SpeakeasyDC's Board of Directors

L to R: Monica Hopkins-Maxwell, Arielle Kouffman, Kathy Baird-Westfall, Jenny Splitter, Chris Kingsley, JR Russ, Derrick Walton

Kathy Baird-Westfall is a Senior Vice President at Social@Ogilvy in Washington, D.C., and leads the digital strategy team. As a senior strategist, Kathy oversees large integrated programs that incorporate digital and social channels across the disciplines of reputation management, public relations, marketing and advertising. Her client experience at Ogilvy includes digital and social media strategy for McGraw Hill Education, Mozilla Firefox, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, BP, DuPont, Caterpillar, UN Foundation, USAID and Atentiv. She has worked in the digital and integrated marketing space in both the agency and client environment for over 18 years and her assignments have included corporate, association, government, nonprofit and academic programs. In addition to her work at Ogilvy, Kathy is an adjunct professor for Digital Strategy at Georgetown University for the Public Relations and Corporate Communications Graduate School.

Monica Hopkins-Maxwell became the Executive Director of the ACLU of the Nation’s Capital in 2014. Monica served as the Executive Director of the ACLU of Idaho since 2008 in which time she oversaw sweeping statewide victories, particularly in the areas of criminal justice reform, LGBTQ equality, immigrants’ rights and upholding the First Amendment. Prior to joining the ACLU, Monica had a distinguished career in the nonprofit sector which included executive and development positions. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Boise State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs and has been a recipient of numerous awards including the Idaho Business Review’s “Accomplished Under 40” and Women Making History Award. In 2008, she was a Rotary Group Study Exchange participant in Sri Lanka and in 2012-13, she was a Rockwood Leadership Institute Fellow for LGBTQ Advocacy. Monica holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Social Science from Boise State University.

Chris Kingsley (Chair) is Associate Director of Local Policy & Advocacy at the Data Quality Campaign (DQC). Chris and the DQC help state policymakers improve the availability and use of high-quality education data among local leaders working both inside and outside of schools to improve student success. Prior to joining DQC, Chris served as the Principal Associate for Data Initiatives with the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, where he provided primary program leadership, research, and technical assistance to cities seeking to use data in new and more collaborative ways. Chris has authored reports on performance management, municipal social media strategies, citywide information systems design, and economic development. As a Watson Fellow, Chris studied telecommunications policy in Africa, India, and China. He is a graduate of Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania.

Arielle Kouffman (Treasurer)  currently works at an international business council, promoting private/public partnerships between the private sector, U.S. and Foreign Governments. Previously, Arielle worked at Chemonics International in their Middle East Department on an Egypt-based economic growth project, promoting economic competitiveness, financial reforms and entrepreneurship in Egypt. Before moving to D.C., Arielle lived and worked in Chile for two years. While in Chile, Arielle worked with the international nonprofit, NESST, leading their research on poverty alleviation and livelihood programs in South America, identifying the needs and beneficiary profiles of local producers, artisans, and marginalized communities in order to target niche markets. Fun fact about Arielle - she's a beekeeper!

JR Russ is a member of the Gay Men's Choir and on staff at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He has a Masters in Arts Administration.

Jenny Splitter (Secretary) is a storyteller, playwright and blogger. She has told stories with SpeakeasyDC, the Risk! podcast and Story League. She blogs at GroundedParents.com, a sister site to Skepchick.org. Her play H Street Housewives enjoyed a successful run at the 2013 Capital Fringe summer and fall festivals. Birth Goddess was accepted for development as part of the New Works program at Spooky Action Theater. Prior to that, she worked as a trademark attorney in Washington, DC and Palo Alto, California. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and George Washington University Law School.

Derrick Walton is currently the Head of Global Operations and Implementation at Western Union Business Solutions where he manages the Bank portfolio and relationship of all the banks globally. Prior to working at Western Union, he was the Director of North American and European Operations at Travelex Global Business Payments where he oversaw all back office operations and led a team of over 200. He also was a briefer to the Navy Command and served as an Action Officer in the Joint Command Center at the Pentagon. Derrick is a graduate from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md and a proud Washington DC native.