Local
Comings & Goings
Urban Pace sold; Shotwell promoted


The ‘Comings & Goings’ column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.
The Comings and 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].

Lynn Hackney
Congratulations to Lynn Hackney who sold her firm Urban Pace to Long and Foster. Hackney is a well-known entrepreneur and innovator in the Washington, D.C. multifamily real estate industry. According to its website, “Urban Pace, is the leading condominium sales and marketing firm in the nation’s capital (also serving urban Maryland and Virginia).” Since Hackney founded Urban Pace in 2001, the company has orchestrated the disposition of more than $1.8 billion of real estate assets comprising more than 6,000 condominiums and townhomes. According to the Washington Business Journal, Hackney said, “Urban Pace will continue to operate at the same location with the same staff but teaming up with a larger real estate company made sense since many players in the condo marketing space have done so over the years.”
Hackney is also a partner in Allyson Capital, a New York- and D.C.-based firm specializing in equity and debt for residential and commercial real estate transactions. Complementing Urban Pace’s full range of services to developers, Allyson Capital provides specialized financing for projects with an average valuation of $30 million each.
In 2015, Hackney was the winner of Smart CEO’s Brava Award, placing her among Washington’s most distinguished women business leaders. She serves as vice president on the executive committee of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association and was a founding member of the Washington ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative and board member of Capital Bank.
In addition Hackney, along with her wife Kimberly Hoover, has been a major fundraiser and volunteer in several national presidential election campaigns. She is a longtime resident of D.C. and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Virginia Commonwealth University.

David Shotwell
Congratulations are also due to David Shotwell who was recently named one of Compass’ newest vice presidents. Compass is a New York-based real estate brokerage with a large presence in D.C. and other top markets in the country. This recognition was based on client satisfaction, brand ambassadorship, brokerage and industry engagement and sales production.
Shotwell’s clients include first-time buyers and sellers to seasoned investors, with a special focus on livable neighborhoods and empty nesters. Before he began his career in real estate, Shotwell worked at AARP for 13 years, where he led national efforts to promote livable communities, including walkable neighborhoods, accessible housing, access to transportation options, smart growth and mixed-use development. He is a Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS), an Accredited New Urbanist from the School of Architecture at the University of Miami and a member of The Congress for New Urbanism (CNU).
Shotwell takes his love of the city and its surrounding neighborhoods beyond buying and selling — since moving to D.C. in 1998, he has lived in Shaw, Logan Circle, U Street, Woodley Park, Old Town, Alexandria and Del Ray. He and his partner currently own a home in D.C.’s Bloomingdale neighborhood. Shotwell is hooked on HGTV and real estate blogs, but he isn’t always thinking about home. An avid traveler, he has visited every continent except Antarctica.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony

The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)


























District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade

WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.

Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.

2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)










