2007 Innovators
This year’s annual meeting recognized individuals in the business and nonprofit community who take risks and are working on projects, large and small which moves the city forward in an extraordinary way.
Chuck Brown
Brown is the undisputed founder and creator of go-go music. Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s. While its musical classification influences are debated, Brown is regarded as the fundamental force behind the creation of go-go music. Even now, Brown’s nonstop beat is the rhythm track of our city.
Mary Brown
Started by Brown as an arts & youth development organization for DC boys ages 3-21, Life Pieces to Masterpieces is named after an art technique of painting canvas, cutting it into various shapes, and sewing the pieces together. This innovative art form allows boys to tell their powerful stories and helps them process challenging life experiences through art.
DC Council
DC Green Legislation. In 2006, all 13 council members voted for the bill making Washington the first major city to require private developers to adhere to the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. Even the new stadium for baseball’s Washington Nationals is being built according to the LEED standards and is expected to be the nation’s first certified stadium.
Henry Gregory & Trina Byrd-Gregory
Henry & Trina own OXXO Cleanser, the first 24 hour “organic cleaner” in DC. OXXO uses an environmentally-friendly cleanser and features a 24 hour garment pickup and drop-off system. You can swing by OXXO at any time, insert your OXXO card, and the system automatically identifies your clothes and conveys them to a pickup window. They have two stores located in Barracks Row & Columbia Heights.
Anthony Lewis
Verizon, under the leadership of Washington, D.C. president Anthony Lewis, is in the midst of an historic transformation. Verizon is deploying the nation’s most advanced fiber-optic network and is the only major telecommunications company that’s installing fiber-optic lines directly to customers’ homes. This technology represents the next evolution in the availability of information, the life blood of change and learning. Verizon envisions a network that will empower consumers and spark the imaginations of entrepreneurs. But the network is about more than speed and content. It is an equalizer, a tool for global access, an artist’s palette, a cost saver and a community builder.
W. Thomas “Skip” McMahon
THEARC is an 110,000-square-foot complex in Ward 8 housing a state-of-the-art theater, dance and music studios, a girls’ middle school, a recreation center, and a medical clinic. More than seven thousand kids live within one mile of the center and almost half live in poverty. At the ARC, students can participate in nine cultural and service organizations including the Boys & Girls Club, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Levine School of Music and the Washington Ballet.
Bruce B. Stewart
Sidwell Friends has been awarded a Platinum level LEED rating for their Middle School. It is the first K-12 school in the world to have a LEED Platinum rating and the first LEED Platinum building in the District of Columbia. The new school includes four major components: water management, energy efficiency, salvaged and rapidly renewable building materials, and fresh indoor air quality.
Howard Shalwitz
Woolly is acknowledged as a regional and national leader in the development of new provocative plays and also recognized for its outreach program, offering low-cost acting classes and pioneered the idea of “Pay-What-You-Can” nights at the theatre. People of all backgrounds and all ages respond to the exceptional creativity of Woolly’s plays and programs.
John Talmage
John’s firm has applied its DrillDown approach to 101 neighborhoods over the past five years, beginning with Chicago neighborhoods and, most recently, in Washington, DC. By tapping existing public records and conducting intensive economic and demographic surveys, the DrillDowns have revealed additional income and buying power in underprivileged neighborhoods.
Ann Yonkers & Bernie Prince
With four DC markets (Dupont, Foggy Bottom, H Street, and Penn Quarter) Fresh Farms Markets’ mission is to help strengthen the local food movement. They provide high quality produce, support the development of emerging neighborhoods and are standard bearers of excellence. The Dupont Circle market has a customer base of 100,000 and was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top farmers markets in the country.