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 comingsandgoings@washblade.com.

Congratulations and thanks to Daniel Barutta who is now in Baton Rouge, La., working as a member of Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) Disaster Services Team as Cadre Staff helping the victims of the historic flooding there.

Davild Barutta

Barutta moved to D.C. to take a job with the Peace Corps as a Placement Officer placing secondary school English teachers all over the world as volunteers. Six years later, he began work with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) as an AmeriCorps Program Officer. Barutta says his portfolio of grantees includes state commissions in Washington, California and Idaho and national programs such as the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, the Notre Dame Mission Volunteers and Catholic Charities, USA.

When asked about his current work he said, “In 2008 I became a member of CNCS’ Disaster Services Team as Cadre Staff. When the president declares a national disaster and FEMA is activated, CNCS and FEMA sign a mission assignment agreement that allows us at AmeriCorps to send our wonderful AmeriCorps members who do all sorts of service for people including: mucking and gutting homes, debris removal, setting up of Volunteer Recruitment Centers, staffing food banks, sheltering people, etc. As the Cadre member I deploy to FEMA to coordinate all our members. It’s a pretty big assignment involving 12-hour days and lots of trouble shooting.”

Other deployments have included in 2013 helping Alaska flood victims on the Yukon and in 2015 helping people recover after flooding in South Carolina.

Barutta is from California but D.C. has been his home for the past 22 years. After college he joined the Peace Corps serving three years in Jamaica and West Indies working with youth and their families. He served two years as a VISTA Volunteer with Catholic Charities in San Francisco working with runaways and the homeless. In 1991, he became the first executive director of the first LGBTQ youth center in San Francisco.

Soon after moving to D.C., Barutta joined Dignity Washington. He has been in the choir for 22 years. In 2010 he was elected to the board, becoming president in 2012, a position he held until this past June.

Congratulations also to Mark Rutstein who has brought his team, the Evan and Mark Team to Compass Realty, a company operating with agents coast to coast. Prior to joining Compass, Rutstein worked with Coldwell Banker where he was part of the top-producing sales team in 2015 and into 2016. Over the years, Rutstein has had a couple of careers that included success in the hospitality industry. Many may have first met him through his real estate work or when he worked as the manager of Cobalt.

He went into the real estate business in 2002 and brought with him a passion to help clients achieve financial independence through home ownership. Since that time he has won numerous awards and made many media appearances showcasing his love of the business. He was voted the Best Realtor in D.C. in the Washington Blade’s annual Best of Gay DC contest in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014. His media appearances include HGTV’s “Get it Sold,” Discovery Channel’s “Double Agents,” and multiple local news appearances.

Rutstein was born in Miami and attended the University of Mary Washington. He is an active member of the community volunteering his time with multiple community organizations and events. He is married to Stephen Rutgers, who works as the Washington Blade’s sales and marketing director.

Mark Rutstein