Adult and Youth leaders guide our programming and fulfill our mission.
After 10 years of a volunteer-based “Leadership Team”, we shifted our leadership and operations to a three-part structure with a formal Board of Directors, a Youth Advisory Board, and year-round staff.
Read a letter from the Board of Directors Chair about this transition.
The board consists of five great folks that are super devoted to Girls Rock! DC and come with skills and experience that help build capacity, but most essentially, reflect our youth and their potential.
Chhaya Kapadia is a lifelong non-profit professional with an extensive background in operations and events. She is currently Operations Director for New America’s Open Technology Institute where she supports efforts at bringing open and secure communication technologies to all communities through policy change. Prior to seven years as COO and Events Director for musician advocacy organization Future of Music Coalition, she coordinated tours at noted roots music booking/management agency Concerted Efforts. She received a BA from Emerson College with a major in Audio Engineering and was also previously an in-house sound engineer with WERS-FM Boston.
Raisa Johnson joined the National Housing Trust in 2016 and currently serves as the Public Policy Associate. Her research supports state and local public policy initiatives to preserve affordable housing and create sustainable, vibrant communities for low-income families. Raisa also supports NHT’s initiative to increase energy efficiency in multifamily affordable housing through strategic public policy advocacy at the state and local level.
Before joining NHT, Raisa worked at the Center for Community Change (CCC) as the Pablo Eisenberg Public Interest Fellow. At the CCC, she helped further the Center’s mission to build the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change their communities and public policies for the better. Raisa helped to executive national strategies on issues on immigration, retirement security, affordable housing, and jobs and wages.
Raisa recently graduated with a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy. She earned her B.A. in International and Global Studies from the University of the South, Sewanee.
Dr. Maranda C. Ward is a community educator, curriculum developer, and youth builder. She is the ANC for her ward 7 neighborhood and fills the Ward 7 seat on the Mayor‘s Commission on Health Equity. She is also faculty at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences translating her research into practice as the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Promising Futures - a youth development pipeline for D.C. youth ages 11-24. Maranda earned her Doctorate in Education from GW, her Master’s in Public Health from Tulane University, and her Bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Anthropology from Spelman College. She enjoys learning from youth, traveling, and brunch.
Diana Thu-Thao Rhodes wears many hats, among them: advocate, change-maker, policy nerd, facilitator, creator, curator and creative schemer. In her professional capacity, she is a policy advocate that works on reproductive and sexual health/rights/justice issues, especially those that impact young people, women, LGBTQ and communities of color. Personally, she has been curating and organizing with local arts and music communities for nearly 15 years, beginning in her hometown of Las Vegas, and now in her adopted home of Washington, DC. Her passion lies in cultivating intentional spaces for community-building, activism, and creative expression.
Erin Frisby served as the Program Director and fundraising professional for Chicago-based music education organization, Rock For Kids, developing and launching their in-school music education program before leaving Chicago to tour the country living in a Honda Element with her bandmate and partner. Erin, a multi-instrumentalist with a degree in music from University of Maryland, currently writes, sings, and plays guitar in the art rock band, FuzzQueen, and in the new all femme band, The OSYX. She teaches private voice, guitar, and songwriting lessons. Erin’s music has been featured by Sound Opinions, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, PopMatters, Atwood Magazine, Magnet Magazine and more. Erin is also participating as an artist activist in the 2018 mixed-cohort with The Sanctuaries D.C.
Lindsey Wahowiak is an organizer, advocate and journalist. By day, she‘s director of Affiliate Affairs at the American Public Health Association, where she provides support for state and regional public health organizations and leads National Public Health Week efforts. Previously, she’s worked as an editor at various health publications, nonprofits and community newspapers. She also served as director of volunteer engagement with the DC Abortion Fund. She has a bachelor‘s in journalism from Central Michigan University. Lindsey is a We Rock! Camp alum. She plays keys in Louder Messy (We Rock! ’16) and bass in Recent Teens.
At GR!DC we do all we can to make sure youth voices are heard, and for that, they need to be amplified.
The Youth Advisory Board (YAB) is a group of 5-10 teens that meet to strengthen their communication and leadership skills and make GR!DC more youth-driven. The program aims to give young folks a louder voice in deciding GR!DC’s priorities, direction, and major organizational decisions.
It is separate from the at-camp Youth Leadership Program, and youth are welcome to apply to both. YAB members DO NOT have to attend GR!DC Summer Camp (though it’s great if they do)!
This program is the first step in creating a permanent, year-round youth decision-making presence at Girls Rock! DC. It was formed to be a leadership body for GR!DC teens, but the exact scope of its work is defined by its members. First and foremost, the Youth Advisory Board will consult with the adult leaders to make decisions about GR!DC’s future priorities and actions.
If you have questions or want to apply to be a YAB member, email info@girlsrockdc.org.
Co-Executive Directors form the core of our paid staff! These positions are year-round and part-time. First, these folks will spearhead the transition of GR!DC from an all-volunteer leadership structure to a paid staffing model. They also develop the strategic plan to support the overall functioning and longevity of GR!DC and manage the daily duties and tasks of GR!DC staff and volunteers.
Noel Schroeder is a feminist activist, educator, and organizer in Washington, D.C. with nearly a decade of progressive leadership experience in nonprofit management. As Co-Executive Director of Girls Rock! DC, Noel is spearheading the transition of GR!DC from an all-volunteer leadership structure to a sustainable, inclusive staffing model. They manage the GR!DC team and implement the organization’s strategic plan to ensure the overall functioning and longevity of the organization.
Through their consulting business, they provide strategic coaching and training for social and gender justice organizations and coalitions to help teams improve relationships and processes to match their feminist values. In past roles, Noel was the Director of Programs at Women Thrive Alliance, a Teacher Trainer for the Peace Corps in Indonesia, and a teenage anti-war rabble-rouser.
Noel is a Co-Founder of the Future is Feminist activist collective and a big fan of creating fiber art, baked goods, and jangly guitar noises.
Shady Rose is an artist, educator, activist, and DC native. They have lived and worked in DC their whole life building on the strong foundations of progressive movements, anti-racism and solidarity amongst marginalized people. As Co-Executive Director, Shady merges their background in fundraising and communications to drive the growth and potential of Girls Rock! DC, broadening the accessibility of our programs to more of DC’s youth and expanding the involvement of our supportive community.
As the lead singer of their band Lightmare and the Co-Founder of their performing arts project CodAko Entertainment, they‘ve found voice and connection in DC’s vibrant arts community. Their ten-year career in youth work was sparked serving DC’s youth through capoeria, moved through alternative education models working in Montessori schools, and has been rounded out by arts and music education with various organizations in DC.
They are proud to be a part of the interconnected music family within Girls Rock! DC and excited to contribute to quality of excellent service to DC‘s rockin’ youth!
NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY: Girls Rock! DC does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national and/or ethnic origin, marital status, sexual orientation, body type, physical ability, gender expression, or other individual identities in the administration of any of its educational programs, admissions policies, scholarships, and other Camp-related policies and programs, as well as volunteer policies and activities. All Camp activities will promote and maintain the personal and emotional safety of all campers and staff. We do not tolerate racism, homophobia, sexism, or other discriminatory behavior or expression.
