Local
Comings & Goings
Williams joins Sol Systems energy investment firm
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].
Congratulations to Andrew Williams on his new position as Senior Director Regulatory Affairs, Energy Infrastructure & Markets with Sol Systems, LLC. Sol Systems is one of the premier renewable energy investment firms in the country with more than a decade of operational success across the United States. To date, Sol has developed and/or financed more than 850 MW of solar projects valued at more than $1 billion for Fortune 100 companies, municipalities, counties, utilities, universities, and schools. The company also actively trades in and shapes environmental commodity and electricity markets throughout the United States.
Prior to joining Sol Systems, Williams was with the Environmental Defense Fund where he served as Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, U.S. climate and energy. While there, he helped shape EDF’s state-level domestic advocacy strategy. Prior to working with EDF he served as Vice President and General Counsel for Hickory Creek Ventures, LLC; and as Operational Officer and Vice President for Atlas Pipeline Mid-Continent in Tulsa, Okla.
Williams was appointed to the advisory board of SAFER PA and is an immediate past member of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s Natural Gas Workgroup. He was appointed by then-Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry to the advisory council for the Oklahoma Commission on Marginally Producing Oil and Gas Wells and is a past board member of the Natural Gas and Energy Association of Oklahoma and served on the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee for the Gas Processors Association. He is a member of the board of the Blade Foundation.
Congratulations also to John (Jack) Rayburn in his new position as Director of Legislative Affairs for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Planned Parenthood spends money on politics and elections through the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (its federal political action committee), through its Super PAC, and through a variety of related 501(c)(4) entities. Upon starting the position, Rayburn said, “It’s an amazing privilege to have this opportunity to get up each day and fight on behalf of those who are too often marginalized from society. I’m proud to work for an organization that is leading with its values in our federal advocacy and in the health care we provide for our patients.”
Prior to joining Planned Parenthood, he served as Senior Government Relations Manager with the Trust for America’s Health. He has been an active political volunteer with the Democratic National Committee; with the Jason Kander for U.S. Senate campaign and with the 2016 Democratic National Convention Committee. He is also a volunteer at Whitman-Walker Health.
He earned his bachelor’s in Biology (Pre-Med) from Georgetown University, and his master’s in Public Health from The George Washington University.
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].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
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.).
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
Comings & Goings
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Tenn. lawmakers pass transgender “watch list” bill
Cuba under pressure and without answers
Vance speaks at Orbán rally in Hungary
Amendments to India’s transgender rights law criticized
