Stan Benton, President
Stan.Benton@pennbranchdc.org
Sarah Byun, 1st Vice-President
A resident of D.C. for nearly 20 years, I am more certain than ever that our capital is my favorite city in the world. I moved here from Kentucky after college, to complete graduate school (American University) and begin my career on Capitol Hill. While I’m grateful for those years working in the House and Senate, and then lobbying for medical associations, no job has been more fulfilling than parenting my two children. In addition to homeschooling my kids, I also work for an online meal planning company (www.cooksmarts.com), providing marketing and communications support, and managing special projects. My family and I are members of National Community Church. We enjoy walks around the neighborhood, traveling, hosting friends and famil and dog sitting.
Marie Fritz, 2nd Vice-President
Marie was born and raised in northeast Pennsylvania and has lived in DC for over 20 years. After college she participated in a one-year volunteer service program in New York in which she lived and worked in a homeless shelter for women and children. She has worked in community development, direct social services, evaluation, and low-income housing policy. Marie completed her PhD in government and politics at the University of Maryland and teaches courses on social policy, social science research, and U.S. politics at American University. She resides on 38th Street SE with her husband, John Riley.
Malik Haughton, Treasurer
Erica Nichols, Secretary
I currently reside and work in the Penn Branch Community. I moved to the DMV area from Tampa, FL, Go Buc’s, with my husband Brian Nichols and two dogs Callie and Bo Nichols. I’m a fine arts major with a BFA from the University of North Florida out of Jacksonville, FL and a MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA. I’ve been married to my amazing partner and father Brian T. Nichols for 11+ years and we just added an addition to our family last year with our son who is 1, Sterling Silver Nichols. I currently teach at our community school Randle Highlands Elementary as an Art Teacher.
We heard about the great Penn Branch area through a student bike ride I volunteered for in 2015 and fell in love with the neighbors and the beauty of the mature natural landscape. We’ve been residents of Penn Branc
Paul Grant, Communications Director
Paul Grant is a native of South Carolina. He is Chief Creative Officer and Senior Producer at Ascender Communications (dba Ascender Films, Inc), a full-service digital advertising and media production company, based in Washington, DC. He established the firm in 2005 and has 20 years of professional experience producing award-winning advertising and public health campaign messages for non-profit advocacy groups, businesses, and federal agencies. He also produces interactive content, oral histories and factual/exploratory documentaries for museum exhibitions and broadcast media. Paul is a member of the American Advertising Federation (AAF-DC), American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), Women in Film and Video (WIFV-DC) and the Association of African American Museums (AAM). He studied film-making and graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Visual Arts in Richmond, VA. In his spare time, he enjoys
reading, collecting and listening to vinyl records, and attempting open-fire cookery. He and his wife Tracey have lived in Penn Branch for 10years.
Naytia Curtis, Parliamentarian
Natiya Curtis grew up in the Eckington neighborhood of DC in the 1990s. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Spelman College, and Howard University School of Law. After law school she briefly practiced law in Philadelphia, but quickly realized there is no place like home. She is currently employed at the Social Security Administration (SSA) as an attorney. She has been a resident of Penn Branch since 2016. She lives with her husband and two children.