Local
Comings & Goings
Kruse takes new role with Family Equality Council
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].
Julie Kruse
Congratulations to Julie Kruse who is starting a new position as Federal Policy Advocate with the Family Equality Council. Council CEO Rev. Stan J. Sloan said, “Julie’s record of committed service to the LGBTQ community speaks for itself, and we are privileged to have her join our public policy team to fight for lived and legal equality for LGBTQ families, especially in today’s challenging political climate.” Upon accepting the position Kruse said, “I’m excited to join the top-notch team at Family Equality Council in their critical work during this politically challenging time. I’m especially thrilled to return to advocacy with and for LGBTQ families and youth, to defend and advance the equal rights, opportunities, and supports we all deserve.”
As Federal Policy Advocate, Kruse will be based in D.C. and work closely with Chief Policy Officer Denise Brogan-Kator to implement and expand Family Equality Council’s public policy agenda. The Council connects, supports, and represents the 3 million LGBTQ parents in the country and their 6 million children of all ages. They provide a voice for LGBTQ families on Capitol Hill.
Kruse has more than 15 years of experience advocating for the LGBTQ community, immigrants, working families, women and girls. Her efforts have contributed to victories including relief from deportation for tens of thousands of LGBTQ immigrant families, ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and stopping discriminatory tax audits of low-income families. Prior to her career in advocacy, she developed job training and educational programs leading to high-wage careers for women and girls. She was the founding director of the National Community Tax Coalition. She served on the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women in Illinois and chaired its Pay Equity Working Group. She has taught at the college and high school levels in the U.S. and in Latin America. Kruse has worked for a number of organizations, including the National Center for Healthy Housing, Immigration Equality, and the Servicemembers’ Legal Defense Network.
Congratulations also to Jeffrey W. Groton who has accepted the position of Director of Finance with Mile High Early Learning, which is Denver’s oldest and largest provider of subsidized quality early childhood care and education serving thousands of Denver’s vulnerable children every year since 1970.
Groton is a proven organizational leader with a strong background in strategic business planning and financial management. He has a passion for driving effectiveness in organizational work life through strategic planning and innovative problem solving. That includes a track record of developing, restructuring and improving diverse operations across finance, IT, management, and HR. He is a big-picture thinker motivated by business challenges and competing priorities.
Groton worked for the International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and was recruited to that association based on his success with the National Association of Women Judges-USA (NAWJ). Prior to that he worked at Downey Associates International, Inc. and Envision EMI, Inc.
Groton served in the United States Air Force as a Command and Control Specialist with top-secret security clearance.
Jeffrey W. Groton
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
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