WAVE Board - Washington Area Villages Exchange

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Laila Riazi, President
Cheverly Village, MD

Laila Riazi is co-founder and President of Cheverly Village. She is a dedicated voice for local government and civic engagement, having served as Councilmember for 11 years and through four elections and then elected for a term as Mayor of the Town of Cheverly in 2019. In community, she is an advocate for youth and our planet, having served as a member of the county school system’s Parent and Community Advisory Council, and as a producer of young people’s musical theatrical productions, and currently serving on the local green infrastructure committee and county Climate Action Plan Resident Advisory Group. Her professional roles have included Board and Director roles in Community Crisis Services, Inc., focusing on suicide prevention, homeless services, and crisis support. She is committed to building new forms of partnerships suitable to counties having both wealth and great poverty. Laila’s education background includes a B.A. in Slavic Studies and philosophy; work in international conflict resolution; and graduate studies in international relations.

Jim Sanders, Co-Vice President
The Village in Howard, MD

Jim Sanders is a quality of aging advocate. He is Adjunct Professor at the Business of Health Program at Hopkins Carey Business School and a leader of Howard County Age Friendly and Community Foundation. Jim was a Peace Corp volunteer which led to developing community based programs and business incubators. He has taught MBA programs on social entrepreneurship focused on sustainability, impact, and scale for 30 years. Jim is a former Board Member of VtV and The Village of Howard County (TVIH). He is married to a hospice nurse and lives in Columbia, Maryland.

Arkia Wade, Co-Vice President
Neighborhood Companions, MD

Arkia Wade is the Executive Director and Founder of Neighborhood Companions Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life in Turner Station, a historic African American community in Baltimore County. As President of the Baltimore County Arts Guild Board and Treasurer of the Turner Station Conservation Teams, Arkia promotes cultural and community revitalization. She also leads a local Girl Scouts Troop and is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Psi Phi Omega Chapter. Inspired by her grandfather, a trailblazing physician who served Turner Station, Arkia’s work supports the elderly while addressing social and environmental challenges. She holds a BA in Marketing and Sociology from The College of William and Mary and enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with loved ones.

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Wendy Zenker, Treasurer

Arlington Neighborhood Village, VA

Wendy is the Executive Director of Arlington Neighborhood Village (ANV) in Arlington, VA. Prior to joining ANV in 2017, Wendy was a Senior Vice President for the National Council on Aging, where she directed the implementation of nationwide programs to improve the health and financial well-being of older adults, especially those with low incomes. She had a 30+ year career with the Federal Government, her last position as the COO of the Corporation for National Service, which oversees the AmeriCorps and Senior Corps programs. Wendy also serves on the Board of the Village to Village Network.

Trish Evans
Village Support Network, City of Rockville, MD

Trish Evans currently serves as the Village Facilitator for the City of Rockville, where she leads the development and growth of community-led Villages across the city. Before stepping into this role, she spent decades working in mission-driven organizations, specializing in communication strategy, partnership development, and helping families navigate the complexities of the elder healthcare system. Much of her career was dedicated to supporting senior care facilities and the communities they serve. Recognizing the significant needs of emerging Villages — and the limits of what could be provided through her city role and budget — Trish co-founded the Village Support Network (VSN) in 2017.

Nicole Furnace
Roots Consulting Group, DC Villages Collaborative

Nicole Furnace is an equity-driven leader with over a decade of experience advancing inclusive, intergenerational community engagement and aging-in-place initiatives across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Her work is grounded in the mission that older adults thrive when communities are connected, welcoming and designed universally to support all people at every stage and age. Nicole has served as Executive Director of Greater Brookland Intergenerational Village and, since June 2025, has been the Lead Consultant for Advocacy, Advancement, and Engagement with the DC Villages Collaborative (DCVC), facilitating shared advocacy strategy across Villages, supporting organizational development, strategy and planning large-scale senior engagement and advocacy events. Nicole is the Founder and CEO of Roots Consulting Group, which partners with organizations, municipalities, and community leaders to embed equity, inclusion, and belonging into programs, policies, and organizational culture. Across all of these roles, Nicole aims to support leaders and organizations in translating values into action and impact.

Douglas Gaddis
Silver Spring Village, MD

Doug Gaddis currently serves as Executive Director of Silver Spring Village, a position he has held since September 2019. Previously, he served as the chief fund development officer for the Higher Achievement Program, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Interfaith Works, and The Arc Montgomery County. Since he arrived at Silver Spring Village, he has helped the organization increase its budget by a third, tripled the balance of its operating reserve fund, ended each year with a surplus, managed the merger of a neighboring Village into Silver Spring Village, and increased membership by 50 percent. Doug is a frequent presenter at both WAVE and VTVN conferences and workshops and enjoys collaborating with the members of our vibrant regional network.

Morgan Gopnik
Northwest Neighbors Village, Washington DC

Morgan Gopnik worked for 25 years as an expert in environmental science, with a particular focus on ocean policy. She served as Director of the Ocean Studies Board at the National Academy of Sciences, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, and Senior Vice President for Programs at the Ocean Conservancy. Morgan retired in 2016 and is now an active volunteer and Board Member at Northwest Neighbors Village in Washington, DC. She was instrumental in forming and now serves on the board of the DC Villages Collaborative whose mission is to strengthen existing Villages in DC and help create new Villages in underserved neighborhoods. She holds a Ph.D. in Marine Science and Conservation from Duke University, a Masters degree in Environmental Engineering from Caltech, and a Bachelor of Science in Physical Geography from McGill University. Morgan enjoys reading, cooking, biking, and travel, and spends as much time as possible with her grandson.

Elizabeth Haile
Bethesda Metro Area Village, MD

Elizabeth Haile has been Executive Director of Bethesda Metro Area Village (BMAV) since April 2017. In this part-time role, and BMAV’s only staff, she works with village volunteers and board members to not only support our 165 members, but provide programming and connections with seniors around the area. She has focused on facilitating connections between villages and shared community resources. Elizabeth’s background includes community service as a volunteer and an attorney. As an attorney, Elizabeth represented victims of gun violence for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and continues to volunteer with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Elizabeth’s earlier career was as an associate litigation attorney with major law firms after graduating from Georgetown University Law Center. She has been a longtime volunteer and board member with her local public-school PTAs, her neighborhood community association, alumnae association, St. Columba's Episcopal Church, DC, and a Girl Scout Troop leader and volunteer.

Rommel Jones
Goodwin Living at Home

Rommel Jones is the incoming Director of Goodwin Living At Home, a Continuing Care at Home program serving older adults in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. As Director, he focuses on strengthening member engagement and quality of life through prevention focused, wellness centered programming across the dimensions of wellness. He is recognized for collaborative leadership and for developing initiatives that prioritize older adults while delivering meaningful impact to the communities he serves. He brings over two decades of experience across pharmaceutical, hospital, and clinical settings, with a career dedicated to improving care delivery, advancing quality outcomes, and enhancing the lives of older adults. Rommel holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing.

Eva Lucero
Dupont Circle Village, Washington DC

Eva Lucero is the Executive Director of Dupont Circle Village, a role she has been in since 2015. She is an experienced non-profit executive with demonstrated success in fundraising, special events, marketing, writing, editing, program development, volunteer management, board relations and office leadership. Eva has lived in Washington for more than 30 years, as well as in Santa Fe, San Antonio and New York City. She holds an MA in Art and Museum Studies/Non-Profit Management from New York University.

Carol Paquette
Virginia Villages Collective, VA

Carol Paquette is a founder of Arlington Neighborhood Village in Virginia. She currently serves as the convenor of the Virginia Villages Collective (VVC), an informal collaboration of 18 Virginia Villages. Carol is a former board member and past president of the Village to Village Network (VTVN). She started the Village Impact Project to explore ways to demonstrate the efficacy and benefits of the Village model. She coordinated the in-person mentor program for 3 years and is currently a member of the VtVN Village Expansion Committee. Carol retired in 2013 after 45 plus years of varied management and research experience in both the public and private sectors. She received a B.A. cum laude in Political Science from West Virginia University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Leo Sanchez
Mount Pleasant Village, Washington DC

Leo M. Sanchez has been a member of the Mt. Pleasant Village for about 5 years and in the last two years has been an active member on its Board. In addition, he has worked with the Capitol Hill Village, representing Mt. Pleasant, on LGBTQ programs and deliverables such as the LGBTQ Intergenerational Symposium, a DC Village wide Pride celebration, and a “toolbox” designed to assist area Villages reach out to LGBTQ neighbors. Leo has been a resident of Mt. Pleasant since 1996 and fell in love with the neighborhood’s historic connection to the city’s Latino population and its proximity to the National Zoo. He remains an active Cluster Coordinator for Mt. Pleasant Village, a specific effort by the Village leadership to reach out to “inactive” neighbors to keep them informed and respond to any questions about the Village and its mission and programs. Leo retired from Federal Service in 2016. He believes that meaningful strategic alliances, such as WAVE, can help folks who want to age in place as long as possible, as well as those who are younger and love the DC Metro area as much as he does.

Rich Sider

Valley Village, VA

Rich Sider's work career has been in non-profit management, beginning in international relief and development work in Africa and Latin America, then in Human Resource management, and before his retirement in 2018, as Executive Director of a small non-profit in Harrisonburg, VA and a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Fairfax, VA. He holds a Master's degree in Human Services Administration, with an emphasis in non-profit and human resource management, from Villanova University. He currently works part-time as the Business Manager for an area museum, is Treasurer of this local UU congregation and President of his neighborhood's Property Owners Association. He and his wife, Martha, have two married daughters and five grandchildren.