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Comings & Goings

Andronoco joins Dept. of Energy’s loan program office

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Troy Cline, gay news, Washington Blade
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 & 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.

Joe Adronoco

Congratulations to Joseph L. Andronaco on his new position as Senior Advisor, Department of Energy’s Loan Program Office. Andronaco is an accomplished and experienced multi-industry (energy efficiency, sustainability, utilities, investment banking) and international leader (fully bilingual) with a proven talent for strategic thinking and operational excellence and capable of leveraging the expertise gained from engaging in more than $3B of financial and strategic transactions into impactful and transformational decision making. Upon taking the position Andronaco said, ā€œI am thrilled to be working alongside such talented individuals to meet our climate and environmental justice imperatives.ā€

Andronaco’s background includes being CEO and Subject Matter Expert, Access Green; Corporate Development and Strategy, WGL Holdings; Corporate Development with NAPWA; Services and Investment Banker, Buenos Aires Capital Partners; and Banking Analyst, Lehman Brothers. He has served as a member Workforce Investment Council, District of Columbia; and on the Boards of DCBIA Community Services; DC Central Kitchen; and the DC Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Association of Builders and Contractors and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

Andronaco earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his master’s from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.

Congratulations also to Waymon Hudson on his new position as Marketing Director, Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD). Hudson will be responsible for the global promotion of the CSD Contact Centers (CCC) brand and its portfolio of programs. He will be supporting the CCC leadership team in the planning, coordination and implementation of campaigns and other programmatic marketing efforts, building broad coalitions of community partners working together to overcome national community challenges. Upon taking the position Hudson said, ā€œCommunication Service for the Deaf creates opportunities for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community across a wide range of areas. As a Deaf person myself, I am beyond excited to be a part of that mission. I truly feel that Deaf identities and culture should be valued and celebrated as part of the diversity that makes our country stronger.ā€

Hudson has worked as a copywriter for the National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes and also has his own firm, Waymon Hudson Consulting, where he does marketing and communication and political consulting. His experience includes working as director of marketing and communications for the Golden Gate University School of Law; and president of Fight OUT Loud. Hudson has been a featured columnist with the Huffington Post and Chicago Tribune; and host and executive producer of Gay TV on The Go. He has worked with The Bilerico Project, the Trevor Project and was a JetBlue Airways, Inflight Crew Trainer and a performer at Walt Disney World.

Hudson earned his bachelor’s in business management with a concentration in marketing from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.

Waymon Hudson
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Virginia

Virginia Beach high school students stage walkouts to support transgender rights

City’s school board approved policy to out trans students to parents

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Transgender flags (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key.)

Students at five Virginia Beach high schools on Friday staged walkouts in support of transgender rights.

The walkout is in response to the Virginia Beach School Board approving policy 5-31, which the Pride Liberation Project says will require schools to out trans students to their parents.

Students have been organizing walkouts across the state since Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin earlier this year announced new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students.

ā€œStudents like me aren’t going to be able to talk to our teachers if we’re constantly worried about our school officials calling home to forcibly out us,” AJ, a trans Kellam High School Student, told the Pride Liberation Project.

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District of Columbia

Pepco, Exelon announce $2.7 million in funding for four minority-owned businesses

ā€˜It’s good business sense to bring more people to the table’

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Pepco and Exelon held a press conference Friday to announce four recipients of $2.7 million in investments. (Photo courtesy Exelon)

Pepco and Exelon announced a $2.7 million investment in four minority-owned businesses on Friday.

ā€œToday’s been a long time coming,ā€ said Pepco Vice President of Governmental and External Affairs Valencia McClure.

Pepco’s parent company, Exelon, launched the Racial Equity Capital Fund (RECF) in 2022 to expand capital access to diverse businesses. This latest $2.7 million investment is just a portion of RECF’s $36 million in funding.

At the announcement, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser spoke about the other ways Pepco and Exelon have ā€œput their money where their mouth isā€ through their partnership with the D.C. Infrastructure Academy. She reported that all 22 of the residents that graduated from the program last week have a job offer from Pepco.

ā€œWe know that is not just a job, but a career,ā€ she said to the crowd’s applause. ā€œWe know that working together, we can invest in D.C. residents, provide opportunity, and ensure that our D.C. businesses are a part of D.C.’s growing prosperity.ā€

The four minority businesses that received funding were Gemini Energy Solutions, Public Sector Solutions Group, CJR Development Partners, and Escalate.

ā€œIt’s good business sense to bring more people to the table,ā€ said fund recipient Nicole Cober, CJR Development’s Principle Managing Partner.

Gemini Energy Solutions, which is Black owned, received $1 million, the most of the four companies. Its mission is to equitably scale energy efficiency to marginalized communities. For the founder and CEO Anthony Kinslow II, this investment means that he is able to get paid and advance the work of his organization.

ā€œWe are now able to accelerate the work in our software and technology development,ā€ he said. ā€œWhat we were going to do in two years, we are now going to do in six months.ā€

For Escalate, a workforce development platform focused on frontline worker retention, the funding means that it will be able to double the pay for frontline workers.

Public Sector Solutions Group CEO Darryl Wiggins emphasized that this investment was not just ā€˜charity’ work, but mission-driven work.

ā€œThe principle and the intent is greater than the money we receive,ā€ he said. Public Sector Solutions is Black owned.

Public Sector Solutions Group received a $600,000 debt investment; CJR Development, a minority and woman-owned small business, received a $600,000 debt investment; and Escalate, a majority Black and woman-owned company, received a $500,000 equity investment.

Exelon launched the RECF in partnership with RockCreek, one of the world’s largest diverse-owned global investment firms, in 2022. The RECF expands capital access to diverse businesses so they can create more jobs, grow their companies and reinvest in their neighborhoods and communities, according to a statement from Exelon.

New RECF applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Interested businesses may apply online or contact RockCreek at [email protected] for more information.

(Photo courtesy Exelon)
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Comings & Goings

Armstrong recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award

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Lynden C. Armstrong

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 Lynden C. Armstrong on his Lifetime Achievement award from the Congressional Management Foundation in recognition of his exemplary public service in Congress. 

Upon receiving the award Armstrong said, ā€œThis recognition is not just a personal achievement, but a testament to the unwavering dedication and hard work of colleagues and mentors who have been with me on this journey. I’ve dedicated my entire career to public service within the Senate, where recognition isn’t the primary motivation for our work, making this recognition even more humbling.ā€ He is currently Deputy Assistant Senate Sergeant at Arms and Chief Information Officer.  

Armstrong started his career with Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), where he rose to Deputy Chief of Staff in his more than 13-year stint. In 2004, during his tenure with Domenici, amid a debate on the Federal Marriage Amendment, Armstrong became a co-founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Allies Senate Staff (GLASS) Caucus. In 2014, he moved to the Sergeant at Arms CIO organization, where he established a new department within the CIO that was crafted to engage Senate offices in comprehending and harnessing technologies provided by the SAA. 

Lynden has previously served as Chief Clerk on the U.S. Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration, and with the U.S. Senate, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, as Deputy Inaugural Coordinator, 2012–2013.  In that role among other responsibilities, he served as civilian liaison to the National Special Security Event Executive Steering Committee and subcommittees, including the Capitol, USCP, Crowd Management, Public Relations, Transportation, and credentialing, and as liaison to the Joint Task Force – National Capital Region. 

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