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 fifteen 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. The four folks below hold our board leadership positions but all board members coordinate with our volunteer committees and opportunities.
Sara Fatell, born in Philadelphia, has lived in DC for the last 10+ years. She came from the University of Pittsburgh where she found her passion for political organizing and building power. Sara has worked in community organizing, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, fundraising, and in leadership development and trainings. Before focusing on expansion and development at a national Jewish non-profit, Sara started and owned a neighborhood bakery in DC. Having known GRDC from the start, Sara is excited to re-join the team in this new role. Sara currently cooks & bakes at home, in Mount Rainer, with her wife Kelsey and pup Hank.
An advocate, researcher, and thought leader whose career has focused on issues enabling healthcare access and choice, encouraging financial freedom, creating safe spaces, and fostering healing. Latoya is the Director of Policy and Government Affairs at Doctor on Demand, and has a deep expertise in shaping statutory and regulatory policies nationwide that facilitate better delivery of care, cost reduction, internet connectivity and transparency between consumers, providers and insurers. She has spoken extensively on matters involving virtual care including testimony before legislative and regulatory bodies.
Prior to joining Doctor on Demand, Latoya served as the Director of Policy for the American Telemedicine Association, Associate Director of Government Affairs for the National Association for Home Care and Hospice, and Research and Communications Strategist for the National HIT Collaborative for the Underserved Prior to promote the use of technologies as a tool to reduce health disparities, improve patient engagement and ensure equitable access to healthcare across the care continuum. Latoya also serves on the Boards of Directors for the Texas eHealth Alliance and is a Howard University alumna.
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.
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 saman@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 the 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, a Co-Director of Training for Rising Organizers, and a big fan of creating fiber art, baked goods, and jangly guitar noises.
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.
