.S. JONATHAN TALISMAN Founding Partner, Capitol Tax Partners When President Trump and the GOP talk of overhauling the tax code it gets personal for Jonathan Talisman. In his past roles in government and before that on the Hill, Talisman was significantly involved in major tax legislation. As assistant secretary for tax policy in the U.S. Treasury Department during the Clinton administration, he advised the White House and other senior administration officials on tax legislative strategy and tax policy. His occasional testimony before congressional committees on tax issues is laced with personal references to how decisions were reached on tax breaks and changes in the system. He advised Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and had she won he would have been on the short list for a senior tax job. Instead, with Trump in the White House and pressing for a new tax code before Congress’s long August recess, Talisman’s firm, boasting such top tier clients as Amazon, Apple, and Ford, faces a busy, persuasive spring.
MEDIA ROBERT ALLBRITTON Founder and Owner of Capitol News Company, publishers of Politico “A decade ago, early in 2006, I made a decision to start a new newspaper focused on Capitol Hill.” So wrote Robert Allbritton, scion of the Washington banker Joe Allbritton, in a memo to the staff of Politico in January 2016. His discursive style buried the lead; namely that key creative members of his staff were leaving. Out went Jim VandeHei, Kim Kingsley, Roy Schwartz, Mike Allen and Danielle Jones. In one stroke the paper was bereft of its top journalistic talent. VandeHei and others have since started their own fledgling news service, but the miracle of the story is that Politico has not just survived but
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flourished under Allbritton. The story behind the mass exodus has been fodder for media experts, but the inescapable fact is that Politico remains an edgy but reliable observer of the American political scene and has expanded to key overseas cities with respectable results. DAVID BRADLEY Chairman, Atlantic Media Group In the past few years David Bradley has turned his publishing empire into a high-priced business intelligence outfit for Washington insiders. He shut down the print version of The National Journal, his f lagship weekly, leaving it online, but kept the venerable Atlantic and opened it up to more discussion of major social issues and challenges (e.g. Anne-Marie Slaughter’s widely noted Glass Ceiling article). The Atlantic, for which the erudite, high-profile, affable Steve Clemons is the Washington editorat-large and interviewer in the magazine’s We the People series, has been profitable since 2012, after years of losses. Jeffrey Goldberg, recently installed as editor, adds intellectual heft and David Frum’s recent takedown of President Trump as an autocrat garnered considerable attention. TUCKER CARLSON CHRIS WALLACE & BRET BAIER Host, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Fox Television: Moderator, “Fox News Sunday,” and Chief Political Anchor, Fox News Carlson has taken over Fox’s coveted 8 p.m. hour in the wake of Bill O’Reilly scandalous departure. Unlike Hannity, or even O’Reilly, Carlson is not a conf irmed member of the Trump “right-or-wrong” group at Fox. A recent New Yorker prof ile called him a “prime time contrarian.” The same can be said of Wallace who, in a line-
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up top heavy with Trump apologists, ref lects Fox’s efforts to live up to its slogan “fair and balanced.” Wallace, who has been moderator of “Fox News Sunday” since 2003, is a seasoned television news journalist and three-time Emmy winner. Recently, he memorably scolded White House Chief-of-Staff Reince Priebus about the president’s description of the media as the enemy of the people. “You don’t get to tell us what to do,” he told Priebus. Surprised, the chief-of-staff accused Wallace of “going bananas.” Bret Baier, who succeeded Britt Hume as host of “Special Report” is a veteran Fox newsman of 20 years with a healthy respect for projecting the news of the day.
press conference. Tapper is the ultimate skeptic of spin from the left and the right – an affable but persistent questioner who tends to get results. As a former political cartoonist, he appreciates the impact of the grotesque, but probably never thought he would be the subject of a dark, instantly famous “Saturday Night Live” skit featuring White House advisor Kellyanne Conway stalking him at home.
LYDIA POLGREEN HOWARD FINEMAN & RYAN GRIM Editor-in-Chief, Global Editorial Director, and Washington Bureau Chief, Huffington Post Polgreen, a 15-yearSAM FEIST JAKE TAPPER & veteran of The New York WOLF BLITZER Times, is shaking things Washington Bureau Chief and up at what is now called Senior Vice President, CNN; simply Huff Post. Founded Host, “The Lead with Jake in New York by Arianna Tapper’; Host, “The Situation Huff ington in 2005, and Room” now owned by Verizon Feist has led the Washington (which also owns Yahoo bureau since 2011, when and aol.com), the liberalthe cable network was leaning Huff Post is one of struggling for survival. the world’s most visited Ironically, the Trump news sites, and a platform for both presidency has brought a original reporting and hard-hitting reversal of fortune in the contributors. Polgreen’s vision is for shape of higher ratings deeper dives and broader reach in D.C. and earnings (CNN joined and elsewhere, reporting for, not just the “billionaires” club in about, a worldwide middle class that is in 2016, notching $1 billion in f inancial distress. Fineman, who combines prof its for the f irst time) – but also a host old-media experience with new media of new problems covering a generally savvy, is focusing on the phenomenon of hostile White House. For example, Trump, and expanding Huff Po’s global Feist has had to rule that the network reach. Grim, one of the most relentless should hardly ever use the word “lie” in reporters in Washington D.C., is a star reporting: “falsehood” is more precise. player on a team that includes Beltway Blitzer spearheads CNN’s vigilant politics experts Amanda Terkel and Sam scrutiny of the administration. Tapper is Stein, and strong congressional, White CNN’s Washington correspondent. CNN House and beat reporters. Huff Post is Washington’s main “combat” team also also an inf luential outlet for centrists and includes, chief political correspondent, liberals to publish critical work, such as Dana Bash chief diplomatic correspondent Scott Ritter’s recent piece on the April Michelle Kosinski and chief White House 7 Syrian gas incident, which questioned correspondent Jim Acosta, famously the mainstream narrative and challenged snubbed by Trump in the president’s f irst those who are beating the drums of war.
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MAGGIE HABERMAN & GLENN THRUSH Reporters, New York Times Haberman and Thrush represent the quality and penetration of the New York Times’s coverage of the Trump presidency since his surprise victory in the 2016 election. Times staffers have been resourceful in shedding light on the administration’s chaotic first three months, rising to the challenge of Steve Bannon’s declaration of war in his famous phone call to the paper. Trump’s relationship with the New York Times is more complicated than that. His periodic tweets that the “failed Times” has once again published “fake news” are less an indication that he believes the paper is lying, and more about the president’s frustration that his local paper is betraying his long time, faithful readership. CHRISTOPHER ISHAM & JOHN DICKERSON Washington Bureau Chief, CBS; Host, “Face the Nation” Isham is a full, paid-up member of the television tribe: newsmen whose career spans all three networks. He started in the documentary department of NBC, moved to ABC where he led a highly successful investigative team that was the first to interview Osama bin Laden. In 2007, he became chief of the CBS’s Washington bureau, which produces the Emmy winning Sunday program “Face the Nation,” and he is credited with keeping CBS relevant. In 2015, Isham assigned John Dickerson to take over Face the Nation from the legendary Bob Schieffer who retired as its host after 26 years. Dickerson, who has made a personal trademark of civility in the rough and tumble of today’s politics, has maintained the program’s position as the number one Sunday morning public affairs program, averaging four million viewers.
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PAULA KERGER & JUDY WOODRUFF President and CEO, Public Broadcasting Service; Anchor, “PBS News Hour” “In your world do you have any idea what to expect from Donald Trump?” a reporter asked Paula Kerger in January. “Too early to tell,” she replied. It didn’t take long to find out. Trump’s first budget proposes defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had previously received $445 million, two-thirds of which was earmarked for PBS. That left Kerger mobilizing the 350 station managers of the commercial-free network to lobby Congress for a reversal of the budget’s slashand-burn approach to public broadcasting. Matters are particularly acute for rural stations, which rely on the government for as much as 50 percent of their budgets. The crisis is the toughest challenge Kerger has faced in her 11-year tenure. Cuts could also affect Judy Woodruff, now a solo anchor following the death of her longtime TV partner, Gwen Ifill. But Woodruff ’s solo evening handling of the news has gained audience, not lost it. Meanwhile, the rationale behind the elimination of funding to public broadcasting seems to be that the “elite medium” has no following in Trump country. In fact, in the course of a year, 82 percent of all television households in American watch PBS, and nearly 70 percent of all children. ALEX MARLOW Editor-in-Chief, Breitbart.com With the election of Donald Trump, Breitbart is ascendant. However, as the evidence grows that Steve Bannon’s influence on Donald Trump is not as rocksolid as it once was, Breitbart.com, the news organization of which he was chairman is showing corresponding signs of wavering in its devotion to “The Donald” (as Breitbart still occasionally calls him). Marlow said recently that while he still has confidence in Trump
he was “more concerned about the potential corruption in the Trump White House.” A spokesman for Breitbart.com, Chad Wilson, was quoted as saying that “When Trump’s keeping his promises, we’re going to praise him. When he breaks his promises, we’re going to hammer him. Maybe hammer him isn’t the right word. We’re going to be critical of him.” At the heart of the change, say media specialists, are signs that Trump is questioning the political value of the extreme views that seemed attractive in the election campaign. CHRIS MATTHEWS Host, MSNBC’s “Hardball” In his top rated cable TV talk show, Matthews is a perceptive, thought-provoking commentator and questioner with decades of experience in Washington Democratic politics and journalism. He recently answered questions from the historical perspective, contrasting the respective presidencies of two political outsiders. Washington Life: Reagan ran against Washington, as Trump has, but Reagan didn’t run into the antagonism that Trump has. What was the difference? Matthews: Reagan made it clear from his arrival that it wasn’t personal, and he was going to find a way to work together. He had very specific goals and he focused on them, but he made it clear that it wasn’t going to be a hostile environment. And he succeeded. WL: Yes, but how did he do it? Matthews: He immediately accepted an invitation from (conservative columnist) George Will who had a reception for him at the F Street Club. Out of that came an invitation from [Washington Post owner] Kay Graham, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan decided to become part of Washington. I think they made a real effort to try to win over people and become, for the purposes of politics, part of the city. WL: And Trump – or the Trumps – seem to have no such intention? Matthews: Trump has his own genius: he
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speaks to the zeitgeist. He knows how to talk to the mood of at least a third of the country better than I’ve seen anybody do it. Tapping into the zeitgeist is everything in politics. FRED RYAN MARTY BARON & DAVID FAHRENTHOLD Publisher, Executive Editor and Investigative Reporter, The Washington Post Ryan left his job as Allbritton Communications president and chief executive officer when Jeff Bezos named him publisher of the Washington Post in September 2014. Well connected here, he oversaw the paper’s smooth move to new downtown offices in 2016, and, with Baron, an ongoing effort to bring a new generation of journalists onto the staff. Baron is the second Post editor to be portrayed in a movie (the first was Ben Bradlee in “All the President’s Men”). But in Baron’s case the movie “Spotlight” was based on an investigation by the Boston Globe – where Baron was editor at the time – into child abuse by Roman Catholic priests in the Boston archdiocese. In contrast to Bradlee’s more volatile style, insiders say, Baron is a low-key editor, describing himself in a recent speech as “stingy with words and restrained in his emotions.” Fahrenthold won the George Polk Award and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his expose of Trump’s charity contributions that never reached their destination, and for being the recipient of a 2005 tape that was the unpublished part of an “Access Hollywood” interview in which Trump’s is heard making sexually charged remarks about women. Investigative reporting is by nature carried out in secret until its final conclusions are published. But Fahrenthold worked in the open, appealing for information on Trump’s past giving from the public through his Twitter account. He also posted photos of his reporter’s notebook on Twitter to show his progress and encourage
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his followers to volunteer more information. CHUCK TODD Moderator, NBC’s “Meet the Press” Historians will doubtless record Chuck Todd’s memorable “alternative facts” exchange with Kellyanne Conway on January 22 – two days after President Trump’s inauguration – as the first salvo in the running battle between the White House and the mainstream media. It was the moment when any hopes that Trump in office would moderate his belligerent campaign style were seen as the wishful thinking that they were. Another interviewer might have missed the opportunity, but not a sharp-eyed, quick-witted consummate journalist like Todd. His remark to Conway, “Alternative facts are not facts: they are falsehoods” became the immediate battle cry of the media in their dealings with the Trump administration. It’s no wonder NBC’s “Meet the Press,” with Todd in the chair, continues to rank high among Sunday morning political shows.
REAL ESTATE MAX BROWN & GREGORY O’DELL Chairman; President and CEO, EventsDC Brown is Mayor Muriel Bowser’s appointee for chairman of the District’s convention and sports business, while O’Dell runs the complex that includes some of the District’s most iconic venues including, among others, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, the D.C. Armory, the historic Carnegie Library on Mt. Vernon Square, and the Nationals Stadium. Brown, who had worked in the Clinton administration, and then was Mayor Williams’s deputy chief-of-staff, is the owner of Group 360, a Washington lobbying firm. O’Dell has spent a career heading sports and entertainment venues. He has steadily built up a convention business into what he calls “an
economic engine for the city.” Developing the convention, sports, and entertainment markets over the past decade has not just given the city a new source of revenue, it has helped to enlarge Washington’s attraction and identity beyond its political role as the federal capital. With 22 conventions signed up, this year will be the best since the center opened in 2003. MONTY HOFFMAN Founder & CEO, PN Hoffman In 2006, developer Monty Hoffman received approval for the city-backed project to transform Washington’s once-quiet Southwest Waterfront, where the Washington channel juts inland. In 2014, work began on the Wharf project, and its first phase is nearing completion. There is considerable distance to go, but when completed the ambitious $2 billion development over 24 acres of land will include apartments, condos, offices, three hotels with a total of 683 rooms, a movie theater, a jazz club, a piano bar, a Country-Western bar, an Irish pub and a 6,000 -person capacity concert hall. Against a chain of setbacks and numerous hearings before panels and committees, Hoffman has poured millions into the project just to keep it alive. “I knew through all of it that having a mile of shoreline in the nation’s capital was just special,” Hoffman told the Washington Post. “I had to hang on to it.” ROBERT MOSER President & CEO Clark Construction Group In a city constantly in the midst of a building boom Clark Construction signs are almost as ubiquitous as traff ic signals. At the helm is Robert Moser, better known as “Robby,” who began working at Clark as a f ield engineer in 1997. Since that time he has grown it to a $4 billion business, which he and other managers bought in 2016, with Moser purchasing the major ownership. The company built the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and has plans
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to build the new DC United Stadium and continue to spearhead work on the Southwest Waterfront’s Wharf Project. MILT & JON PETERSON Principals, Peterson Companies The Peterson family (father and son) is a major force in local development. National Harbor, their 300-acre economic and entertainment center in Prince George’s County, which opened nine years ago in the middle of a recession, is an important economic driver for the county. It is also a glowing example of the f irm’s ability to analyze market demand and then execute. Before the Petersons came along, the area comprised 350 acres of undeveloped waterfront land. Then, earlier this year, the $1.3 billion MGM Resorts International’s casino opened on Peterson property outside the waterfront district – a testimony to National Harbor’s success. If that’s not impressive enough, Peterson Companies has launched a massive, new mixed-use project to cover an additional 1.28-million-square-feet in National Harbor with residential, hotel and retail areas. Other notable developments include Fair Lakes and Burke Center. But there’s clearly more to come from this 51-year-old f irm. The Petersons have over 2,000 acres of land at two dozen locations in 11 different jurisdictions in Virginia and Maryland in various stages of planning, zoning, and development.
CULTURE JOSÉ ANDRÉS Chef, Restauranteur and Founder, ThinkFoodGroup If there’s an individual chef who personif ies Washington’s f lourishing restaurant scene it has to be José Andrés, the renowned, Spanish-born owner of
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LONNIE BUNCH Director, National Museum of African-American History and Culture Where would you find the shackles of a young slave, Harriet Tubman’s Bible and the shawl given to her by Queen Victoria and Chuck Berry’s Cadillac? The answer, as of the closing months of 2016, is the National Museum of African-American History and Culture on the Washington Mall. The museum crowns the 11-year dreams and efforts of Lonnie Bunch, a historian and curator at the Smithsonian whose efforts, drive and enthusiasm were central to its completion as the last museum to be sited on the Mall. Bunch selected the location, raised some of the $540 million funding and gathered a collection of artifacts commensurate with the Smithsonian’s standards. Now he is the museum’s first director. As the African-American Museum project evolved, Bunch curated a traveling exhibition of a selection of the artifacts, which he later described as “going on a cruise while at the same time you are building the ship.” As Bunch himself has pointed out in interviews the museum opened even as the first African American president was ending his final term, and as racial friction was on the rise as were tensions between the police and the black community. But when tickets became available the first 5,000 were snapped up in 15 minutes.
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establishments in the Washington area (seven), Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, and Puerto Rico, and head of a $125 million food empire. Andrés f irst came to the United States 27 years ago as the chef on the visiting Spanish Navy training sailing ship Juan Sebastian Elcano and never left. His disaster relief foundation, World Central Kitchen, is active in Haiti, Nicaragua, and elsewhere. He has been a vocal supporter of immigrants and pulled out of his commitment to run a restaurant out of the Trump International Hotel last year after Trump’s derogatory comments. He was immediately sued by the Trump organization. This spring, the two parties settled the matter out of court. Washington Life: You suppor ted the recent Day Without Immigrants. Why? José Andrés: So many of my staff are immigrants. Some of them have worked with me since I started in D.C. 25 years ago. How was I going to say “no” to them? I’m hoping that this kind of action, by restaurants and businesses can be part of a larger movement to show how important immigration reform is , and how, without immigrants, our nation would not be what it is today.
CARLA HAYDEN Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden may be the 14th Librarian of Congress, but she scores a number of firsts. She is the first African American and the first woman to head the 216-year-old library, which is primarily designed to serve members of the U.S. Congress, but in reality is the nation’s leading repository of knowledge and culture. Hayden was the head of the Baltimore library system before coming to Washington in 2016, and is the first trained librarian to have the job since 1974. This should help her in the enormous task of modernizing the library, which was not the first priority of her distinguished predecessor, James H. Billington, a Russian scholar admired for his intellect but criticized for his management of the complex institution of 162 million objects, 3,100 employees, and a $650 million budget.
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WL: President Obama called you “the quintessential American success story.” Is that how you see yourself? Andrés: One of the best days of my life was when my wife and I became American citizens (in 2013). As for success: success is never owned by one person, it is shared. My success also belongs to my family, my friends, and my team. WL: Do you have a personal favorite among your Washington restaurants? Andrés: That’s like choosing a favorite child! But I am always happy to be eating at my newest restaurant China Chilcano – the dim sum and ceviche are amazing. Of course, I’m also very
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proud of Minibar. In the last year, it has earned two stars in the new Washington Michelin Guide, and made the Diners Club World’s 50 Best list. JACK DEGIOIA President, Georgetown University This is the year that Georgetown University, alma mater of former President Bill Clinton, King Felipe of Spain and Ivanka Trump, plans to atone for the racial injustices of its storied past. DeGioia, the f irst lay president of the Jesuit-founded university, is taking action recommended by a special committee to correct more than a century of indifference to the fact that in 1838 Georgetown owed its f inancial recovery from deep debt to the sale by the Jesuits of 272 slaves. “The original evil that shaped the early years of this Republic was present here,” DeGioia said, acknowledging the incident while at the same time putting it in the broader historical context. Georgetown is not the f irst American university to address its ties to slavery in the past couple of years, but the Washington institution was founded by the Jesuit order, which not only owned slaves but traff icked them. DeGioia offered a formal apology to the descendants of the slaves sold. The university has expunged the names of two 18th century Jesuit presidents of the college, Thomas F. Mulledy and William McSherry, from a pair of campus buildings named after them, and the buildings have been renamed Freedom Hall and Remembrance Hall respectively. In addition, the university, well known for turning out generations of diplomats from its school of diplomacy and for its numerous distinguished alumni is committed to creating an institute for the study of slavery, and to erecting a memorial to the slaves. In announcing the atonement, DeGioia also said descendants of slaves owned by the Jesuits would receive special preference in admissions.
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RT REV MARIANN BUDDE Diocesan Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Washington The ninth diocesan Episcopal bishop in Washington is the spiritual leader of 45,000 Episcopalians in 89 congregations and 20 Episcopal schools in the District and four Maryland counties – Montgomery, Prince George’s, Charles and St. Mary’s. The first woman bishop of Washington administers the 110-year-old Washington National Cathedral, the nation’s spiritual home, venue of state religious occasions, including the funerals of prominent Americans. Following tradition, President Trump attended a multi-faith inauguration service at the cathedral with Budde – a prominent progressive member of a divided church – presiding, even though she had been openly critical of the new president and what he stood for. “The presidentelect made promises that, if fulfilled, would be devastating to our country,” she said shortly after Trump’s election. “We will stand with those with reason to fear for their safety and will defend their place in society.” Trump had asked that there be no sermons in the service. Budde’s response was that there would only be prayers focusing on Jesus’ command to love your neighbor. As a liberal cleric, Budde defines progressive Christianity as accepting a range of theological ideas. She performs gay marriages, accepts gays and lesbians, and addresses local problems such as poverty and affordable housing as a priority for the diocese.
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SPECIAL FEATURE
POWER
PENNY DENEGRE JEFFREY BLUE & TIM HARMON Joint Masters, Middleburg Fox Hunt In rural Virginia and Maryland fox hunting is still alive and thriving. During the season, one is never far away from the baying of hounds and the sound of the hunting horn. The three masters of the Middleburg Hunt are well known personalities. “Fox hunting is such a part of the community culture,” says Timothy Harmon, the latest addition to the trio of masters; and that about sums it up. Washington Life: How large is the field at Middleburg Hunt meets these days? Penny Denegre: Our fields [the number of riders] range from ten on a frigid Monday to 120 for our Christmas in Middleburg Meet, when we parade through town. WL: Is interest in fox hunting on the rise, in decline, or steady? Denegre: The number of people who enjoy hill topping (a non-jumping field) has kept interest in foxhunting on the rise. WL: Is the fox population of Virginia a large one? Denegre: We are well foxed in Virginia. WL: How different is fox hunting in Middleburg from what it was in Britain before animal rights opposition forced it to be banned? Denegre: For the most part, we have bigger woodlands and that makes it more difficult to view the fox. It’s one reason why we breed our American hounds to have bigger voices and a more agile frame. WL: Have you experiences animal rights opposition in Virginia? Denegre: We’re sure that it could crop up at any time, but at present we see no signs of it.
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MICHAEL KAHN Artistic Director, Shakespeare Theatre Company The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of “Hamlet” in the 2019 season, directed by Michael Kahn, will be the artistic director’s swan song. He has announced that he will be retiring after 33 productionladen years at the head of what, under his direction, has become one of Washington’s leading theater groups. But Kahn has done more than build up the reputation of the Shakespeare Theatre Company. He has also been one of the key figures in the District’s emergence as a top theater city. STEVEN KNAPP & THOMAS LEBLANC Current and Incoming Presidents, George Washington University On the principle of book early to avoid disappointment, Steven Knapp announced in June 2016 that he would be leaving in July the following year, when his 10-year-tenure ended. Six months later, the university announced the appointment of his successor, Thomas LeBlanc, scheduled to take over this August. Under Knapp’s presidency the 25,000-student university (5,000 of them from foreign countries) has most recently acquired the failing Beaux Arts Corcoran Gallery, established an art school, built an enormous science and engineering hall to create a quantum leap in research and dropped the SAT or ACT requirement for entry at freshman level. Knapp has devoted his last year to a campaign to raise $1 billion for the university by 2018, and it’s on track. Yale-educated Knapp’s academic field was English Literature specializing in the Romantics: in a sign of changing priorities, LeBlanc is a professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at the University of Miami, where he is vice-president and its chief budget officer. He “designed” a $1.6 billion fund raising campaign for UM. In announcing his
appointment, George Washington University said he had been the principal investigator of eight research initiatives that were federally funded, but does not say what they were. DOROTHY KOSINSKI Director, The Phillips Collection Since taking over as director at the Phillips in 2008, Dorothy Kosinski has changed its whole persona. Once a prestigious but staid institution on the margin of Washington’s array of larger galleries and museums, the Phillips now offers more than the core collection amassed by its originator Duncan Phillips. Thoughtfully crafted exhibitions (currently the vibrant, sprawling ToulouseLautrec show), music, poetry and theater enrich the program in the so-called experimental space. “An intimate museum combined with an experiment station” is what Phillips wanted, says Kosinski. Washington Life: How does the Phillips differ from other museums and galleries here? Kosinski: Because the collection was largely acquired and handpicked by one person, it can’t help but be marked by a distinct personality, and I’m always guided by preserving that special personality. WL: What, if anything, makes the public here different from that of other cities? Kosinski: The nation’s capital is a city with a unique population, largely skewed toward government, policy and international affairs. It represents a cross-section of cultures from around the world, not just with tourists, but also temporary or permanent residents. FRANCO NUSCHESE Owner, Cafe Milano Cafe Milano is not so much a restaurant as a social gathering place, and that’s the way Nuschese likes it. He thinks of it as a club, where
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the only dues are the rather steep check for a ref ined Italian cuisine like hardly anybody’s mamma made in the old country. In fact, Cafe Milano was one of the f irst addresses the super-rich nabobs of the new administration mastered. Rex Tillerson, the hardly sociable secretary of state, is one of several Cabinet members who have recognized its worth as a venue in which to feel comfortable and exclusive. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have dined at Milano three times since coming to Washington, praising the restaurants policy of allowing them to dine un-approached. Nuschese recently opened a Cafe Milano in Abu Dhabi and is thinking of franchising the restaurant. The parties he gives at his Washington home are famous. One trait that keeps patrons coming back is his old world courtesy to new arrivals there to celebrity watch as well as regulars. DEBORAH RUTTER President, Kennedy Center Since 2015, Rutter has been an imaginative presence as president of the Kennedy Center, the country’s largest performing arts complex with a range of institutions across the cultural landscape from the Washington National Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra to “Shear Madness,” a farce that’s still going strong after more than 13,000 performances. Since such organizations make their plans so far in advance it normally takes at least two years for a new president to make a dent, but Rutter typically hit the ground running. She enticed the brilliant Gianandrea Noseda to lead the National Symphony, starting this fall. She has given the opera more scope to develop and offer contemporary works along with the traditional repertoire, and has appointed the Kennedy Center’s first composer in residence, plus the soprano Renee Fleming as a resident artist for the 2016-2017 season and QTip, best known as the founder of the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest to
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bring hip-hop to the Kennedy Center. She is also overseeing the $100-million dollar expansion of the center. DAVID SKORTON Secretary, Smithsonian Institution As the Smithsonian’s 13th secretary David Skorton has the formidable challenge of overseeing a sprawling scientif ic and cultural domain of 19 museums and galleries, plus the National Zoo. He took over just in time to launch the much-anticipated National Museum of African American History and Culture. A cardiologist, Skorton came to the Smithsonian in 2016 (from being president of Cornell University). At a time when the Trump administration is planning cuts in Federal spending on culture (public broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts) and shifting more money to defense, Skorton has asked Congress for a record $922.2 million budget in 2017, including hiring 40 new curators. In a short interview, Skorton listed some of his objectives. Washington Life: In earlier interviews you stressed the impor tance of courage to study big problems, tackle controversial issues by “stating a position ,” and being “an honest broker” in discussions on difficult topic s . H ow has this ap p roach manifested itself in practice in your first year in office? David Skorton: The most obvious example is the opening of the National Museum of African History and Culture. In that museum we don’t shy away from the painful subjects of slavery, inequality and social injustice. Our scientists continue their research on climate change. We have recognized the contributions of Latinos to American history and culture by hiring new bilingual Latino curators. And we show works of contemporary artists whose art is often provocative.
WL: Is there an area of the Smithsonian you feel needs particular attention? Skorton: I have worked to increase our focus on the arts. American Art, the (National) Portrait Gallery, the Sackler and Freer Galleries, and, in New York, the Cooper Hewitt – all deserve to be better known to the public as excellent places to visit and as important online resources. FABIO & MARIA TRABOCCHI Chef; Owners of Fiola, Fiola Mare, Casa Luca and Sfoglina The Trabocchis – Fabio is the chef, and wife Maria mans the business side – run a quartet of luxe Italian restaurants that have become power dining spots as well as “see and be seen” haunts for politicos and celebrities alike. Fiola Mare, a seafood eatery on Georgetown’s waterfront is a favorite of former President Barack Obama and United Arab Emirates Amb. Yousef alOtaiba, and is a regular in-town stop for the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Alicia Keys. It’s also where the couple regularly hosts exclusive events, such as the Elle Women in Washington dinner and celebrity-studded fetes during White House Correspondents’ Dinner weekends. In 2016, the Trabocchi’s f lagship, Fiola in Penn Quarter, was awarded a star in Washington’s f irst-ever Michelin Guide. Their other eateries include Casa Luca, a downtown trattoria, and the recentlyopened Sfogolina, a hand-made pasta restaurant in Van Ness. Fabio and his Spanish-born wife will also soon open a nearly 12,000-square-foot Spanish seafood restaurant, Del Mar, on the Southwest waterfront. The high-prof ile couple are regulars on the social and philanthropic circuit, and in 2017 served as chairpersons of the Refugees International benef it dinner. A unique part of their success is that they’ve brought in a number of high-prof ile local investors who patronize the restaurants often, giving the dining spots a social club feel.
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LIFESTYLES
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ATSUKO KUDO top ($175); CÉLINE soft wool tailoring paper pants ($1,900) Saks Fifth Avenue, 5555 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, Md., 301-657-9000; ALEXANDER MCQUEEN jeweled choker ($1,927); ALEXANDER MCQUEEN small crystal & faux pearl hoop earrings ($1,395).
YVES SAINT LAURENT embellished motto jacket ($5,350) Saks Fifth Avenue, 5555 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, Md., 301-6579000; CÉLINE skirt ($1,700) Saks Fifth Avenue; GIVENCHY leather chain-trimmed Chelsea boots ($1,295); GIVENCHY sunglasses ($495).
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LIFESTYLES | JEWELRY
GURHAN Amulet hue opal, aquamarine, blue moonstone & 24K yellow gold cuff bracelet ($7,300); Saks Fifth Avenue, Chevy Chase, 301.657.9000 NIKOS KOULIS Spectrum brown diamond, tsavorite, iolite, pink tourmaline, yellow beryl and rhodolite ear jacket and stud earrings ($4,155); Saks Fifth Avenue, Chevy Chase, 301.657.9000
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DANNIJO Baguette crystal statement earrings ($295); Neiman Marcus, Chevy Chase, 301.966.9700
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IPPOLITA 18k Rock Candy fancy rectangle lollipop ring ($3,495); ippolita.com.
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TEMPLE ST. CLAIR Mare diamond, royal blue moonstone, blue sapphire, tsavorite and 18K yellow gold ring ($2,950); Saks Fifth Avenue, Chevy Chase, 301.657.9000 WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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WASHINGTON S O C I A L D I A R Y around town﹐ tadashi shoji spring preview﹐ heart ball﹐ n street village gala and more!
Co-chairs Mae Grennan, Toni Verstandig, Amy Baier and Carrie Marriott at the Children’s Ball (Photo by Tony Powell)
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AROUND TOWN
En Pointe! Robert Heggestad celebrates the glories of dance with fellow enthusiasts at the Kennedy Center Opera House. BY DONNA SHOR
K
ennedy Center balletevening. goers might notice After seeing hundreds that, occasionally, almost of ballets, Heggestad’s an entire center row near recollections are rewarding. the stage is empty until the “Ballet was an easily last moment, when a group acquired taste,” he says, hurries in to fill the seats. “combining music, theater What’s that all about? Is it and dance with exceptional some kind of opera club? athleticism. It has No, it’s Robert “Bob” something for everyone and Heggestad and his that’s certainly why over posse. He’s a Washington time I’ve had a very diverse lawyer, and also one of guest list. Washington’s biggest ballet “During those past fans. He loves to include his 30 years” he continued, Robert “Bob” Heggestad (far right) shown at the Riussian Ball with his “posse” of ballet aficionados Olga friends, too. “the Kennedy Center’s and Bob Ruan and Rose Marie Bogley (Photo by Tony Powell) Years ago, Heggestad extraordinary ballet began by buying the only four season tickets Often present are Olga and Bob Ryan program provided the opportunity to see then available for the Thursday opening (everyone’s favorite meteorologist); Dianne the best companies in the world. New nights he wanted in his preferred third row and Charles Bruce as they ricochet developments have been exciting over the center location. Gradually, as more seats between their District and London homes. years, like seeing the Washington Ballet, became available, he bought them up. He Carole Feld, a PBS producer turned under the superb direction of Septime now has 17 of the row’s 19 primo places. marketing whiz, and her polymath husband Webre, become a marvelous company. What about getting those last two spots? David Levy, who directed the Corcoran We’re all looking forward to the direction No chance, they’re the long-held seats of Gallery of Art for 14 years and now heads Septime takes as artistic director with the Washington interior designer John Peters Sotheby’s Institute of Art. S&R Foundation’s Hacyon Stage.” Irelan, whose frequent guest is Amanda Occasionally, there are other guests. Asked to name a special ballet memory Downes of British embassy social secretary In mid-April, former secretary of state from among so many, Heggestad recalled an renown. Both are friends of Bob and many Madeleine Albright joined the group for a unforgettable experience at a Metropolitan of his guests in the row, so it’s a jolly crew. performance. Opera gala celebrating dance (one that had He assembles everyone early for cocktails Heggestad, surprising to learn, was so even included an “American in Paris” turn in the Opera House’s Russian Lounge– indifferent to ballet in college that a date had with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron). the gathering place for members of the to drag him to his first performance. The The gala evening came toward the end Kennedy Center’s various levels of “Circle” dancer was Rudolf Nureyev, whose presence of Nureyev’s spectacular career — long supporters, before heading down to the seats was so commanding that he recognized it as after he danced in the first ballet Heggestad en masse. There is often a core group on an almost a surreal experience. had ever seen— but there he was onstage, hand, along with others who appear on and Next he was invited to see Edward dancing alongside the younger Russianoff during the year. Villella in “Pulcinella” with the New born superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov. Invariably there is a tall, iconic blonde: York City Ballet. Heggestad says he was The ovation was extraordinary. On their the regal Rose Marie Bogley, a superb too clueless to realize until the end that feet applauding for 15 long minutes were horsewoman who drives in from “Peace and the great George Balanchine himself had celebrities such as Nancy Reagan, Jacqueline Plenty,” her Upperville, Va. farm, for the unexpectedly replaced one of the dancers Onassis, Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand. ballet. and had been onstage almost the whole As well they might!
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Bret Baier
Costa Rican Amb. Roman Macaya and Thais Macaya
Mae Grennan, Toni Verstandig, Amy Baier and Carrie Marriott
Melissa Babbage and Australian Amb. Joe Hockey
Alison Newman, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Dr. Kurt Newman WL SPONSORED
Tonya Vidal Kinlow and Eugene Kinlow
Abeer Al-Otaiba, Yousef AlOtaiba and Norah O’ Donnell
CHILDREN’S BALL The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL AND ERIN SCHAFF
Mark Ein and Rep. John Delaney
FOR THE CHILDREN More than 800 guests gathered to support new frontiers in pediatric care at Children’s National Medical Center. Billed as “Pioneering the Future,” the grand soirée raised $3 million to pave the way for innovative patient care and cutting-edge research at the hospital. Childrens’ President and CEO Dr. Kurt Newman attributed much of the evening’s success to the passion and hard work of co-chairs Amy Baier, Mae Grennan, Carrie Marrio and Toni Verstandig, who welcomed VIP guests including Mayor Muriel Bowser, CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell and Rep. John Delaney. SURPRISE DISGUISE: The crowd burst into applause when Fox News’ Bret Baier, the emcee of the event, arrived on stage in full astronaut gear.
Brad and Callie Nierenberg with Evan and Cindy Jones Nick Stefanelli
Patrice Brickman and April Delaney WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
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VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COMDIATE MODO
Mike Williams
Raul and Jean-Marie Fernandez with Dr. Elena and Robert Allbritton 57
| CHARITY SPOTLIGHT
Power of the Page Everybody Wins! D.C. tailors its programs to help elementary students improve literacy and build confidence BY C AT H E R I N E T R I F I L E T T I
Rep. John Lewis (right) with student from School without Walls-Francis Stevens
LITERACY FOR ALL: At Everybody Wins! DC, victory is defined by equal opportunity, with a prescription for success that combines three simple ingredients: a mentor, a child and a book. The 22-year-old nonprofit group is driven by its mission to provide underserved students a level playing field with regards to literacy. Since its inception in 1995, Everybody Wins has become the metropolitan area’s largest children’s literacy and mentoring organization, benefiting more than 60,000 young people in the District through two distinct programs. The Power Lunch program, launched in conjunction with the U.S. Senate, pairs students to read with mentors from Capitol Hill, government agencies and businesses. It currently operates in 11 lowincome public elementary schools across the city. High profile mentors like CNN’s Brianna Keilar have made the weekly commitment, gratified by watching their mentees progress week after week. The StoryTime program operates in 27 schools and draws on the power of storytelling through the spoken word. Volunteers, authors, and other high-profile figures, including Rep. John Lewis and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
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Houston Bates from the Washington Redskins works on a project with a Savoy Elementary School student.
read to student groups emphasizing each element of a traditional narrative arc. READING AS PROGRESS: Dr. Molly Teas, executive director of Everybody Wins, hopes the sanctity and value of flipping through a physical book is not lost as schools try to keep up with advancing technologies. “Sharing a great book with someone you care about – a book that sparks ideas, conversations, hopes and fears,” she says, “is an experience that computers can’t come close to matching.” Studies show that literacy affects brain development and an individual’s communication skills as a whole. Students proficient in reading and writing are automatically more likely to succeed in other areas of schooling. Locally, statistics show seven out of 10 fourth graders in the District read below grade level, but Teas does not think the burden should be shouldered by the schools alone, referencing a larger communal issue at hand. Participating organizations including BlackRock, Loews, Bloomberg and Kirkland & Ellis are “committed to community engagement at a deep level,” she says, because tackling engagement one student at a time is an invest-
ment for the entire community. BUILDING CONFIDENCE: Beyond its primary goal of giving underserved students access to resources, Everybody Wins helps students believe in their ability to succeed.“By having fun together, reading great books and building trust,” Teas explains,“our model goes a long way toward building their confidence and helping them find the joy in learning.” Since many students from the District’s low-income neighborhoods do not receive positive feedback at home, it is essential they get a self-esteem boost elsewhere, she says. A PLACE WHERE EVERYBODY WINS: The rewards for student participants and mentors are mutual, and there is a 70 percent mentor retention rate to prove it.Teas says many of the reading mentors call their weekly Power Lunch “the best therapy they have ever had,” because it “takes them completely out of their work environment and all of the anxiety and stress related to that.” The symbiosis gives way to a friendship and trusting bond that is much bigger than two people sitting together and reading a book. Find out more at www.everybodywins.org
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Schroeder Stribling, Arne Sorenson, Ruth Sorenson and Peter Shields
Katie Rost
Steven and Sharon Cady, Chris Putala, Ethan Drath, Allison Putala and Lindsey Drath Hillary and Tom Baltimore Hungarian Amb. Réka Szemerkényi and John Browne
N STREET VILLAGE GALA
Sandra and Tom McCoy
Marriott Marquis | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL EMPOWERING THE HOMELESS Despite concerns about the wintry weather, the annual N Street Village Gala welcomed nearly 900 guests to its annual fundraising gala, with cocktails, dinner, a silent auction and performance by Grammy winning artist Andra Day. Chaired by Hillary and Tom Baltimore and Sandra and Tom McCoy, the evening raised a record breaking $1,600,000 to support the homeless women in Washington. The powerful evening honored Ruth and Arne Sorenson for their ongoing support of the women of N Street Village. VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Keith Harley and Gloria Mayfield Banks
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James Staton, Johnetta Cole and Ron Galvin
Monica Thompson, Debra Lee and Debbi Jarvis
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Jacqueline Nassy, Kim Bassett and Emerald Stewart
Rep. Ed Royce and Marie Royce talking with Arne Sorenson
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Lucky Roosevelt (seated), Nina Pillsbury, Donna McLarty, Buffy Cafritz, Joan Carl, Micaela Barbagallo, Diane Flamini and Vanessa Darroch
Hilary Geary Ross (third from left) with tea party co-hostesses Suzi Cordish, Ann Nitze and Jane Lipton Cafritz
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Mary Mochary and Kim Sajet
WELCOMING HILARY GEARY ROSS Calvin and Jane Cafritz Residence, Georgetown PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL
Calvin Cafritz celebrates a coincidental birthday
EXQUISITE AFTERNOON It came as no surprise that Washington’s most high-powered women came to sip tea (or Champagne) and nibble on tiny delicacies in honor of Hilary Geary Ross. And why not? Tall, attractive and well spoken, the journalist wife of the new Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has all the right credentials to be a social force in the nation’s capital just as a new administration picks up speed. The bipartisan crowd greeting her at the late afternoon event also enjoyed a special performance by singers from the DomingoCafritz Young Artist Program. “It’s a small town with a lot of power and a huge heart,” co-hostess Jane Lipton Cafritz told the guest of honor during welcoming remarks, making sure to mention a smorgasbord of local cultural institutions the Rosses will likely support after they settle in a bit. VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Marlene Malek, Susan Pillsbury and Grace Bender
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Amanda Downes, Mary Ourisman, JoAnn Mason and Alma Gildenhorn
First lady of Maryland Yumi Hogan
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Nicole Indelicato, Hilary Eldridge and Sophie Blake
Kosovo Amb. Vlora Citaku Lauren Culbertson
Laura Carlson and Anchyi Wei
Sherrele Cooper, Brittany Gunn and Aja Flowers
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TADASHI SHOJI SPRING PREVIEW Tysons Galleria | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL FLORAL INTERLUDE: Washington Life hosted a preview of Tadashi Shoji’s gorgeous and unabashedly floral spring collection at the brand’s new Tysons Galleria boutique. Fashionistas sipped OneHope wine, tried on gowns, spun around in front of a mirror and imagined for which upcoming gala each dress might be best suited. SPOTTED: Kosovo Amb. Vlora Citaku, Young and the Guest List cover girl Lauren Culbertson, RileyVersa founder Melissa Urfirer, fashion blogger Anchyi Wei, jewelry designer Sophie Blake, PBS NewsHour’s Rhana Natour and media consultant Hilary Eldridge.
Rhana Natour
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Andrea Mitchell and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Honorees Judy Woodruff, Katy Tur, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Meaghan Stone, Rhea Suh and Elle editor Robbie Myers
Melissa Urfirer
Maria Trabocchi and Michelle Freeman
ELLE WOMEN IN WASHINGTON DINNER Fiola Mare PHOTOS BY PAUL MORIGI OF GETTY IMAGES FOR ELLE
Tammy Haddad, Kathleen Biden and Kelley McCormick
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POWERFUL WOMEN Elle magazine celebrated its 2017 class of “Women in Washington” with a posh dinner at Fabio and Maria Trabocchi’s Georgetown seafood eatery Fiola Mare. The restaurant was filled with bipartisan power players in politics, journalism, business and advocacy “supporting each other in an estrogenic way,” as Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers put it. Among the honorees, dining on creamy burrata and olive oil poached cod were Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Patty Murray, journalists Judy Woodruff and Katy Tur, BET CEO Debra Lee and Jacquelyn Days Serwer, chief curator of the Museum of African American History and Culture. VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Rep. Maxine Waters and Jennifer Tapper
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OVER THE MOON
A Rich Heritage Prominent local families are still part of the social and business scene in Middleburg and the surrounding Hunt Country
Socialite and former side-saddle champion Rose Marie Bogley’s 400-acre “Peace and Plenty” farm in Upperville will be part of the Memorial weekend Hunt Country Stable Tour on Saturday, May 27 and Sunday, May 28.
U
pperville is only 12 minutes west of Middleburg on the John Mosby Highway, but it might as well be multiple time zones away. Old-time families with names like Randolph, deButts, Dulany and Slater still reside in the hamlet and have been here for multiple generations. In one case, it’s as many as eight.The atmosphere is far more rural, with no swanky shops in sight. So, while two new Thai restaurants in Middleburg compete for patrons, not much has changed up the road. Hunter’s Head Tavern is owned by Cisco Systems co-founder Sandy Lerner, but the building it occupies, the Carr House, is a renovated circa 1750 log cabin.The restaurant’s standard, British-inspired fare includes Welsh Rarebit, Shepherd’s Pie and Bubble and Squeak. The Upperville Country Store has been a fixture for generations and while it no longer sells gasoline out front, offerings inside include sausage and gravy biscuits for $3.99 and Virginia ham sliders for 99 cents. The Country Store is owned by Kiernan Slater Patusky and her
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It’s all about roots at Slater Run Vineyards.
husband, Chris Patusky, an attorney and affable entrepreneur. The Patuskys also own The Local Taste next door. At the 1805 stone edifice known as Dullins Tavern (listed by the National Register of Historic Places), guests can sip more than 100 different wines, including their own Slater Run Vineyard vintages. The Slater family goes way back around these parts and their roots run deep. Hence, the Patuskys now honor Kiernan Slater’s family agricultural heritage along Goose Creek going back 300 years. For Slater Run Vineyard’s “Roots,” a Bordeaux-style red, the label is a 1940s photograph of Kiernan’s grandfather Thomas Glascock Slater jumping a stone wall on horseback. “First Bridge” is a red named in homage to George Slater, who helped build a bridge across the creek around 1919. Slater Run also produces Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Rosé and Cabernet Franc. On Memorial Day weekend, May 27-28, visitors to the Upperville area can not only sip wine, but also visit some of the breathtaking
farms and stables in the area.The annual Trinity Church Hunt Country Stable tour will include stops at the Allbritton family’s 1,800-acre “Lazy Lane Farm.” Socialite and former sidesaddle champion Rose Marie Bogley’s 400-acre “Peace and Plenty” farm, which dates to part of a 1721 land grant from Lord Fairfax to Robert “King” Carter, is on the tour. As is the thoroughbred “Heronwood Farm,” owned by the late Washington, D.C. developer Robert Smith, which now provides bucolic inspiration for his widow, artist Clarice Smith. The barns at Heronwood were designed by Washington’s Blackburn Architects as were two others: at the Foosaner Family Farm and the MARE Center donated to Virginia Tech by the late Paul Mellon. For a final equine fix, don’t forget the Upperville Colt and Horse show, running from Monday, June 5 to the $216,000 grand prix jumper finale on Sunday, June 11. Members of the Randolph, Dulany and Slater families are listed as past presidents of the 164-year-old show. Emily Ristau, an agent with Thomas & Talbot Real Estate in Middleburg, has a stunning listing with “Gone Away Farm.” It is a likely candidate for the next stable tour since the 83-acre property has plenty of room for the next owner’s show horses. In addition to boasting breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains from nearly every room, the house has been extensively remodeled with two chef ’s kitchens– one inside the house and one on the stone terrace adding to the ease of entertaining in the country. Custom finishes, quality construction, extensive stonework, a three-car garage and a state-of-the-art security system add to the property’s charms.The land is fenced with two barns, a tenant house, a guesthouse, four ponds and a pool all for $4.98 million. And, it includes a large wine cellar.
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CO U RT E SY P H OTOS
BY VICKY MOON
Jacques and Lily Rancourt
Jeff Ballou and Stacy Burnett
Margie and Mitch Halem
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HEART BALL
Barbara and David Humpton
Mandarin Oriental | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL OPEN HEARTS: More than 500 guests gathered to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) annual blacktie gala where much of the attire matched tables decorated with red rose centerpieces and tablecloths. Dave and Barbara Humpton chaired the evening that included dinner, dancing and a special presentation of AHA’s “Open Your Heart Appeal,” spotlighting a nine year-old survivor of life-threatening heart disease, Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Proceeds from the live and silent auctions supported cardiovascular research, education programs and advocacy campaigns.
Kelli Benson and Dr. Richard Benson II
Regina and Roger James VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Arne Sorenson and Linda Potter Deborah Rutter and Reginald Van Lee
David Reines, Tracy Fitzsimmons, Knox Singleton and Nina Totenberg
WPA 50TH ANNIVERSARY Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL YEARS STRONG More than 600 guests joined chairmen Gary and Tina Mather and Susan Hepner to toast Washington Performing Arts for its 50 year commitment to growing and nurturing Washington’s art community. No detail was spared in the lavishly-decorated ballroom, where friends and supporters of WPA, including opera singer Alyson Cambridge and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined the organization’s president, Jenny Bilfield, to honor board president Reginald Van Lee for his tireless advocacy of the arts. SURPRISE ADDRESS: Actress Cicely Tyson stole the show when she surprised the man of the hour with a special message from former first lady Michelle Obama.
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Debra Lee
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jenny Bilfield
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Tilney Wickersham and Keith Mestrich
Sherry Yard and Joan Nathan
Jane Pollner and David Blumenstein
Charles Phan
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SIPS & SUPPERS Mestrich Residence | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL DINING FOR A CAUSE Acclaimed chef Charles Phan of San Francisco’s Slanted Door took over Amalgamated Bank President Keith Mestrich’s kitchen to create an unforgettable dining experience for supporters of Sips & Suppers, a program that benefits DC Central Kitchen and Martha’s Table. On the menu: spicy pork and shrimp wontons, beef carpaccio, baked cod in banana leaves and braised Chinese chicken legs with lily buds. Chef Sherry Yard of City Perch created the exquisite kumquat raspberry pavlova for dessert. Local hosts will serve 35 suppers in 2017, each with a different celebrity chef. Sips & Suppers has raised $2.5 million since its inception in 2009.
Robin Jackson and Ryan Palmer
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Welcome Ury & Associates We are proud to announce that Ury & Associates has combined with Toka Salon & Day Spa’s Georgetown location. We believe that the joining of these two extraordinary salons with highly complementary industry strengths will position us to provide a broader set of services to our clients. Toka Welcomes Ury & Associates
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Cameron Station 4907 Brenman Park Drive Alexandria, VA 22304 703.370.5133
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Rep. Mike Turner, Majida Turner and Julie Teer Jessica Moore, Tammy Cameron, Damien Tucker, Mark Johnson and Jimmy Kemp
Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Martha Roby WL SPONSORED
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB DAY OF ADVOCACY Rayburn House Office Building | PHOTOS BY TONY BROWN CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTERS Board members from more than 140 Boys and Girls Clubs across the country spent Valentine’s Day celebrating the National Day of Advocacy with a congressional reception recognizing the occasion. Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Jack Kemp Foundation founder Jimmy Kemp spoke about the importance of child advocacy. Honorees in attendance included Reps. Bobby Scott and Martha Roby.
Kara Johnson, Monica Vidassrri and Taylor Scherker
Dave Knutson and Matt Watrous VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
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PARTIES PARTIES PARTIES
Inspirational speakers, immigration advocates and political playwrights VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
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TEDX PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE RECEPTION
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WEDC SXSW PARTY
NEWSEUM (Photos by Erin Schaff)
CARNEGIE LIBRARY (Photos by Ben Droz)
The second TEDx Pennsylvania Avenue conference gathered top movers and shakers to share ideas and spark connections around topics ranging from philanthropy and technology to journalism and the environment. Speakers included Jim VandeHei, Philippe Cousteau and Melissa Chiu, and performances included musical groups Twenty20 and Eric Ambel and Erik Huey of the Surreal McCoys. 1. David Medina and Zachary Cole
From music to food to technology, Washington’s distinct character came to life at South by Southwest’s (SXSW) WeDC event where guests enjoyed the original sounds of BOOMscat, Neux and other artists along with locally cra>ed beers and wine. The showcase was curated in preparation for the District’s presence at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Across the library, local companies put their unique business successes on display.
2. Marie Royce and Ashlan Cousteau
5. Maggie O’Neill and Warren Weixler 6. Jason Cauley and Svetlana Legetic
3 LULAC LEGISLATIVE AWARDS GALA
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GRAND HYATT WASHINGTON (Photos by Alfredo Flores)
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POWER PLAYS LUNCH
Former President George H.W. Bush, journalist Dan Rather and NFL player and football coach Tom Flores were honored at the 20th annual LULAC legislative conference and awards gala. A>er receiving the National Trailblazer Award, Flores spoke about his father’s immigrant heritage. Sen. Dick Durbin focused on protecting DREAMers from deportation.
Arena Stage kicked off its ambitious Power Plays initiative to commission and develop 25 new productions focusing on politics and power over the next 10 years with a lunch and moderated panel discussion with CBS News correspondent Rita Braver and commissioned playwrights Jacqueline E. Lawton, Mary Kathryn Nagle, John Strand and Nathan Alan Davis. A major highlight was the announcement of a $2.5 million gift from Curtis T. Bell.
3. Brent Wilkes and Maria Elena Salinas
7. Curtis T. Bell, Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Edgar Dobie
4. Tom Flores, Roger Rocha and Dan Rather
8. Harrie e Ecton, Amanda Stafford and Jessica Stafford Davis
ARENA STAGE (Photos Courtesy of Arena Stage)
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David Skorton and Robin Davisson
YAYOI KUSAMA’S INFINITY MIRRORS
Nobuko Sasae, Mika Yoshitake, Melissa Chiu, Sachiko Kuno and Japan Amb. Kenichiro Sasae
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL
Carole Feld and David Levy
Richard Kurin
Dana and Tim Rooney
Michael Xufu Huang
POWER IN POLKA DOTS A retrospective exhibit of famed contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama’s works landed at the Hirshhorn with ample fanfare. The mystical collection features six mirrored rooms where visitors are invited to gaze at their reflections stretching to infinity. Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu and exhibit curator Mika Yoshitake welcomed patrons and other special guests to a sneak preview, dinner and special video message from Kusama herself, who resides in Japan. Since its opening the exhibit has drawn thousands of visitors, many waiting in long lines to catch a glimpse of her dazzling perspective. VIEW ALL THE PHOTOS AT WWW WASHINGTONLIFE COM
Maureen Scalia Rusty Powell and Alessia Antinori
Leonard Silverstein
Clarisse Smith and Buffy Cafritz
DELLA ROBBIA EXHIBIT OPENING The National Gallery of Art | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL
Hilary Geary Ross and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross
SCULPTING WITH COLOR Major donors joined VIP guests to preview the National Gallery of Art’s first major exhibition of works by three generations of the Della Robbia family and their competitors in Renaissance Italy. The opaque, brilliantly glazed terra cotta sculptures were popular with late 19th and early 20th century American collectors and most are from U.S. collections, NGA Director Rusty Powell told guests, making sure to also recognize Buffy Cafritz and Sally Engelhard Pingree for helping to underwrite the exhibition and Alessia Antinori, whose family commissioned one of the works in 16th century Florence.
Dorothy Woodcock with Sen. Patrick Leahy and Marcelle Leahy
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HOME LIFE Real Estate News and Open House I Inside Homes and My Washington
%VX (IGS -RWTMVEXMSR Trailblazing organic chef and restaurateur Nora Pouillon savors time with family at her colorful Georgetown residence. BY ERICA MOODY PHOTOGRAPHS BY TONY POWELL
HOME LIFE | INSIDE HOMES
t a time when minimalism is de rigueur, Nora Pouillon’s house stands out. The famed chef’s pink 1938 Art Deco home located amid Georgetown Federals is decorated inside with vibrant art and furnishings from the 1970s. Pouillon was never one to follow convention. After moving to Washington from Austria in 1965 at the age of 21, she was shocked by Americans’ unhealthy eating habits and decided to change the culinary landscape by serving healthy, delicious, farm-to-table meals at Restaurant Nora, the first certified organic restaurant in the United States. Thirty-eightt years later, organic eating habits have gone mainstream. Now, in addition to being a successful chef and businesswoman, Pouillon has become a celebrated author with her recent memoir, “My Organic Life.” Because she serves nightly meals at her Dupont Circle restaurant six days a week, Pouillon only eats breakfast and Sunday dinners at home. Nonetheless, her kitchen was an important factor when she purchased the house 20 years ago. One of her first renovations included expanding it to open into a family room and installing a fireplace that doubles as a pizza oven. The kitchen is important to any chef, but the main selling point was the garden. Sprawled across seven lots, the property boasts one of the largest backyards in Georgetown; Pouillon can only think of two that are comparable in size. After searching three years for a place to settle down with her family (Pouillon has four children and five grandchildren), “I took one look at the garden and decided to get it,” she recalls. To convince the seller to go with her bid, her realtor Marc Fleisher advised her to throw in dinner for four at Restaurant Nora. It worked. Pouillon spends much of her time in the garden. She hosts Sunday dinners there, installed a chuppah for her daughter’s wedding two years ago and added a swimming pool shaded by a 100-year-old oak tree. Schultz lounge
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PREVIOUS PAGE: (clockwise from top left) Pouillon’s dining room has large windows facing the backyard garden, where her many orchids get sunlight. She found the large circular black mirror from Miami in New York; The Art Deco modern house built in 1938 and designed by European architect Theodore Dominique sits on seven lots; Pouillon collects art by women artists and art that depicts women. A painting of a Danish woman in her hallway reminds her of Amedeo Modigliani’s work. She bought it from a street vendor in New York; A colorful great room features art by Sam Gilliam, original egg chairs from the 1970s, original Philippe Starck chairs from a hotel in Paris, a piano, a rug inspired by the artwork of Wassily Kandinsky and framed photos of Pouillon’s family. THIS PAGE: (clockwise from top left) Pouillon says her garden is the best feature of the house. Original Richard Schultz chaise lounge chairs from the 1970s sit beside the swimming pool; A winding original staircase lined with photographs of nature scenes on the walls leads to the second-floor bedrooms; Pouillon expanded the kitchen into an open family room and dining area. She displays green pottery that she collects from her travels and built a fireplace that doubles as a pizza oven; Pouillon’s granddaughter Natasha’s room is decorated with colorful 1970s furniture .
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sheee
OPENING PAGE: Nora Pouillon in her back garden, one of the largest in Georgetown.
chairs from the 1970s bring her Art Deco theme poolside. Large banana trees reach to the top of the house at the right season. Although her offspring have since moved to homes of their own, Pouillon’s granddaughter Natasha, a student at American University, occupies a room upstairs. A Japanese chef who works at Restaurant Nora six months out of the year also has a room when she’s in town. Family photos are displayed throughout the house along with pottery and paintings by Pouillon’s daughters. Besides celebrating family, Pouillon’s décor also champions women. “I’m personal with my art,” she says. “In the restaurant, I have a museum-quality Amish quilt that not only represents going back to the natural way of living, but also expresses how making quilts is a means of expression for women. I kept that on here in the house by collecting art that’s either by a woman artist or is a portrait of a woman.” Such portraits are “very expressive” she says, pointing to one in her front hallway, a striking painting of a woman she found from a New York street vendor in the Village in the ’70s. “The painter’s Danish girlfriend had just left him and he had painted this portrait of her,” she says. “It reminds me of Modigliani.” Another painting of a woman from Corsica that Pouillon found in a Georgetown jewelry store could be interpreted many ways. “You would think it’s somebody very emancipated or very strong, but it could also be a woman who’s very scared,” she says. In her kitchen and dining area are a collection of food paintings by women whose work she judged at a Torpedo Factory exhibit 15 years ago; she wanted to support the artists by taking their work home. After five decades, it’s hard to imagine Pouillon retiring. She’s decided to close her restaurant on July 1, but even though she’ll have more free time than she’s had in years, she’ll have plenty to do. “I’ll be consulting with people to help them become organic. I still have a successful fish business I’ll be working on. My agent has asked me to write another book. I’m going to Austria to see my sister and I’ll concentrate more on taking care of myself by doing a lot of outdoor activities,” Pouillon says. We hope she’ll find time to continue to enjoy a house that’s as colorful, inspirational and varied as her life has been.
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HOME LIFE | REAL ESTATE NEWS
The Residence Report Metro area real estate continues to buzz as Kellyanne Conway puts down roots off Embassy Row, interior designer Frank Randolph sells in Georgetown and a historic Beaux Arts mansion changes hands in Kalorama. BY STAC E Y G R A Z I E R P FA R R
Word on the Hill is that Kellyanne Conway and her husband, attorney George T. Conway III, are the latest Trump set to plunk down permanent roots in the District. The senior White House adviser apparently purchased - BENTON PLACE NW right off Embassy Row which was listed at $8 million. The house belonged to the late Moeen Qureshi, the former prime minister of Pakistan and a World Bank executive. The 11-bedroom Mediterranean-style mega manse sits on half an acre and was formerly two separate properties that Qureshi rebuilt as one dwelling. The opulent estate sits between former Vice President Joe Biden’s residence and Rock Creek Park. It is also less than a half mile away from Hillary and Bill Clinton’s house as well as Trump’s Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Stewart Coleman, Douglas Blocker, and Edward Poutier of Team Edward and Stewart were the listing agents.
Paul and Susan Svigos sold CALIFORNIA STREET NW for $5.5 million to Mamie Chew Gupta. Sited on a fifth of an acre in the heart of Kalorama, the six-bedroom Beaux Arts house was built in 1919 by architect B. Stanley Simmons and features a brick and limestone facade. The embassy-sized formal dining room has high arched doors, custom wallpaper by Paul Montgomery and an antique French chandelier. The kitchen offers chef-grade appliances, a double oven, two dishwashers, marble slab countertops, a pantry and custom cabinets. The former ambassadorial residence boasts spectacular entertaining spaces with grand rooms opening onto a double lot as well as tiered gardens, a terrace and heated pool. The listing agent was Michael Rankin of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. The buyer’s agent was Jim Bell of TTR Sotheby’s.
THE DISTRICT Interior designer Frank Babb Randolph sold his 1964 townhouse at TH STREET NW to Jacob and Mirna Mumm for $3.3 million. The three-bedroom whitewashed brick Georgetown Federal has floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows, a light-filled drawing room with 13-foot ceilings and charming formal garden and patio. The listing agent for the transaction was Stephen C.Vardas of Long
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& Foster | Christie’s International Real Estate; the buyer’s agent was Russell A. Firestone III of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.
MARYLAND Alex and Amanda Marshall are the new owners of KENNEDY DRIVE in Kenwood, which they bought for $3.7 million. Paul and Robin Perito sold the classic 1938 whitewashed
brick Colonial, which was recently renovated and expanded by Gibson Builders. The property features a open kitchen floor plan, a carriage house with a second floor office, well manicured grounds and a heated swimming pool. Washington Fine Properties’ Margot Wilson was the listing agent. TTR Sotheby’s International Realty’s Anne-Marie Finnell represented the buyer.
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Smith Salem Heights LLC purchased TH STREET NW in Massachusetts Avenue Heights for $2.1 million. The five-bedroom 1957 Colonial was the former residence of the late Ervin and Shirlee Ornstein. The new owners plan to completely renovate the property and have it back on the market in a year. The listing agents were Robert Hryniewicki, Adam T. Rackliffe and Christopher R. Leary of HRL Partners at Washington Fine Properties and Nancy Taylor Bubes of Washington Fine Properties. The buyer’s agent was Elizabeth D’Angio of Washington Fine Properties.
Phil and Darlene Surprenant sold their historic Georgetown residence at N STREET NW for $2,635,000 to Donald A. Caron with the help of Washington Fine Properties William F. X. Moody, Robert Hryniewicki, Adam T. Rackliffe and Christopher R. Leary. Mr. Surprenant is an executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers and his wife is a lecturer at American and George Washington universities. The Surprenants bought the house in 2013 from Douglas and Jean Salter. The East Village Federal was built in 1835 and features original floors throughout, an arched entryway, five fireplaces and a chef’s kitchen.
VIRGINIA The recent $12 million sale of GEORGETOWN PIKE in Great Falls (the highest price ever paid in that area) has the buzz of yet another sale to a political VIP. Cutlass Properties LLC bought the 24,000square-foot mansion, known as Le Château de Lumière, from The Building Group Inc. The newly built French inspired brick and stone eight-bedroom reidence is situated on 5.4 acres. Just a sampling of features of this mega
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mansion include a two story rotunda, three staircases, gourmet kitchen, catering kitchen, ballroom, studio apartment, wine cellar, billiards room, home theater, gym, indoor basketball court and swimming pool with pool house. The property was listed by Sepideh Farivar of Keller Williams Realty. Nancy Taylor Bubes of Washington Fine Properties was the buyer’s agent.
STREET in Old Town Alexandria for $2.6 million to Steven and Martha Peterson.
Mr. Veatch is founder of Apex Systems. The handsome four-bedroom Federal townhouse sits on a double lot and includes more than 4,000 square feet of interior space. A gourmet kitchen with adjoining family room, an owner suite and third level water views are just a few features of this historic residence. Mary Ellen Rotondo of McEnearney Associates Inc. Jeff and Christie Veatch sold DUKE represented both parties in the transaction.
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HOME LIFE | REAL ESTATE NEWS
PROPERTY LINES TRULY TURNKEY IN MONTROSE: Local interior design personality Elizabeth Reynolds and Bill Marino (CEO of the intellectual property firm Norman IP Holdings) listed their Alexandria house at COVENTRY LANE for $2,395,000. The five-bedroom Colonial at the end of a cul-de-sac was built in 1980 and fully renovated in 2014 to include a luxurious master bedroom suite, a chef’s kitchen and tasteful entertaining areas. Occupying more than half an acre of park-like grounds, the property includes a bluestone terrace, impeccable landscaping, mature trees and a screen porch. TTR Sotheby’s International Real Estate’s Karen Barker and Wetherly Barker are the listing agents.
EAST VILLAGE GRANDE DAME: The former Georgetown home of biotech pioneer Bill Haseltine at P STREET NW is back on the market again for $8,950,000. A private LLC is selling the lavish 10,000-square-foot Victorian mansion, which is situated on a private corner lot. Built in 1875, the nine-bedroom house (plus a staff apartment) features soaring ceilings, grand public rooms, a 40-foot lap pool, private terraced gardens and onsite parking for six cars. Compass’ Ellen Morrell is the listing agent. BIG TOP HOUSE: The former home of the late Allen Bloom, a Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus executive, is on the market for $3 million. Susan Bloom is selling FAIRFAX ROAD in Bethesda with the help of Washington Fine Properties HRL Partners’ Robert Hryniewicki, Adam T. Rackliffe and Christopher R. Leary. The 2006 customdesigned Mediterraneanstyle residence boasts five b e d ro o m s , a n i m p re s s i ve gourmet kitchen with 17-foot cathedral ceilings and exposed beams, a commercial grade elevator, a 3,000-bottle wine cellar and a large private patio with swimming pool.
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CLASSIC SPRING VALLEY: Rob Liberatore and his wife, Debra, put ND TERRACE NW on the market for $3,095,000. The meticulously renovated 1957 whitewashed brick Colonial offers five bedrooms and six bathrooms. It is sited on a prominent lot complete with a five-foot pool, expansive terraces and a charming garden. Interior features include a spacious living room, a library with fireplace, an open family room and gourmet kitchen and a finished lower level. The Morrell-Roth Team of Compass Real Estate listed the property. HIGH GATE STUNNER: The undeniably spectacular RED BARN LANE in
Po t o m a c’s exc l u s i ve H i g h Gate neighborhood is listed at $5 million. Thomas Birnbach, managing principal of the Cresa Corporate Real Estate Firm, is selling the six-bedroom 2002built stone residence with modern, streamlined finishes including an expansive chef’s kitchen and an abundance of e n t e r t a i n i n g s p a c e. A charming pool house adjacent to a saltwater fountain pool, car collector’s spaces and an enormous fitness center complete this serene estate. Compass’ Jill Schwartz is the listing agent. FIT FOR A KING: The most expensive listing in the D.C.
metro area, CHAIN BRIDGE ROAD NW in Kent, is on the market for a cool $22 million — almost $1,500 per square foot. The 13,500-squarefoot dream house is a Regencystyled stucco mansion modeled after early 18th-century English manor houses. It was designed by Jones & Boer Architects and constructed by Banks Development. Extraordinary landscaping, a pool and pool house complete this one of a kind property. TTR Sotheby’s International Realty’s Marc Fleisher is the listing agent. Send real estate news to Stacey Grazier Pfarr at editorial@ washingtonlife.com.
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Open House
HOME LIFE | OPEN HOUSE
Three stunning properties currently on the market
KENSINGTON
EVERETT STREET
ASKING PRICE: $2,150,000
This modern but traditional residence in LISTING AGENT: Chevy Chase View features a state-of-theHelen Trybus, Coldwell art kitchen that opens to a family room and Banker screened porch with fireplace. The master suite has a private deck and spa-like bath. The 6,000-squarefoot house has five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. Other features include plantation shutters throughout, a large living room with hardwood floors and a two-car detached garage on a private 20,000-square-foot landscaped lot.
POTOMAC
RIVER ROAD
ASKING PRICE: Upon Request
LISTING AGENT: This Mediterranean-style residence graces over 13,000-squareJorie Koch, feet in prestigious “Olde Potomac.” A grand foyer opens to a 202.997.3811, harmonious entertainment space. A custom-designed gourmet Long & Foster kitchen with climate controlled wine cellar merges into a | Christie’s Incaterer’s kitchen. A glass atrium encloses a Versace Mansionternational Real inspired wading pool, and private loggia. Just off the 2,500Estate square-foot master suite is a his-and-hers spa and private terrace. Three bedrooms with en-suite baths complete the main level. An elevator rises to a second level boasting another bedroom with private bath, a media room and a glass gallery.
GIBSON ISLAND STILLWATER ROAD This stunning lakefront manor on Maryland’s exclusive Gibson Island features a private boat house, dock and bulkhead. Sitting on approximately 1.48 acres with about 300 linear feet of waterfront, this spectacular listing offers an open floor plan with magnificent lake views, a gourmet kitchen with separate wet bar, a gorgeous dining room, a large living room and a spacious study with built-in book cases, columns and mahogany woodworking throughout..
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ASKING PRICE: $3,297,000 LISTING AGENT: Sarah Kanne and Corey Burr, 301.967.3344, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
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MY WASHINGTON NANCY LINDBORG President, United States Institute of Peace BY C AT H E R I N E T R I F I L E T T I
ancy Lindborg has spent most of her career on the front lines of global conflict, first at Mercy Corps, then at USAID and now as president of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) — a Congressionally funded organization, formed in 1984, dedicated to preventing and resolving violent conflict in “hot spots” around the world. The bipartisan institute operates under the premise that turmoil addressed in its early stages is a win for both victims of violence and the global economy as a whole. Faced with potential budget cuts from the Trump administration, Lindborg is more motivated than ever to get USIP’s valuable work in the spotlight. >>
MY TOP SPOTS
Dumbarton Oaks where I love exploring the gardens in every season to get an instant nature hit that restores the soul.
USIP’s Terrace where the team gathers for a spectacular view of the Fourth of July fireworks.
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The garden of Iron Gate restaurant where my now-husband and I had our first lunch together one beautiful April day.
Mezcalero Cucino, which has the best margaritas and Mexican food in town, served with heart – if you can get in!
WHO OR WHAT IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST THREAT TO PEACE IN THE WORLD TODAY? Fragile, poorly governed countries. Recent estimates put the global cost of conflict at $14 trillion annually, and despite rising concern for the new potential for great power conflict, fragile states are the source of the increased wave of civil wars, virulent new forms of terrorism, historic levels of refugees fleeing violence and pandemics, as we saw with Ebola. WHAT IS A RECENT EXAMPLE HIGHLIGHTING THE WORK USIP HAS DONE? Over the past year, as ISIL is defeated in Iraqi cities, we have gone into communities, with a network of Iraqi mediators we have trained and supported, to broker tribal peace agreements that prevent new cycles of inter-tribal revenge and violence.This has enabled hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families to return to their homes.We’re now extending this work to additional Iraqi cities and into parts of Syria, where we hope to expand in the near future. EXPLAIN THE “TOP DOWN, BOTTOM UP” APPROACH TO REDUCING CONFLICT? We live in a fragmented world, so preventing violent conflict requires understanding and working at the local level with civil society, tribal or religious leaders for example— as well as the national level. For
example, in Afghanistan we have supported the resolution of local land conflicts that has now become a national initiative. Left unaddressed, these land disputes are the kind of grievances that can fuel conflict. ARE THERE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE WORK YOU DO AND SOLVING WORLD ISSUES GENERALLY? HOW DO YOU ADDRESS THEM AT USIP? Yes! I seize every chance to let people know our building on the Mall serves as a hub for our global team that applies the best scholarship and practical solutions for preventing and resolving violent conflicts in tough places.We were founded by Congress to be independent from foreign funders so we would be aligned with U.S. national security interests.We have a strictly bipartisan board and staff from all walks of life – academia, diplomacy, military and NGOs. WHAT IS USIP DOING TO ADDRESS THE LOOMING THREAT THAT TRUMP WILL CUT ITS BUDGET? We’re out there telling our story and doubling down on having cost-effective impact in places where U.S. national security interests are at stake. No one else does what we do, bringing together policy, research and on-the-ground practical solutions to prevent conflict around the world. Prevention is many magnitudes less expensive than responding once a crisis has erupted. IN YOUR TIME SERVING AS PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT? I had the chance to take 30 young leaders from war zones to spend four days with the Dalai Lama at his compound in India.These were young adults who have lived through great violence, including being pulled off a bus by Boko Haram or being bombed in a Ugandan sports stadium by AlShabaab. And in every case, their reaction was to dedicate their lives to building peace in their communities.They represent a more peaceful future for these countries. It was an extraordinary four days, electric with hope and deeply inspiring for all of us there.
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P O RT RA I T BY LU I S ARAGO N ; D U M BA RTO N OA KS V I A W I K I M E D I A CO M M O NS . I R O N GAT E P H OTO BY SCOTT SUCHMAN; USIP PHOTO BY CATHERINE TRIFILETTI; PHOTO COURTE SY OF MEZCALERO CU C I N O.
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