CHI Announces Rebranding Ad Hoc Committee
Including Board of Directors and Other Community Members
SILVER SPRING, MD (September 8, 2021) — CHI, which supports people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, announced the appointment of a Rebranding Ad Hoc Committee. The goal of the rebranding process is to establish and align CHI’s values to a new look that better reflects its vision and the strong and diverse community it supports.
CHI is a not-for-profit service provider, founded in 1948, that offers a variety of services including day, employment, and community living that support individuals with different disabilities to live, work, and engage with the community around them.
“We want to ensure that we maintain our commitment to our community and the new brand without abandoning the original brand,” said Tammi Thomas, CHI’s rebranding ad hoc committee chair. “We plan to complete the full rebranding process over the course of the next six months and look forward to unveiling the finished product to our community.”
CHI Rebranding Ad Hoc Committee Members:
- Ellen Epstein, owner, Concierge America, Inc. and information services consultant
- Jane Fairweather, owner, The Fairweather Team
- Leslie Hertz, CHI board member
- Velma Lee, owner, VLee Designs
- Marylove Moy, CHI board chair
- Daphne Pallozzi, CHI CEO
- Steve Riley, executive director, Potomac Community Resources, Inc.
- Tammi Thomas, CHI rebranding ad hoc committee chair; chief marketing & communications officer, TEDCO
- Eve Wallace, CHI board member
Ellen Robinson Epstein, a native Washingtonian, brings a great deal of experience to our Board. She has had multiple careers which began in the 70’s when she returned to the area after college (Connecticut College) and graduate school (The University of London). At that time she worked at GSA as an architectural historian writing a history of the East and West Wings of the White House. The next 30 years were devoted, with her husband, David, to raising five children and running her own business, The Center For Oral History, where she conducted more than 500 interviews for personal and business histories. She also co-authored a book on the subject. Starting in 2004, she began another venture, Concierge America, Inc., a professional organizing and personal services business helping individuals and families with anything they might need from moving, organizing, and decluttering to all kinds of project management for home or work. Last summer she turned the day-to-day operations of her business over to one of her most trusted employees and is still involved in a consultancy basis with the company. She is busier than ever now with her 17 grandchildren, 14 of whom live in the area and 11 of whom live walking distance. She is looking forward to sharing her expertise in many different areas to help CHI rebrand and rise to the next level of professional achievement.
A 30 year veteran of the business, Jane Fairweather is a pillar in the Maryland real estate community. She has been consistently ranked among the very top producers in Maryland, the Capital Region and nationally. Well-known for her market acumen and her relentless service, Jane is greatly respected and loved by her clients and peers alike. Jane is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Montgomery. She recently served on Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett’s Economic Advisory Council. She also plays an active role in the community through her association with such local organizations as the Rotary Club, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce, Imagination Stage, the Arts & Entertainment District Council, the Bethesda Urban Partnership and the BCC Rescue Squad. She is also chair of the Bethesda Metro Improvement Task Force for the BCC Chamber and a former Board member of Bethesda Green.
Leslie Hertz has experience with federal government administration in biomedical research as Administrator at National Institutes of Health since 2007. Since 2019, she has been Lead Administrative Officer at National Eye Institute. She has prior sales and marketing experience at Enterprise Rent a Car. She’s served on CHI Board since 2015 and has a twin sister CHI participant.
Velma Lee began her career as a tax attorney, but for the last 30 years she has owned and operated a thriving business as a clothing designer, tailor and seamstress. Depending on what she is creating, her company is known as VLee Designs, or Gowns Designed by Velma Lee. Either way, the magic happens in the lower level of her Potomac home where she has lived for 28 years.
Eve Wallace, a seasoned financial services marketing professional, was the senior vice president responsible for professional development programs at the American Bankers Association for 20 years. Eve was previously vice president of corporate development at Chevy Chase Bank, and prior to that was a marketing executive at First National Bank of Maryland and T. Rowe Price. Eve holds an MBA in Marketing from Drexel University and a BA in Economic History from Hunter College. Eve has an adult son with autism, and the family moved to Montgomery County, Maryland to meet his educational needs. She served on the Montgomery County Council for People with Disabilities and in 2019 graduated from Senior Leadership Montgomery. Eve is an active volunteer for the Literacy Council of Montgomery County, where she teaches ESOL for adult learners and is a workforce development coach. Eve joined the CHI board in 2019 and serves on two committees: Public Policy & Advocacy, and Branding. “The organization has come so far in the last 73 years, and we’re looking forward to growing even more with this new, enhanced look,” said Marylove Moy, CHI chair of the board. “We will continue our mission of breaking through barriers for people to contribute, connect and lead the lives they choose to live.”
Marylove Moy was raised in New England, and moved to the Washington, D.C. area after receiving her B.A. from Smith College in 1976. She pursued her M.B.A. from the University of Maryland while she and her husband raised their three sons. Upon her graduation in 1987, she accepted a position in the Capital Markets group at the 1st National Bank of Maryland. Her career in banking continued for 30 years serving in senior positions at several financial institutions including Mercantile Bank & Trust and 1st Mariner Bank. Retiring in 2016 she joined the Board of Directors at CHI Centers in Silver Spring; CHI is the agency where two of her sons with Special Needs attend the Day Program. Now serving as board president Marylove is focusing on the continued growth and expansion of CHI. She and her family are likewise active members of their parish, St Mark the Evangelist in Hyattsville, MD.
Daphne Pallozzi has over 30 years of experience leading non-profits supporting adults and children with intellectual and other developmental differences. She joined CHI as chief executive officer in March 2015. A native of West Virginia, Daphne moved to Baltimore at age 20. She began her career as a live-in direct support professional, gaining increasing levels of responsibility and experience until eventually reaching the executive level, always keeping the needs of the supported individual and their families at the forefront of the work at hand. In her previous position as CEO of Ardmore Enterprises, Daphne received the Provider of the Year Award from Maryland Works, was selected to 125 Who’s Who in Prince George’s County 2013 by Prince George’s Suite magazine, and, in 2015, was a finalist for a national award, the Association for Persons Supporting Employment First (APSE) Professional of the Year.
Daphne served on the board of Adventure Theatre for several years, and just completed a ten-year term on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Association of Community Services (MACS). She remains active on the MACS Public Policy Committee. Daphne represents CHI as an active member of LABQUEST; on InterACC, a coalition of Montgomery County providers of services for people with disabilities; and on the Prince George’s County Provider Coalition. Daphne also worked for the Maryland State Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA), Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, and the Arc of Howard County. Daphne earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Journalism from Shepherd University, and holds a Master’s degree in Special Education from The Johns Hopkins University. Daphne is deeply grateful to her mentors, several extraordinary women who supported and guided her through her career from the early years to today.
Steve Riley is the executive director of Potomac Community Resources, Inc., an award-winning non- profit organization that provides therapeutic recreational, social, and respite care programs to individuals with developmental differences and their families in Montgomery County, Md. Steve brings decades of experience working with various non-profit organizations in the area, serving as a board member or in other leadership roles. He holds a Juris Doctor from The Catholic University of American Columbus School of Law and a Bachelor of Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association, The Order of Malta, and The John Carroll Society.
Tammi Thomas is an award-winning communicator with more than 25 years of experience in marketing, technology, economic development, higher education, and entrepreneurship. She is chief marketing and communications officer at TEDCO. Prior to joining TEDCO, she served first as the director of university relations and marketing and later as the chief of staff the president at Bowie State University, Maryland’s oldest historically black universities and an institution distinguished for its work in technology and innovation. Her resume includes C-suite positions as the vice president of strategic management at Data Solutions & Technology Inc., a full-service technology solutions provider; and as the director of business development and marketing at the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Research Park & Business Incubator.
Additionally, Tammi’s professional expertise was sought after to teach the next generation of communicators as an adjunct professor at Bowie State University and the University of Baltimore. Tammi earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Alabama State University and an MBA from the University of Baltimore.
CONTACT: Monika Campbell MCampbell@chicenters.org
