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Viet Tran appointed as senior advisor to OPM Director

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Viet Tran

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].

Congratulations to Viet Tran on his appointment as Deputy Director for the Office of Communications, at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Tran serves as a senior adviser to the OPM Director and senior agency leadership on communications messaging, execution, and strategies. In addition, he oversees the press team and interagency coordination related to the Office of Communications team. He previously served as press secretary for OPM.

Prior to that he was a senior communications consultant to organizations, nonprofits, and state agencies, including the National Asian Pacific American Womenā€™s Forum, the California Department of Public Health, and American Civil Liberties Union California Action. Tran served as a press secretary, and on-record spokesperson, for the Human Rights Campaign.Ā 

Congratulations also to Paul Williams elected president of the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG).

“I am happy to bring my expertise in historic preservation, and non-profit management, to the CAG,ā€ Williams said after his election. ā€œI have enjoyed getting to know its board and the community members as a fairly new superintendent in residence at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown.”  

Williams has an educational background in historic preservation, with degrees from Roger Williams and Cornell.Ā He created the U Street Historic District and the walking trail there.Ā Williams is the author of 24 history books, headed Dupont Main Streets, and Congressional Cemetery for 10 years, before becoming the 14th superintendent at Oak Hill in October 2021. He lives there with his writer and journalist husband Greg Alexander, and two cats.Ā Ā 

Paul Williams

Congratulations also to the newly elected board members of the Rainbow History Project (RHP) who include: Delaney Resweber, Ashley Bamfo as treasurer; Justin Weitz acting board secretary; Glenn C. Reimer starting his third one-year term as board chair. In addition, Frankie Witzenburg was promoted to deputy director of archiving. 

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Baltimore

Despite record crowds, Baltimore Prideā€™s LGBTQ critics say organizers dropped the ball

People on social media expressed concern about block party stampede

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Miss Gay Maryland Stormi Skye waves as she continues down the parade route at Baltimore Pride on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Kaitlin Newman/Baltimore Banner)

BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | This yearā€™s Baltimore Pride Week attracted 150,000 people ā€” record attendance that far exceeded initial projections of 100,000.

But some see room for improvement and want organizers to address safety issues and make changes so the annual event that celebrates the LGBTQ population is better run.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Local

Comings & Goings

Engles named managing director at Accenture for Metro D.C.

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The 'Comings & Goings' column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].

The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success. 

Congratulations to Eddie Engles, who was appointed Accenture Office Managing Director for Metro D.C., covering Baltimore to Richmond. He takes over the role from Marty Rodgers, who led Accenture in Metro D.C., and will continue to lead Accenture in the South as he has since 2019. 

“I am proud to pass the torch to Ed and know that our people in Metro D.C. will be in great hands,ā€ said Rodgers. ā€œHe is a purposeful, compassionate leader with a deep understanding of our people, our business, and our community. Ed will take Accentureā€™s impact and presence in the District, Baltimore, and Richmond, to new heights.ā€ 

Upon accepting the position, Engles said, “I am honored to take on the role of Office Managing Director in Metro D.C. I look forward to continuing the great work done by Marty Rodgers, and further strengthening our ties with the community and our clients. We are committed to bringing the best of Accentureā€™s global capabilities to the capital region and contributing to its growth and prosperity.”

Engles has spent his career with Accenture. He has a wealth of experience and a record of leadership. Prior to this he led the North America Service Practice for Accenture Song, overseeing a team of more than 500 experts across advisory, technology, creative, and data and AI domains. Under his leadership, his teams have driven substantial growth and innovation in customer experience, sales, service, commerce, marketing, and business innovation. He will continue this role in addition to his new job. 

Engles is active in the community serving on local nonprofit boards, and volunteering in the community both with Accenture and on his own. He acts as the executive sponsor for Accentureā€™s work on the 11th Street Bridge project, which aims to launch and support local and minority-owned small and medium businesses in a mobile kiosk at the 11th Street Bridge Park, linking the Anacostia and Navy Yard communities.

 He holds a bachelorā€™s degree in marketing and management from Loyola University. 

Eddie Engles

Congratulations also to Mary E. Anderson JD, MPA, on her new position as a team member with Penchina Partners in D.C. Daniel Penchina founder and president of Penchina Partners said, ā€œPenchina Partners is thrilled to have Mary join our team. Her depth of experience with non-profit, social justice, and governmental organizations is a perfect addition to our strategic team.ā€ 

On joining the group she said, ā€œIā€™m very impressed with how Penchina Partners leads with strategy in support of its clients. Iā€™m excited to work with a group of like-minded nonprofit and strategy leaders who share my values of collaboration, curiosity, deep passion for social change, mission-driven service, and of course, a sense of humor.ā€

Anderson has had an impressive career. She recently served as Chicago Director, AARP.  Prior to that she was Managing Director, Mission + Strategy Consulting, in Chicago. She served as executive director of Stand for Children in Chicago. Her legal career includes serving as senior adviser in the Office of the Attorney General, State of Illinois; senior litigation associate with Goldberg Kohn Bell Black Rosenbloom & Moritz; and deputy inspector general for policy and legislative affairs, Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies, Illinois governor. 

She has her bachelorā€™s degree in political science from Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.; an MPA, Certificate in Urban and Regional Planning, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.; and her JD, cum laude, New York University School of Law, New York, N.Y. 

Mary E. Anderson JD, MPA
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District of Columbia

D.C. man fatally stabbed by partner was convicted twice for domestic violence

Ted Anthony Brown faces second-degree murder charge

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D.C. police said Tommy Hudson, 58, was found unconscious on the front steps of this house at 517 Harvard St., N.W. on May 26 shortly after he was fatally stabbed inside the house by his partner. (Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

Prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. disclosed in court filings that Tommy Hudson, 58, the gay man who was stabbed to death by his domestic partner on May 26, had a criminal record of eight arrests and convictions between 1987 and 2018, including two domestic violence assault convictions in which the partner charged with killing him was the victim.

Ted Anthony Brown, 54, who court records show had a longtime romantic relationship with Hudson, was charged on May 29 with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly fatally stabbing Hudson inside Brownā€™s apartment at 517 Harvard St., N.W., following an argument  He is being held in jail without bond while awaiting trial.

Charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court show that at the time of his arrest, Brown waived his Miranda rights to remain silent and confessed to having stabbed Hudson, saying he did so after Hudson punched him in the face while the two were arguing.

ā€œBrown reported that he and the decedent have been involved in a romantic relationship for a significant period and that he was very jealous of the decedentā€™s possible infidelities,ā€ an affidavit by police in support of his arrest states. ā€œSuspect 1 [Brown] reported to detectives that he believed the decedent punching him to the face did not justify Suspect 1 stabbing the decedent, which ultimately killed him,ā€ the affidavit says.

Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney on May 31 sent a letter to Brownā€™s defense attorney, Todd Baldwin, disclosing Hudsonā€™s prior arrests and convictions as part of a required discovery process in which prosecutors must disclose information relevant to a criminal case to the defense, even if the information may be harmful to the prosecutorsā€™ case at trial.

The prosecutorsā€™ letter, sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Galloway, says Hudsonā€™s prior convictions include a 2018 charge of violating a Temporary Protection Order requiring he stay away from someone he was accused of threatening with domestic violence; a 2015 charge of domestic violence related simple assault against his partner Brown;  and a 2014 domestic violence related simple assault and unlawful entry charge also involving Brown.

 The letter says Hudson was also convicted of a 2012 charge of Bail Reform Act violation; a 2010 charge of possession of cocaine; a 2002 charge of cruelty to an animal; a 2001 charge of felony ā€œescape;ā€ a 2000 charge of second-degree theft; a 1997 charge of violation of the Bail Reform Act; and a 1987 charge of criminal ā€œcontempt.ā€

Court records, meanwhile, show that on June 17 D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein approved a motion by the defense calling for defendant Brown to undergo a mental health competency screening to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Prosecutors did not oppose the motion. The judge scheduled a ā€œMental Observationā€ hearing for Brown on July 11 to review and assess the findings of the competency screening.

Court records also show that prosecutors agreed to keep a plea bargain offer they made earlier open until the findings of the mental health exam become known.

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