What's Working in Washington

Clark Mercer is the Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) and former Chief of Staff for Governor Ralph Northam. With over twenty years of senior management experience at the state, federal, and local levels, and passionate about driving transformative change across public safety, affordable housing, clean and water, commercial real estate, the regional economy and ot...

Jason Stanford is the President of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance, a nonprofit organization that has been advocating for the region's transportation infrastructure for over 30 years. An expert on transportation policy analysis, Jason explains how public transportation is vital to the economic health of a region and shares his thoughts on what can be done, from funding to infrastruct...

Terry Clower is the Director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, where his research produces valuable insights that help the private, nonprofit, and public sectors understand the region's growth and shortfalls. On today's episode, Terry provides an update on the overall state of the region; comments on the importance of the labor market and the outflow of knowledge work...

"Enjoy your awful basketball team, Virginia," reads the title of independent journalist Matt Connolly's recent op-ed in The Atlantic. On today's episode, Connolly, who currently works for a labor union, joins Jonathan Aberman for a deep-dive on his compelling piece, detailing the economic factors driving the team's move across the Potomac to Alexandria, Virginia; the emotional impact this relocati...

It's a new year, and What's Working in Washington is back with a new host, Jonathan Aberman! Mark Walsh has passed the torch back to Aberman, who is eager to bring his perspective as an investor and entrepreneur to address the region's issues during this critical election year. Aberman's inaugural guest is Congressman Don Beyer, an American businessman, diplomat, and Democratic politician serving...

Steve Balistreri is the Managing Director and National Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Leader at MorganFranklin Consulting. He is also on the Executive Committee of Mindshare, a 501C6 not-for-profit organization established to support first time CEO's of high-potential emerging technology companies in the Greater Washington market. On today's episode, Steve shares the origi...

Tien Wong is the CEO of Opus8, a private investment, advisory, and conference management firm located in the Washington, D.C. area. He is also the Chairman and CEO of the Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum, a global community of 25,000+ founders, investors, venture capitalists, and CXOs. In this wide-ranging discussion, Tien and Mark examine capital infusion, public-private partnerships, life science a...

Doug Anderson is the founder and CEO of DCA Live, an event company that serves the private equity, start-up/VC/tech, real estate, govcon, HR, CFO, cyber, legal, and non profit/association business communities in the greater DC area. On today's episode, Doug and Mark sit down to discuss how DCA Live uniquely segments the DMV business community to celebrate excellence across various siloes of leader...

John Ackerly is the CEO and co-founder of Virtru, a global leader in data privacy and protection. Virtru's data encryption services are trusted by some of the world's largest companies, like Netflix and Verizon, and protect customers from the data mistakes we all make—whether clicking that suspicious link, or using the same password a few too many times. On today's episode, John shares cautionary...

Gary Danoff is the CEO — that's Chief Empathy Ofifcer — of Gary Danoff Coaching & Advising, and the Global Alliances Leader for Google Cloud and Google Workspace. Offering an entire program called "How To Have A Great Day," Gary's storied career has been dedicated to the pursuit of workplace empathy. From clearing up misperceptions surrounding Gen Z to offering advice to professionals who are...

Eric Koefoot is the founder and CEO of Public Relay, the leading media intelligence solution for Fortune 500 companies and global brands. Eric's company has helped clients such as Bud Light, P&G, and Ford Motor Company understand their brand perception through data-driven insights, offering useful analyses of the past—and predictive plans for the future. Don't miss Eric's expertise on the chan...

Jennifer Ives is the cofounder and CEO at Watering Hole AI, a predictive, forward-looking, and adaptive AI strategy consulting firm. Jennifer has a long and rich history of deploying AI inside the corporate arena, with 20+ years of deep expertise in SaaS, B2B tech, cutting edge/high growth products and services, new customer acquisition, and digital products. On today's episode, Jennifer describes...

Jennie Blumenthal is the founder and CEO of Corporate Rehab, a training and consulting firm helping executives and entrepreneurs transform their leadership strategies. A former executive in Corporate America for 20 years, Jennie's top-down advice helps people thrive, not just survive, in their careers. Jennie shares her predictions and observations on corporate trends like "quiet quitting," insigh...

Christopher Leonard is an investigative reporter, director of the Watchdog Writers Group at the Mizzou School of Journalism, and author of bestselling novel, The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy. In this fascinating discussion, Christopher sheds light on one of America's most mysterious institutions — The Federal Reserve — and argues how quantitative easing,...

Samantha McKenna is the founder and CEO of #samsales Consulting, an agency she founded after a storied, 13-time record-breaking career in corporate sales and at LinkedIn. On today's episode, Sam describes how she and her all-female team are reinventing the narrative on sales, departing from the tactics of yesteryear's car salesmen to a relationship-driven, manners-centric, authentic method of sell...

Allison Siegel is the CEO of Culta, a Maryland-based, vertically integrated cannabis company that cultivates, extracts, processes, distributes and retails cannabis and cannabis-related products. Allison divulges the fascinating peculiarities of the marijuana industry, such as how marijuana is the last cash-only business, and how it quickly transitioned from an illegal, underground street business...

Mary Schwarz is a Managing Partner of ICF Next, a global advisory and technology services provider, and leads the company's Government, federal digital and engagement practices. Mary has over 20 years of experience providing strategic guidance for health, education, and social programs, including smokefree.gov, hiv.gov, opioid prevention and prescription drug abuse prevention campaigns. On this ep...

Jamie Fiore-Higgins, one of the Financial Times' Top 25 Most Influential Women of 2022, is the author of Bully Market: My Story of Money and Misogyny at Goldman Sachs. After quickly climbing the ranks to Managing Partner, a position that only 8% of employees ever achieve, Jamie became privy to a shocking culture of misogyny, sexism, threats, and silencing at an institution often thought as the gol...

Wayne Bovier is the cofounder and CEO of Higher Digital, a consulting firm that helps higher education executives assess, plan, and measure their strategic change. Wayne explains the monumental ways that higher education is transforming, including its cost structure, the meaning and value of a college degree, the popularity of online colleges and online certifications, and the fascinating phenomen...

Barry Glassman is the founder and president of Glassman Wealth Services, a wealth management firm that takes a client-centered approach to asset management. Barry describes the opportunities and challenges associated with managing family wealth over individual assets, offers insightful predictions on the economy and the impact of AI, and opens up about his personal passion: he's a photographer who...

Nathan Jones is the VP and GM of Public Sector and Government Affairs at TaxBit, a SaaS solution that makes tax compliance, cost basis knowledge, and accounting possible for digital assets. With cryptocurrency becoming increasingly personalized and traceable, paying taxes on your digital assets is both critical and challenging. On this episode, Nathan explains how TaxBit is equipped to handle thes...

Ashwin Bharath is the CEO and co-founder of Revature, a tech career launch pad and the largest employer of entry-level technology talent in the United States. Since starting the company in 2004, Ashwin describes the growth and impact Revature has demonstrated in the industry, now operating with over 2,000 employees and over 12,000 successful job placements for young software engineers. Ashwin expl...

Trina Vargo is the founder and President of the US-Ireland Alliance, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to enhancing the cultural, educational, and business ties between the United States and Ireland. Trina provides an overview of her organization's efforts in strengthening this relationship, highlighting the transformative impact of the Mitchell Scholarship, a prestigious program t...

Steve Balistreri is the Managing Director and National Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Industry Leader at MorganFranklin Consulting. With 30 years of experience advising companies of all sizes, Steve shares his expertise in corporate growth strategies, operational development, venture capital and private equity fundraises, M&As, IPOs, and SPACs. Steve also talks about his execut...

Mai Pham is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Exceptional Care, a nonprofit aiming to make healthcare safe and inclusive for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Mai shares how her own experience raising a child with autism opened her eyes to the tremendous gaps in healthcare faced by people with IDD, and how this experience inspired the founding of her organizatio...