Governing Board

Barbara J. Bazron is the Deputy Director of the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. In this role, she oversees the adult and children and youth systems of care; organizational development; disaster behavioral health; housing and forensic services. She has over 20 years experience serving in executive leadership positions within the fields of education, mental health and addictions. She was formerly a Managing Director at the American Institutes for Research. In her educational career, she has served as Regional Director of Special Education services for seven school districts in New Jersey and as Principal of a school for emotionally disturbed children ages 3-16. Her background also includes teaching, executive coaching, and clinical services. Dr. Bazron received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, her M.Ed. from the University of Cincinnati, and her B.A. from Oberlin College. She also attended the Principal’s Institute at Harvard University in 1989 and has a certificate in finance and accounting from the University of Pittsburgh.

Matt Engel is a Project Manager with William C Smith and Company, an integrated real estate company that owns close to 15,000 apartment units city-wide and has 1,100 units of housing in production in Ward 8. He is currently spearheading the redevelopment of the former Sheridan Terrace Apartments, a public housing complex in Anacostia. Mr. Engel also worked for 3 years on the redevelopment of Eastgate Gardens, a former public housing project in Ward 7. He has a range of community development experience in the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. In his current and prior positions, he has had to run community meetings with a wide variety of community stakeholders as well as negotiate financing with banks and financial institutions. Responsibilities have included managing complex budgets, negotiating contracts and managing consultants, as well as navigating the permitting and legislative process.

George Kovats is a self-employed property developer and manager and a DC resident. He has had an extensive career working in the non-profit arena and recently completed a brief tenure with World Vision, a major humanitarian organization working in 100 different countries. Prior to that, he worked with several large non-government organizations in a variety of consulting capacities and directed a major charitable foundation making grants to non-profit organizations around the world.

Carla Messenger is a clinical psychologist specializing in work with children and families. She is currently a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at George Washington University and is also doing private practice with a group in Fairfax, VA. She received her doctoral training in pediatric psychology from The George Washington University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Child Development Program at Children's National Medical Center. Dr. Messenger has volunteered in various capacities tutoring children; planning events and outings, and helping to create enriching activities for at-risk youth. She helped establish a support group for single mothers, Mom's Night Out, through the Southeast White House, a local community center and hopes one day to offer pro-bono psychological services to children and families within the Southeast DC community.

Aaron Renenger is an attorney specializing in litigation at the Washington D.C. office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. He represents financial institutions, corporations, partnerships, trusts and individuals in state and federal court and in arbitration proceedings throughout the United States. His practice includes complex commercial disputes, bankruptcy litigation, class action defense and other disputes. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the State Bar of California. Mr. Renenger previously served as a Public Affairs Officer with the United States Airforce. In this position, he was a primary speech-writer and public liaison for the Air Force space program and interfaced with members of the media and public. Mr. Renenger received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and a B.A. in Government/Journalism from California State University at Sacramento. Mr. Renenger has reviewed legal issues and contracts for Imagine-Southeast and has secured pro bono representation for the Board.

LaNora Williams is an attorney in the Washington, DC office of Winston & Strawn, LLP. Her legal experience includes complex civil litigation, white-collar criminal defense, internal investigations, appellate advocacy, class actions, and antitrust litigation. She studied Accounting at the University of California, Berkeley and worked for KPMG as an auditor prior to attending law school. Ms. Williams also works with students at Anacostia High School through Street Law, a program where law students and attorneys teach trial advocacy in underprivileged high schools and prepare students for an annual Mock Trial competition. She attended inner-city schools in South Central Los Angeles as well as schools outside of the inner-city through the magnet/bussing system. As a resident of the District of Columbia, she is very interested in the success of all of our public schools – both charter and non-charter.

Stan Jackson

Rene Gerber