Brandt Ricca will begin a non-stop 100-mile ultramarathon at 6 a.m. on Oct. 7 while most D.C. residents will still be sipping their morning coffee.

In a year of isolation and economic downturn, Ricca decided to run 100 miles in two days to benefit local, LGBTQ-owned businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Ricca, who’s lived in D.C. for 10 years, is donating the money he raises to the Capital Pride Alliance and Equality Chamber of Commerce, where he has been a member since 2018.

The gay entrepreneur and owner of the D.C.-based business Nora Lee by Brandt Ricca understands first-hand how the ongoing pandemic affects small businesses, particularly LGBTQ-owned companies.

“I definitely want to give back to the community and local colleagues, especially because Capitol Pride has been now canceled two years in a row,” Ricca said.

Out of the funds raised, 90 percent will go towards funding 20 small business grants through the Equality Chamber of Commerce and the remaining 10 percent will go towards supporting Capital Pride Alliance.  

Brandt, already an avid runner and self-described “fitness explorer,” decided after crowdsourcing ideas to pursue the 100-mile project. Ricca has been a frequent visitor at the Equinox Anthem Row in D.C. to prepare for the run.

“I was looking to do my next fitness endeavor, at the same time wanting to do something to get back to the fellow business owners in D.C.,” he said.

Applications for the 20 grants of various sizes for LGBTQ businesses are projected to open this summer through the Equality Chamber of Commerce, Ricca said. His goal is to raise $100,000 from individuals and companies. The grants will be distributed in October following the completion of the run.

Equality Chamber of Commerce Vice President Riah Gonzales-King is in the process of developing grants and additional summer educational programming to help young LGBTQ entrepreneurs and students start their businesses.

“So much of the culture centers around these businesses, many of which have been around for decades,” Gonzales-King said. “They’re pillars of the community — their owners are pillars in the community. And I think it’s time that we gave back.”

Helping LGBTQ entrepreneurs specifically at this time is essential, Ricca said, especially entrepreneurs in the creative and hospitality industry.

Ricca began training in February with the help of several exercise experts like Brian Mazza, a New York City fitness entrepreneur who ran 50 miles last December to raise awareness for male infertility stigma. The former Men’s Health headliner is guiding Ricca’s physical training, which has been a near-daily routine. Ricca was inspired by Mazza’s run in the first place.

Ricca reached out to Mazza over Instagram to get his assistance and training.

Mazza said Ricca reaching out over Instagram “meant the world.”

“I believe what he’s doing for his cause is remarkable,” Mazza said. “It’s important. I’m happy that he’s standing up for what he believes in and helping these businesses and helping individuals in general.”

Jacob Zemer, a coach and nutritionist, has designed a daily nutrition program for Ricca to prepare him for the run. Zemer and Mazza have been working together throughout the process to track Ricca’s health and progress.

The two fitness experts work with Ricca multiple times a day to monitor his diet, mileage, heart rate and pace monitoring. Both Mazza and Zemer said Ricca’a training has been successful.

“Brandt’s an excellent individual,” Zemer said. “He’s very easy to work with. He’s highly coachable, he’s a pleasure to talk to every day.”

Pacers Running will be sponsoring and designing Ricca’s 100-mile route throughout the D.C. region. The company is also working with Ricca to design specific shoes for the ultramarathon.

Pacers Running CEO Kathy Dalby won “Best Straight Ally” in the Washington Blade’s 2019 Best of Gay D.C.

“I really wanted someone local who could really guide me on a route,” Ricca said.

Elyse Braner, a community lead at Pacers Running and longtime friend to Ricca, said the local business was excited to collaborate with Brandt because of an alignment of values.

“As a community, inclusivity and diversity is extremely important to Pacers Running,” Braner said. “As a small business, we really appreciated that Brandt wanted to do an event that supported small businesses — specifically LGBTQ businesses.”

Originally an event-planning business, Nora Lee debuted in 2018 on the second annual Allison Gala, a fundraising event benefiting the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, which Brandt created in memory of a family friend. He’s worked with a range of clients, including the Dupont Circle Hotel and Sotheby’s Real Estate.

Looking back at events on his website, he said he found himself bored with the photography. This led him to focus on creative marketing and decided to pivot his business model at the beginning of the pandemic. Now, Ricca provides photography and video shoots for clients.

“When COVID hit I decided to, like every business owner, I revisited my plan,” he said. “I really enjoyed the creative branding more in the photo shoot. So I decided to pivot strictly to just a full-on creative branding agency.”

The training for the 100-mile run has provided a stable routine for Ricca, which has helped him get through the pandemic, he said. Ricca is planning to create a campaign this summer inviting LGBTQ entrepreneurs to do their version of 100 miles, with the hope it will provide positive stability in their lives as it does in his.

“Obviously, people think I’m crazy for doing this,” Ricca said. “All the uncertainty out there right now – with business, with clients, with whatever; I needed an anchor. Something that was going to be a routine for me that I can control.”

Diversity, equity, and inclusion, or “DEI,” is quickly becoming one of the most widely talked about topics in business, media, the nonprofit community and many other sectors. From startups, to boutique agencies to Fortune 100 companies, DEI is critical and expected, especially from an employee’s point of view. It’s an employer’s job to foster an environment that empowers employees in every way, being aware of and removing barriers, encouraging opinions to be voiced, and creating avenues for all to succeed professionally. Feeling seen, heard and represented is key.

After the tumultuous 2020, we caught up with Robbie Atkins, Pepco’s Manager of Energy Supplier Services, who was featured in the Blade in 2019, to ask about changes to DEI efforts within the company, and whether or not representation has taken on a greater meaning.

Atkins has been with Pepco for more than 30 years. Out of all of the memories he has at his job, one of his most cherished moments was coming into work one day in October 2014, after just tying the knot with his husband, Joe, to a surprise wedding cake and gift from his entire department. “I walked into the conference room and they had an actual wedding cake,” he says. “I was totally blown away by that. I never expected them to acknowledge my wedding!” 

That moment was a turning point for Atkins as he began to witness what looked like a more culturally sensitive and inclusive environment in the workplace. 

When Pepco President and CEO Dave Velazquez filmed a video on the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 2019, Atkins felt it was an “amazing moment” as that “would have never been seen five or even 10 years prior.” 

More recently, Atkins beamed as he described how fulfilled he was participating in the Capital Pride parade in 2018. “This still gets me emotional, especially thinking about how we couldn’t walk in the parade this past year due to the Coronavirus pandemic,” says Atkins. “When I replay the spectators chanting ‘Yay Pepco’ from the sidelines, and I think about the unity we displayed that day, I am filled with such honor. I honestly never thought I would see the day when that would happen.”

This is far different from Atkins’ prior experiences in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He remembers his failed attempt at raising money for the 1988 AIDS Walk, stating that his colleagues simply said “I can’t give to that.” Yet they had no problem asking for donations for their kids’ popcorn and candy fundraisers, he recalls. There were also times where his own colleagues made insensitive gestures that he remembers “clear as day.” 

Today, Atkins is an active member of a company-sponsored employee resource group, focused on the needs of LGBTQ employees and the issues and interests of the community at large. He is also a member of the company’s LGBTQ Group Mentoring Circle, which is readying for its first session, “LGBTQ Visibility in the Workplace,” designed to offer insight into how LGBTQ employees experience the workplace and to share reflections, both positive and negative, with the goal of creating a more inclusive workplace.

As the world attempts to recover from a devastating and life-changing year that was 2020, with a pandemic and stark incidents of social and racial injustice, efforts to foster understanding have become even more critical. “As an African American, witnessing all of this while in the middle of the pandemic, it certainly presented some challenges, both mentally and emotionally for a lot of us. Pepco provided outlets for employees to discuss how we were being affected, from small groups to executive moderated sessions on topics ranging from ‘Defunding the Police’ to ‘Artifacts – History or Offensive.’ All employees were encouraged to be open with our feelings, frustrations, anger, and our thoughts for the future of our community and country,” said Atkins. “I am happy to see that this was not a ‘one and done’ effort, but a part of Pepco’s ongoing commitment.” 

He referenced a company initiative launched at the beginning of 2021 to include DEI in the performance goals and evaluations of all employees in office-based positions. “This will get more people talking about issues that affect many of us, as part of regular, daily business conversations,” said Atkins. “It will also allow us to celebrate our differences.”

This month, the company is celebrating Black History Month with a series of actions including hosting powerful guest speakers at employee events and a social media campaign highlighting African American inventors in the energy and technology fields. 

“When you see yourself represented, you are able to aspire for more and work toward a higher goal. And by doing that, you then inspire the next generation and the next generation and so on. But in order for that chain reaction to begin, we must be represented and heard,” said Atkins.

For more information visit: thesource.pepcoholdings.com/pepco

On January 6th, in the span of ten minutes, I was asked by my 8-year-old son what a gas mask is used for. I intended to give him my full attention but I was distracted by whether and when to pull my property management team from the field as I observed protesters scaling the US Capitol Building live on CNN. This is life, leadership and parenting in a pandemic. During a coup.

Flock DC, our family of companies, tends to thousands of homes in the District. Managing home is an essential service during this time. It always has been and always will be. But operating a District business today offers myriad complexities as the political landscape shifts and very real threats to people and property unfold.

And so, perched in our DC row homes, our leadership teams learned quickly to prepare for just about anything. The pandemic taught us how to pivot. The protests, elections and the recent coup taught us that planning ahead is everything. I was asked on the 7th if the 6th came as a surprise. Certainly not, I thought. Ahead of the presidential elections, we studied the very real possibility of civil war at worst and increased unrest at best. We anticipated the protesters ahead of the 6th and planned our field activities to avoid any work near or around the Capitol Building and White House. We alerted our residents that access to services may be disrupted, and advised them to stay in and stay safe from the anticipated tension the protests would bring.  We’ve trained our teams to act quickly when they feel threatened and to retreat quickly and without hesitation – whether the threat be proximity to the unmasked during a pandemic or a pipe bomb. But even with best-laid plans, and the eyes-wide-open approach to the current realities of the world, my leadership team and I were still in shock when what we’d planned for unfolded before our very eyes. We might all feel better and more prepared with a parachute strapped to our backs, but nobody wants to pull the cord. We’ve had our hands squeezing that cord for a solid 10 months and we’re not letting it go anytime soon.

Crisis management is squarely in our wheelhouse as a company that handles real time escalations all day every day. Problem solving is our business. But the external threats the political and public health landscapes have delivered in the last ten months have tested even the most sophisticated leaders among us. In 2020, it became commonplace to be in almost constant conversation about the pros and cons of boarding up street level properties in response to, or anticipation of, a disruptive and potentially violent event. And one of those “events” was election day. To think, Washington, DC, the host city of democracy, had business leaders scrambling to protect its citizens and streets in anticipation of folks exercising their right to vote. Living and working in Washington comes with baked in low level (at best) anxiety about the threat of terrorism. We’re all keenly aware that the District will always be a target, but logically didn’t assume domestic terrorism would be the actualized threat. But here we are. And doing business in a city that is stateless complicates things for government leaders who lack full agency in governing people and place with the full suite of services afforded any other state.

To live through the reality that calling on national guard wasn’t a right afforded to our own Muriel Bowser as Mayor illustrates a substantial gap in the right to representation for some. That some includes our residents and our business. Yet we’re operating in a city that is more vulnerable than most and as the Capitol Police tuck their tail between their legs, the balance of the city wonders aloud what the solution is while we simultaneously plan for whatever imminent threat lies around the corner. And such is life and leadership in 2020 2.0 in Washington, DC.

Lisa Wise is the founder/CEO of Flock DC. She lives in Washington, DC with her wife and their son Beckett.