Mount Pleasant Village Board of Directors 
and Committee Chairs

William Emmet, President 

A resident of Mount Pleasant since 2000. Has more than twenty years of experience in mental health policy at the state and national levels. Earned a B.A. in history from Beloit College. Worked in television, journalism, as a writer, and as a teacher. Since 1990, has held a variety of positions addressing health care and mental health reform. He previously served as Co-Chair of the Governance Committee. 

 

Fred O'Regan, Vice President
Volunteer Management Committee, Co-Chair and Council of Committees Chair

Fred and his wife Nancy first moved to Mt. Pleasant in 1983. Fred's career has focused on poverty-alleviation and environmental conservation, both domestically and internationally (mainly in Africa, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union). He holds a BA in Philosophy and Biology and an MSW. He began his career as a community organizer in Cambridge, MA after serving in the Peace Corps as a science teacher in eSwatini (formerly Swaziland).

 

Ross Hamory, Treasurer

A graduate of Maryville College. Worked for 34 years for the Federal Aviation Administration in management and executive positions. Served on the Board of Directors of the Habitat for Humanity in Beaufort, N.C. and the Main Street Organization in Washington, N.C.

 

 

David Arnold, Secretary

Came to Mount Pleasant in 1992 from two years working in Kenya. He and  his wife, Courtney discovered the tree-lined row houses on 19th Street and fell in love with the neighborhood. His professional life has included editing a national magazine about the underserved regions of the world for the National Peace Corps Association and working with Ethiopian journalists producing daily shortwave news programs to Ethiopia and Eritrea.  He is very interested in the intergenerational nature of Mount Pleasant and its potential for the Mount Pleasant Village.

 

Tess Amolsch

Has been a Mt. Pleasant resident since 2002. She and her husband Christian (a commercial Architect) closed on their first house in Mt. Pleasant the day they got back from their honeymoon. They lived in their first house at 19th Street and Newton for 8 years, which included a growing family: a daughter and boy girl twins (all now attending Deal Middle School.) Tess has been highly involved in Neighbors Helping Neighbors. Her professional work has been in the field of non-profit management.

 

Laura Breeden

Lived in DC in the 90s for two years while working for the Clinton Administration, then returned in 2009 for another stint at the Department of Commerce.  Lived in Mount Pleasant since 2011. Professional work has focused on the public-sector application of new communication technologies, in areas including education, libraries, state and local governments, and workforce development. Enjoys qi gong classes, attends All Souls Unitarian Church, and tries to garden on her tiny deck. She has also served on the Village’s Diversity Committee.

  

 

Jesse Boardman Bump

His affection for Mount Pleasant dates to 1997 when Rock Creek and the diverse, community and lively streets drew him into a basement apartment on the 18th and Lamont corner. Following years in Italy and Boston, he and his family returned to the neighborhood in 2012. The children are students at Bancroft school.  He has an active interest in historic preservation on our business street as well on our residential streets.  Jesse joined the Village in 2017. He is the Executive Director of the Takemi Program in International Health and Lecturer on Global Health Policy in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a Member of the Bergen Center for Ethics and Priority Setting at the University of Bergen.

 

Jill Eden

Has been in the DC area since the late 80's and moved to Mount Pleasant in 2011, joining the village in 2019.  She has spent her career in health policy—mostly in research at the Institute of Medicine (part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine where she directed studies on a broad range of health policy issues.  Originally from the south shore of Long Island, Jill went to Barnard College and earned MPH and MBA degrees from Columbia University. Jill is a founding member of the Village Clusters and currently leads the Cluster Coordinators Group. She is especially passionate about family, friends, music, and nature.

Josephine Escalante

Josephine Escalante began volunteering for the Mount Pleasant Village in 2018, assisting in the Village's Raffle Fundraiser. Since then, she has assisted many committees and currently serves on the Partnership (Co-chair) and Volunteer Management Committees. Josephine is an attorney and mother of three. She has lived with her family on Newton Street since 2005. In 2018, Josephine suspended her work as a federal litigator specializing in intellectual property law to devote more time to her non-profit work. In addition to her work for the Village, Josephine serves on the Board of Visitors and Governors for St. John's College, her alma mater. She is also the current President of St. John's College's Alumni Association. Prior to her legal practice, Josephine was the founding Executive Director of New York non-profit, Filipino American Human Services Inc. (FAHSI). Her work at FAHSI garnered The Banaag Award, among nominees from all over the world, for exemplary service to the Philippine community.

 

Jan Fenty, Partnership Committee Co-Chair 

 

Judy Fisher

A District resident since 1967 and in her Lanier Heights home for more than 30 years. Earned degrees in English and secondary education from Howard University and an M.A. in early childhood education from the University of the District of Columbia. She is active on the Diversity Committee.

  

Leo M. Sanchez 

Leo fell in love with the prospect of living in Mount Pleasant in 1996 when he realized he could live in the city without the feel of being in the middle of it. 

He’s been a member of the Village for the last 2 or 3 years. He is a Village Cluster Coordinator.  Sanchez is an avid swimmer and a certified Master Gardener.  He volunteers at the Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens and is also a literacy tutor through the AARP Experience Corps. Retired from Federal Service in,2016, he spent most of his Federal career at the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA).  He has served as a Latino Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) Board Member.

Robin Sandenburgh

A resident of Mount Pleasant from 1984-1988, when she moved to Kenya “for a year.”  Moved back to Mount Pleasant in 2014, having spent the intervening years doing environmental work for the World Bank Group in Zimbabwe, India, Egypt, and Turkey. Undergraduate degree from Brown University (History) and masters from the University of Michigan (Public Policy).  Served as a Mount Pleasant ANC commissioner from 2019-2022; active member of the Village’s ‘Neighbors Helping Neighbors’ effort from 2020-present; and Board member of Margaret McNamara Education Grants, which provides education grants to exceptional women from developing countries. 

Martha Sipple

Moved to Mount Pleasant in 1982. She has lived in various locations throughout MTP - Park, Ingleside, Lamont, and Irving.  In 1987, she moved to a cooperative building in Lanier Heights and served on the Coop Board for about a decade. Martha joined the Village 2019. A a member of the Diversity Committee. She is a founding member of the Waste Management Interest Group that seeks to make Mount Pleasant a community model for Zero Waste.  Martha is a communications strategist in international development focused on poverty alleviation.

 

Committee Chairs

Michael Burke, Membership Committee Co-Chair

A resident of the District since 1981. Attended Kalamazoo College; earned a degree in economics and business. Retired from Bloomberg BNA (formerly the Bureau of National Affairs), where he worked in the Product Research and Development division, with responsibility for maintaining BNA’s internal and external websites. Being retired has allowed Michael to enjoy the theatre. He is currently on the board of directors of the Constellation Theatre Company and is a trustee for the Anderson-Hopkins Award for Excellence in the Theater Arts. Michael joined the Village three years ago, being drawn to our emphasis on aging in place and in the community.

Judy Byron, Diversity Committee Co-Chair

A resident of Mount Pleasant for more than 40 years. As an artist and activist, with her works on paper, installations, and artist books, she explores issues of identity and imagines art as a common ground for the community.  She was the founder of the Corcoran Museum Art Mentorship Program (CAMP). Co-Chair of the Diversity and Governance Committees.

Bonnie Cain, Program Committee Co-Chair

A resident of Mount Pleasant for 35 years.  B.A. M.A. and Ph.D.  Former D.C. Council education advisor. Former ANC commissioner and publisher, for 9 years, of The Bulletin Board, a local newspaper for Ward One communities. Serves on the Village’s Communications and Diversity Committees, and is Council of Committees and Co-Chair of the Program Committee.

Josephine Escalante, Membership and Partnership Committees Co-Chair (First Term; 2024)

A founder and first executive director of the Filipino American Human Services, Inc., in New York City, and a member of the Asian American Task Force on Aging. Graduated from the Northeastern University School of Law. Practiced union labor law and later intellectual property law. A Mount Pleasant resident since 2005. Currently helping to coordinate the D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living grant to the Village.

 

Darlene Meskell, Program Committee Co-Chair

A resident of Mount Pleasant since 1989. She holds bachelor’s and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University and an MBA from Yale. A former journalist and management consultant, she retired in 2015 as Director of Intergovernmental Solutions in the Office of Citizen Services and Communications, U.S. General Services Administration. She was a Village founding board member and was the first Communications Committee Chair and newsletter editor.

Rick Reinhard, Diversity Committee Co-Chair

A resident of Mount Pleasant since 1973. He came to Washington in 1970, following two years in Honduras as a Peace Corps volunteer. He began photographing while living in Honduras and gradually became a full-time freelance photographer. His personal work has been to document issues of peace and racial and social justice. Recent work includes the La Esquina project, a visual representation of the esquineros near the Seven-Eleven on Mount Pleasant Street and the corner around which the project radiates. He and wife Judy Byron co-founded the Diversity Committee, with the goal of helping the Village membership to reflect the complex diversity of the neighborhood in which we live.