Common Threads staffers come from varying backgrounds, but share a concern for children, a commitment to positive social change, and a love of good food and the communities food can create and sustain.
Mimi Chacin
Bill Finn
Stephanie Folkens
Rose Lawrence
Eleanor Leichenko
Alexander Martin
Linda Novick O'Keefe
Susan Reilly
Justin Smith
Courtenay Strickland
Courtney Turner
Mary Ann Weprin
Marnie Hamel
Amy Schabold
April Wiencek
Dawn Woollen
Joe Zarrow
Susan Reilly brings her varied background in development, education, and community outreach programs to her role as DC City Program Manager for Common Threads. Susan received her BA in French and Art History from Mount Holyoke College, began her career in arts administration at the Phillips Collection, and then joined WETA/PBS, working on arts/educational programming, and development of special projects for children. She has been Director of Educational Programs at the Women’s Foundation, where she managed scholarship programs serving low-income women and families, and raised funds to establish new scholarships to address the specific educational needs of single mothers seeking re-employment.
Susan counts her most valued professional and volunteer experiences from work directly within her community –whether as an elementary school librarian, where she dedicated time to initiatives and intervention programs that targeted high-risk children, as an educational consultant, as a board member of youth programs such as Reading is Fundamental, or simply as a volunteer in her community garden. Common Threads’ mission brings together Susan’s passion for food, with her fervent belief in the importance of a multi-cultural perspective, and the power of education and community engagement.
Although she now considers herself a bona fide Washingtonian, she was born in Bogota, Colombia, and grew up in Latin America and Europe, where her life centered around the joys of family, food, and world music. Susan has also been a caterer with Fete Accomplie in Washington, but her favorite memories have always been in home kitchens of family and friends. She loves fresh-picked vegetables from her garden, and is thrilled that her two sons, Sam and William, share a love for cooking! She lives in Arlington, VA with her husband, Frank, and their youngest child, a big brown dog named Max.