Local
Comings & Goings
Lewis, Wilson assume new roles at NBJC
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 [email protected].
Samuel Brinton
Congratulations to Samuel Brinton, who recently founded Core Solutions Consulting to serve the national need for expertise on socio-technical translation on issues ranging from nuclear waste management to congressional outreach on advanced nuclear energy innovation policy. Along with his technical expertise on nuclear engineering issues and political connections in the energy policy field, Brinton will continue his state-level political work to end conversion therapy through the 50 Bills 50 States effort.
He recently served as a fellow at the Breakthrough Institute, Clean Air Task Force and at Third Way. He was also a senior policy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Brinton earned his dual master’s degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nuclear engineering and the technology and policy program. He is a graduate of Kansas State University earning a bachelor’s in mechanical and nuclear engineering and a bachelor’s in vocal music performance, with a minor in Chinese language.
His activism included co-founding NuclearPride an LGBT organization in the nuclear field and creating the ‘Stand With Science’ campaign uniting 10,000 students and allies from across the country to advocate for federal science and engineering research funding.
Congratulations also to both Nakisha M. Lewis and Isaiah R. Wilson who have new positions on the staff of the National Black Justice Coalition. Lewis as director of programs and Institutional Development and Wilson as director of External Affairs.
Lewis is known as a thought leader in the field of philanthropy specializing in developing grant-making strategies addressing racial, gender and educational inequities. She worked extensively with individual donors and foundations to foster grant-making seeking to support, empower and strengthen marginalized communities, including in her most recent position as program officer and senior strategist for Safety at the Ms. Foundation for Women. She is co-creator of the Philanthropic Action for Racial Justice, an effort to organize black philanthropic practitioners around a shared vision for racial justice and investment in black communities centering on the needs and experiences of black women, youth and LGBTQ people.
She is a writer, speaker and lifelong community organizer most recently working to establish Black Lives Matter NYC. She is a co-founder of the #SheWoke Committee, the catalyst for the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, established in 2016, and is the co-chair of Grantmakers for Girls of Color.
Wilson’s new position focuses on the public policy implications of critical issues for black LGBTQ and same-gender loving (SGL) people including: health and wellness; HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention; safe and inclusive schools; employment non-discrimination; relationship recognition; anti-violence; and economic justice.
He will lead the organization’s efforts to advocate for sound policy solutions empowering black LGBTQ/SGL people in the United States and play an integral role in the development of NBJC’s rapid response messaging strategy speaking to the diverse needs of its constituency at the intersection of racial justice and LGBTQ equality.
Prior to joining NBJC in January of 2014, Wilson spent five years working for former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.). There, Wilson worked on issues important to both working-class and marginalized communities. He was Rothman’s chief aide on the judiciary and LGBTQ issues drafting several pieces of legislation, including the original Juror Non-Discrimination Act, prohibiting attorneys from striking potential federal jurors on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity. He was as an officer of the Congressional Black Associates and member of the Congressional LGBT Staff Association.
Nakisha M. Lewis and Isaiah Wilson
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
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LGBTQ community explores arming up during heated political times
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D.C. is the place for the Democratic Socialists of America
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