Charles Allen is focused on building a Ward 6 with great schools at every level and a neighborhood you can always call home.

In his first three terms on the DC Council, Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen has successfully championed bold legislative efforts around education, the environment, safer streets, strengthening Metro, public safety and criminal justice, campaign finance and elections reform, LGBTQ rights, and women’s health. His first piece of legislation, “Books from Birth”, has delivered more than 3 million books to the homes of DC families with a child under the age of five, at no cost to the families, with targeted enrollment of children in communities with lower literacy rates. It remains one of the most popular government-run programs in the District.

As Ward 6 Councilmember, he has focused his efforts on ensuring every student has a great neighborhood school, improving public safety, supporting small businesses, and creating more affordable housing – and in recent years, Ward 6 has created more new affordable housing than any other Ward, with many more homes in the pipeline. He has brought community members together to lead transformations of beloved public spaces, including Eastern Market Metro Park, the Southwest Library, the Southeast Library, and Swampoodle Park and Terrace, as well as nearly all of Ward 6’s public schools and playspaces. His “Vision Zero” and “STEER Act” legislation have pushed the District to move quickly to create safer streets for all. And the Council recently passed his landmark “Metro for DC” legislation to make bus service fare-free in the District and give DC residents a $100 balance on their SmarTrip cards.

As Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety for three Council Periods, Councilmember Allen led the Council in passing comprehensive policing reform and crime victims’ rights legislation, overhauling the city’s crime lab, banning ghost guns, creating the District’s “red flag” gun safety law, passing landmark second chances sentencing and workforce development laws, and expanding access to justice in the courts. Through the budget process, he created the District’s first-ever Gun Violence Prevention Director and exponentially increased funding each year for critical violence prevention and reduction programs and crime victims’ and reentry grants. Also passionate about elections and campaign finance reform, Councilmember Allen has passed legislation to make vote-by-mail permanent, create the District’s automatic voter registration system and “Fair Elections” public financing program, expand voting rights, and ban so-called government “pay-to-play” contracting.

In Council Period 25, he serves as the Chair of the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment and sits on the Committees on Business and Economic Development, Health, and Judiciary and Public Safety. He is also the Chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. In Council Period 24, Councilmember Allen also served as co-chair of the Council’s Special Committee on COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery, tasked with producing recommendations to equitably shape the District’s recovery.

Councilmember Allen graduated from Washington and Lee University and holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He lives in Northeast DC with his wife, Jordi, their two children, and their dog.

12:00 - 12:25 pm: Registration and Networking

12:25 - 12:30 pm: Guests Seated

12:30 pm - 12:35 pm: Opening Remarks

12:35 pm - 12:45 pm: Welcome Remarks given by Michelle Riley-Brown

12:45 pm - 1:00 pm: Special Presentation by Colonel Crowley, Commander, Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and Commander, 11th Wing + Q&A

1:00 pm - 1:25 pm: Fireside Chat with Tom Barkin, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

1:25 pm - 1:30 pm: Closing Remarks

1:30 pm: Adjournment

Paid parking is available. Guests are asked to use the second entrance to the garage, take a ticket upon entry.

Pamela A. Smith has over 25 years of law enforcement experience and a decorated career having achieved numerous commendations and awards. While in the United States Park Police, Smith served in major city field offices across the United States including San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, and Washington, DC, rising through the ranks to become Chief of Police for the United States Park Police in 2021.

She began her career with the United States Park Police in 1998 as a patrol officer in the San Francisco Field Office and received numerous commendations for her proactive efforts with drug enforcement, sobriety checkpoints, and community engagement. As her experience grew, she was reassigned to the New York Field Office where she continued her remarkable work ethic and joined the Canine Unit as a Canine Handler in the Explosive Ordnance and Detection Unit. She transitioned to a Senior Instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), Law Enforcement Driver Training Program in Glynco, GA. She rose through the ranks as sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major, deputy chief and was ultimately promoted to Chief of Police, becoming the first African-American female to serve as Chief in the agency’s 230-year-old history.

After a successful career in law enforcement with the US Park Police, Smith joined the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in May 2022 as the Chief Equity Officer, assigned to the Executive Office of the Chief of Police. She led the department's efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), made an immediate impact at the MPD and ensured that DEI issues remained a priority in the department. She developed an organizational channel for department-wide accountability by providing strategic advice to the Chief of Police, executive leadership, and senior management officials within the department. In addition to her DEI focus, she supervised the Directorates for Employee Well-Being and Support Unit and Equal Employment Opportunity Office.

She made a significant impact in a brief time span and in April 2023, was promoted to the Assistant Chief of Police, Homeland Security Bureau where she led the operational and administrative functions of the Special Operations Division, Joint Strategic & Tactical Analysis Command Center, and the Office of Intelligence. On July 17, 2023, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she selected Pamela A. Smith to serve as the next Chief of Police at the Metropolitan Police Department. Smith was officially confirmed Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department on November 7, 2023.

Chief Smith is well known for her law enforcement commitment and advocacy, leadership, and her skillful passion to forge relationships within the agency and across the communities she serves. Throughout her distinguished career, she has earned numerous awards and recognitions from several organizations including the National Organization for Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE), the Women in Federal law Enforcement Public Service Award, Northeast Region Equal Employment Opportunity Office Recognition of Outstanding Excellence; and the National Council of Negro Women Award for Working Together in Unity.

Smith is a member of several organizations including the Washington Metro Chapter, National Organization for Black Law Enforcement Executive, International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE). She’s also a sought-after speaker and panelist for many platforms focused on women in law enforcement, leadership, diversity and inclusion, and more.

It was her early years in foster care in Pine Bluff, AR that fueled her passion for helping and advocating for children. And as a minister today, she uses her platform to counsel and mentor youth and young adults to make a positive impact on their lives.

Smith has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice Education from the University of Virginia. She is also a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy (Session 265).

A proud fifth generation Washingtonian, Robert C. White, Jr. is in his second term as At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia. He chairs the Council’s Committee on Housing.

Robert began his career in public service as a law clerk in the Maryland District Court for Montgomery County. For five years, he worked in the United States Congress, serving as Legislative Counsel to the District’s Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. In 2014, he was tapped by Attorney General Karl A. Racine to serve as the first Director of Community Outreach for the DC Office of the Attorney General. In 2016, Robert was elected as an at-large Councilmember with the highest number of votes in the history of DC’s elected Council. He was re-elected in 2020.

Robert and his wife, Christy, an attorney with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, reside in Ward 4 with their daughters, Madison and Monroe. They attend St. Martin’s Catholic Church. Robert loves spending time with his family, reading, and riding his motorcycle.

Brian J. Hanlon is an accomplished administrator, leader, and registered architect with more than 35 years of private and public sector experience.

Through his private sector work, Director Hanlon actively practiced architecture, managed the development of many billions of dollars of K-12 and collegiate real estate, and served in several leadership roles focusing on construction management and building technologies. He is driven to deliver solutions in the built environment that are responsive to the needs of people, while ensuring they are implemented and used in the most environmentally responsible manner possible. Director Hanlon’s passion and purpose is to work to make our spaces and places integral with a spirit of stewardship. This drives his work – so that future generations may have a future in which they thrive.

Director Hanlon returns to the public sector, having previously worked in District government as the Executive Program Manager at the Department of Real Estate, followed by his appointment as the first permanent Director of the Department of General Services (DGS), where the agency modernized the preventative maintenance and portfolio management of the District’s 30 million sq. ft. of real estate under his leadership. He was also responsible for $2.3 billion in new construction, renovation, and other capital projects including schools, parks, recreation facilities, office buildings, laboratories, senior centers, police stations, fire stations, and residential shelter facilities during his tenure. At DGS, he and the agency garnered multiple awards for design, innovation, and sustainable practices.

10:30 - 10:45 am: Registration and Networking

10:45 - 11:00 am: Welcome Remarks by Tony Williams

11:00 am - 11:15 am: Overview of the National Links Trust Project by Damian Cosby, NLT Executive Director

11:15 am - 12:00 pm: Walking Tour of the Golf Course (please wear comfortable shoes)

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: OPTIONAL Lunch at Club House

Free parking is available at the golf course.

12:00 - 12:10 pm: Registration and Networking

12:10 - 12:15 pm: Guests Seated

12:15 pm - 12:17 pm: Opening Remarks given by Deborah F. Rutter

12:20 pm - 12:40 pm: Q&A Discussion

1:05 pm - 1:10 pm: Panel Discussion

1:10 pm - 1:30 pm: Fireside Chat

1:30 pm: Closing Remarks and Adjournment

Paid parking is available underneath the building. Access on 19th Street between E and F streets, NW

Lindsey Appiah has been appointed as the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice (DMPSJ). Deputy Mayor Appiah began her career in public service as an Assistant Attorney General representing the Department of Children’s Services and the Department of Labor in the Tennessee Office of the Attorney General where she managed a team of attorneys that represented the departments in various matters, including state tort actions and federal civil rights action. In 2012, Deputy Mayor Appiah began her career in District government at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) and served in several leadership roles, including Assistant General Counsel, General Counsel, and Interim Director. Deputy Mayor Appiah joined the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice as Chief of Staff in 2021.

Dr. Francisco J. Diaz received his medical degree in his native country, Dominican Republic. After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Diaz trained in Anatomic Pathology at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, Pennsylvania/Temple University. In 2000, Dr. Diaz accepted a fellowship in forensic pathology with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in affiliation with Hahnemann University (now Drexel University).

After completing the forensic pathology fellowship, Dr. Diaz joined the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Wayne County, Michigan as an Assistant Medical Examiner. In January 2012, in affiliation with the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office, Dr. Diaz was appointed to the University of Michigan faculty, Department of Pathology as Assistant Professor. Dr. Diaz was a Medical Examiner in Michigan for 16 years.

Dr. Diaz has performed more than 8500 autopsies during his career and testified hundreds of times in circuit, district, and federal courts. He has also provided numerous civil depositions. Dr. Diaz is the co-author of "Spitz and Fisher Medicolegal Investigation of Death on his 5th edition.

Dr. Diaz has also co-authored 35 peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, and presentations and has been invited on numerous occasions to speak at regional, national, and international conferences. He is board certified in Anatomic Pathology as well as Forensic Pathology. He is a fellow of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), and the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP).

He is a member of the board of directors and the government affairs committee's chair for NAME.

After joining DC OCME, Dr. Diaz was appointed to the faculty of George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and holds Assistant Professor's rank.

Dr. Diaz enjoys reading and traveling when he is away from the office.

12:00 - 12:10 pm: Registration and Networking

12:10 - 12:15 pm: Guests Seated

12:15 pm - 12:17 pm: Opening Remarks given by Deborah F. Rutter

12:20 pm - 12:40 pm: Q&A Discussion on the District's Federal Relationships with Elliot Doomes, moderated by Tony Williams

1:05 pm - 1:10 pm: FY 2025 Budget Highlights and Projections with Yesim Sayin

1:10 pm - 1:30 pm: Fireside Chat with Tony Williams, moderated by Yesim Sayin

1:30 pm: Closing Remarks and Adjournment

The address is 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC 20566.

Complimentary Parking is available. When you reach the garage, please ensure you have the QR Code ready (either on your mobile device or printed out).

Once you enter the REACH, ushers - will be available to lead you in the right direction to find the River Pavilion.