Local
Comings & Goings
Hanna named chief medical officer at Inova Mount Vernon
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].
The Comings and Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, landed an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a new job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Dr. Pete Hanna on his appointment as Chief Medical Officer at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. Hanna said, “We all know the immense amount of pressure COVID-19 placed on the healthcare community and especially hospital staff in this last year. I feel quite humbled and honored to take on my new leadership role as Chief Medical Officer at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital especially in this challenging period. Inova is a true national leading system in healthcare quality, safety and patient experience and has a focus on providing a safe and inclusive work culture. It is a true partner with all the diverse communities of Northern Virginia, which adds to making it a wonderful place to work.” He added, “I have always been fond of D.C. and knew I would end up in the area, with its vibrant community and unlimited potential to make an impact. I already have many wonderful friends here and look forward to getting to know a lot more.”
In addition to his role at Mount Vernon Hospital, Hanna is chair of surgery at Saba University School of Medicine and MUA. He is a general surgeon by background. He serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees at the Maryland Healthcare Education Institute and is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board for the Maryland Hospital Association and the quality board for Healthcare for the Homeless.
Prior to joining Inova, he was chair of the Department of Surgery and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at LifeBridge Grace Medical Center, previously Bon Secours Baltimore Health System, and was one of the leaders of clinical informatics at the enterprise Bon Secours Health System.
He serves on the Human Rights Campaign’s Greater Washington DC Steering Committee, and was previously co-chair of the Baltimore subcommittee and currently on the Federal Club committee. He has always been involved in the communities he served.
Hanna graduated from Damascus University School of Medicine and completed his residency in general surgery at Marshall University, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, in Huntington, W. Va. He also has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Pete Hanna (Photo courtesy of Hanna)
Congratulations also to Michael H. Weinberger Senior Project Manager at Metro Strategies in Chicago, Ill. Metro Strategies is a policy, planning, and public affairs firm working on a variety of transportation and planning projects.
Weinberger will work on major infrastructure projects in the Chicagoland Region, including public transportation improvement initiatives, storm water management interventions, and other critical policy projects. Upon taking the position, he said, “The National Capital Region has prepared me for anything and everything. Getting to work with stakeholders on public works projects the past 15 years has been a dream come true for me and I will take that experience to heart; using it every day during my next adventure.”
Prior to moving to Chicago, Weinberger was manager of Operations Planning & Service Delivery with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in D.C. He was a project manager with Sharp & Company in Rockville and had been with Foursquare Integrated Transportation Planning, in Rockville for five years.
He earned his bachelor’s in Sociology, graduating cum laude from American University; and his master’s of Community Planning from the University of Maryland in College Park.
Michael H. Weinberger (Photo courtesy of Weinberger)
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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