Local
Comings & Goings
Zizos launches Live Wire Sports & Entertainment
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 Gary D. Espinas on his new position as Adjunct Instructor, Security Policy Studies Program teaching “Russia and International Security” in the Security Policy Studies (SPS) Program, Elliott School of International Affairs. Upon accepting the position, he said, “I have a passion for teaching and am thrilled to bring my professional experience working on Russia issues to the students at The George Washington University.”
Espinas has worked as an Adjunct Instructor of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy and as a Senior Lecturer and Regional Program Lead for Europe Institute for Security Governance, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Washington, D.C.
Prior to that he worked as a Security Cooperation Expert with Booz Allen Hamilton; with JLO Consulting in D.C.; and as an independent consultant providing subject matter expertise in the areas of national security and military strategy, Russia and the former Soviet Union, and defense and military reform. Additional roles he has held include Regional Director for Russia, Caucasus, and Black Sea Policy, Office of the Secretary of Defense; Political-Military Officer for Conventional Arms Control, U.S. Department of State; and Political-Military Officer, Embassy of the United States of America, Moscow.
Espinas received many awards including: Support to the Armed Services of Ukraine Medal (awarded by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine); Legion of Merit (U.S. Army); Excellence in Joint Service Warfare Faculty Award (Naval Postgraduate School); Defense Superior Service Medal (Office of the Secretary of Defense); and Superior Honor Award (Department of State).
Espinas has his bachelor’s in Political Science from University of California Berkeley; his master’s in Security Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and master’s in Regional Studies (Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia), from Harvard University. He is a doctoral candidate in Liberal Studies at Georgetown University.
Congratulations also to Chryssa Zizos on the launch of her new company Live Wire Sports & Entertainment (Live Wire S&E). Zizos said the motivation for starting this new company was representing her wife, former USWNT goalkeeper Briana Scurry, for the past eight years, managing her PR needs and establishing her career as a keynote speaker.
Zizos founded Live Wire Strategic Communications in 1998 to serve clientele in a rapidly changing communications industry. For more than a decade, Live Wire has been ranked among Washington’s Top 25 PR firms by the Washington Business Journal. Supporting small businesses, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, and Fortune 100 companies alike, her expertise in branding, business development, media outreach, persuasive selling, presentation training, and digital content campaigns has accelerated the success of clients across diverse industries.
Zizos said, “Live Wire S&E was founded because I wanted to work with retired U.S. Women’s National Team players because despite being some of the world’s most decorated athletes, they are often overlooked and underserved. These athletes have remarkable stories to share and we aim to enact positive change both in their lives and the lives of their audiences. The tremendous success we have achieved with Briana has given us the skill set to raise the visibility and truly enhance the careers of all our athletes.”
Zizos earned her undergraduate degree from Eastern Kentucky University, where she studied Journalism and Business; and her master’s in Public Communication with an emphasis in Crisis Communications from American University.
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.
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