President: Beth Purcell

Beth Purcell is serving her second term as President of CHRS. She also continues to chair the Environment Committee whose leadership she assumed five years ago. Her work on the Beyond the Boundaries project has led her to be a co-leader of several recent historic walking tours. She has also helped plant hundreds of trees throughout our Hill neighborhood as president of Trees For Capitol Hill, Inc. and has led Hill neighbors and CHRS Board members in participation in the annual bird count along the Anacostia riverfront. She has been an Orange Hat walker for over 10 years in her Hill East neighborhood. Beth researches and publishes articles on the architecture of eastern Capitol Hill. She is employed as an attorney for the federal government.

Michelle Pilliod Carroll was elected to the CHRS Board as an At Large member one year ago, and has been active in the organization for a number ofl years. She chaired the House Tour twice, and one of those years her daughter was married on that same Mother’s Day weekend. She does not recommend planning a wedding and a house tour at the same time. She has also been the major force in organizing the showcase “teas” that are a mainstay of our Mother’s Day House Tour. This year she hopes to establish the “refreshment break” as the proper name since we seldom serve tea anymore. Originally from New York, she came to DC to study at the Corcoran School of Art and George Washington University. She has owned and operated her own business, Pilliod Meeting Planning, for 15 years. She and her husband, Dennis, have lived on Capitol Hill for twelve years.

Sharon Ivy Weiss is completing her first term in this office. She has also served on the CHRS Budget Committee and the House and Garden Tour. After working in public accounting for four years, she made a career switch to non-profit accounting and has remained in that field for 14 years. Sharon’s extensive experience in supervising the financial functions of federal grants and contracts in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer for non-profit advocacy organizations, has provided CHRS with exceptional advice and assistance. She began working as an independent consultant in 2008 and currently works for several non-profit agencies in DC.

Catherine Davis, born in the District and raised in Northern Virginia, moved to Capitol Hill with her husband in July of 2007. She is presently employed at the US Department of Education as Chief of Staff for the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools and has previously worked as Deputy Chief of Protocol for the Secretary of Commerce. A graduate of the University of Virginia, Catherine has lived in Charleston, SC; Atlanta, GA; and Chicago, IL; and is proud to call Washington, DC home. She participated in the development of the House and Garden Tour brochure for 2008.

Chuck Burger is a Capitol Hill real estate agent with Coldwell Banker and has served on a variety of local and District Committees, including a stint as chair of the ABC Board.  He has served as a House Captain for the Tour for a number of years. He currently serves as Vice Chair of EMCAC and is on the board of CHAMPS and Barracks Row/Main Street.

At-Large Member: Donna Hanousek

Donna Hanousek is city planner and historic preservation specialist by training. Donna holds a Master’s degree in City Planning from the Ohio State University, a graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation from Goucher College, and a certificate in “Basic Main Street Training” from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.                   

Donna has worked as a historic preservation researcher for historic resources surveys, including the Barracks Row Context Study and the Near Northeast Study (of the H Street area); conference planner for the District’s Citywide Historic Preservation Planning Conference 2000; grants administrator for the D.C. Preservation League from 1999-2004; and Main Street Director for the Brookand Main Street program from Spring, 2003 to Fall, 2004.  Currently, Donna serves as staff to the District of Columbia’s Zoning Commission; and just prior to that, she coordinated the process for obtaining public space permits from the District Department of Transportation’s Public Space Committee.   

Donna has been active with CHRS and in various historic preservation efforts on Capitol Hill since 1998.