Our Team
Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Dan Nathan, President
Dan joined the Board in 2011, after he fell in love with the program when his child was as a member of OUDC Class 15. He became Board president in August 2022. Dan retired last year from a career as an attorney with federal and industry financial regulators and in private practice, principally practicing in securities, commodities, broker-dealer and white collar law. Dan attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and New York University School of Law, and has lived in Washington, DC for 38 years. Dan is also a member of the Board of Forge, a non-profit entity that works with veterans, law enforcement, and other gun owners on collaborative projects to save lives. A jazz pianist, he is using his retirement to increase his playing with several bands, and he can frequently be found on his bicycle around the DC metropolitan area.
Alexandra Caceres, Vice President
Alexandra joined the Board in 2022. Having dedicated most of her career to public service and volunteerism, she has contributed to the community through inspiring a love for STEM, tutoring, and professional readiness for youth. Alexandra was a founding member of the CHICA Project, an organization dedicated to uplifting and closing the opportunity gap for young women and girls of color. As a bi-cultural and native Spanish speaker, she is dedicated to uplifting communities of need to create more empowered future generations. Alexandra has a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Scott Rechler, Treasurer
Scott joined the Board in 2022. A Washington DC native, Scott is Co-Director and CEO of LearnServe International, a non-profit organization that prepares high school and middle school students as community leaders, with a focus on social entrepreneurship and global awareness. Scott graduated from Harvard College with a B.A. in social anthropology. He wrote his senior thesis on social entrepreneurship and social change in southern Chile, and co-founded Harvard’s Race, Culture, and Diversity Initiative to improve campus inter-cultural relations. Scott worked for five years at Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, strengthening Ashoka’s dynamic global community of social entrepreneurs. Scott was selected a 2009 winner of the Linowes Leadership Award of the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region. He received his M.B.A. from George Washington University’s School of Business in May 2012. He served on the Board of ScholarCHIPS, a college scholarship and mentorship program for children of incarcerated parents. A fluent Spanish speaker, Scott has lived in Chile and Bolivia. Scott is a member of OUDC Class 4 of and served as a travel leader for the summer journey for Class 10.
Joshua Levin, Secretary
Josh is the father of OUDC alum, Ethan Levin (OUDC Class 19), and has been a member of the Board of OUDC since 2016. Presently OUDC's Board Secretary, Josh previously created and chaired the Board's Innovation Committee. Josh is a staff attorney with the non-profit organization, Tzedek DC, which he joined DC in 2019 after a 28-year career with the United States Department of Justice’s Environment & Natural Resources Division. Previously, Josh was also an investigative reporter and a staff member with the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. Josh is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law. He has an M.P.A from the University of Texas at Austin, and attended Oberlin College. Josh is devoted to OUDC as an organization because of the enormous and positive influence it had in his son Ethan's life, and because its lessons of tolerance of racial healing remain at the forefront of America's critical challenges.
Other Board Members
Karim Marshall
Karim joined the Board in 2020. He is an alumnus of Class 4. Karim serves in the Biden Administration as the Senior Advisor for the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (OEJECR) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. As the inaugural Senior Advisor, he advances OEJECR’s mission to coordinate implementation of EJ priorities across the agency’s national programs, regions, the Administrator’s Office, and across partnerships with other federal agencies and coregulators in state, tribal, and local government, industry, and communities. He is also charged with implementing President Biden’s policy goals that include, implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Justice40, and other equity-driven initiatives.
Delonte Egwuatu
Delonte joined the Board in 2023. He is an alumnus of OUDC Class 17. He currently is Chief Engagement & Inclusion Officer for the Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
Jess Schwalb
Jess Schwalb is an alumna of Class 20 and currently lives in Chicago, IL. As a researcher, writer, facilitator, and storyteller, she has worked to advance fair housing laws through outreach and legal advocacy with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, to build the child care workers' union with SEIU, and to train Jewish communities on antisemitism and white supremacy with the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.
Jack Moline
Jack was a member of the original OUDC board, then served for years on the Advisory Board. He is back on the board as of 2024. He is the father of participants in classes 5 and 13. Now retired, Jack served as a synagogue rabbi in Alexandria for 27 years and as president of Interfaith Alliance for 7 years
Pam Mahony
Pam Mahony is the mother of an OUDC alum (Class 28) and joined the Board in 2024. She is a high school teacher of government and politics in Falls Church City Public Schools. She began her career as a special education teacher and has served as a curriculum leader, Model UN sponsor, and Scholastic Bowl coach over the last several decades. As the current President of the Falls Church City Education Association, she recently led the staff union through the process of negotiating the first collective bargaining contract in fifty years. She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in International Studies, has an M.Ed. from the University of Maryland, College Park, and has completed considerable post graduate studies in U.S History.
Alison Arnold
Alison joined the Board in 2024. She is the mother of OUDC alum, Anderson Simmons (OUDC Class 19). Alison began her career as a corporate attorney and later taught business law. She is now semi-retired and is following her passion - teaching math to middle school students. Inspired by her mother's dedication to being a contributor to her community, Alison has served on a variety of boards including the Washington Performing Arts Society, Capital City Public Charter School and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Alison is a graduate of Harvard University.
Elias Benda
Elias is an alumnus of OUDC Class 20. He is currently pursuing his Juris Doctorate with a specialization in Critical Race Studies at UCLA School of Law. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, he worked in a number of roles with the Council of the District of Columbia, most recently as Senior Legislative Advisor to the Committee on Human Services, and has extensive experience in progressive political organizing and campaigns.
Kerri Gilmore Mesia
Kerri is empowered by a commitment to social justice and equality, and dedicated to driving meaningful change both in her personal and professional capacity in the legal field. Kerri was moved to become active with OUDC after her son participated in the OUDC program. Kerri lives in DC with her husband and three almost grown children. She attended James Madison University and the College of William and Mary Law School.
OUDC Staff
Dr. Linda J. Mann, Executive Director. Dr. L, as affectionately known by the OUDC Social Justice Fellows, is an internationally renowned leading scholar and practitioner on transitional justice policymaking related to colonialism, enslavement and descendant community engagement. Dr. L's collaboration with descendant communities has led to OUDC's deep engagement with the community of Africatown Alabama. One of the most impactful aspects of the Summer Journey.
In addition to leading OUDC, Dr. L is also an Assistant Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). In 2019, she co-founded the African American Redress Network (AARN) a collaborative project between Columbia University and Howard University. In 2020, Dr. L led a collaborative Redress Network project with the University of Amsterdam and Eurom at the University of Barcelona. She has received numerous awards and fellowships in recognition of her innovative work including a recent EU Schuman Fulbright (2024-2025), a fellowship from the International Centre for Education about Auscwitz and the Holocaust, Poland (2022), and an Alliance for Historical Dialogue and Accountability, Columbia University (2018). Additionally, she was awarded two fellowships at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, both focusing on curriculum development (2018, 2019).
Dr. L is a seasoned educator with over ten years of postgraduate teaching experience and ten years as a public-school history educator. She started her career as a conflict resolution specialist and has decades of experience as a political grassroots organizer.
Xochi Quetzali Cartland, Assistant Director. Xochis a poet, seamstress, and transformative justice practitioner. As the Assistant Director of Operation Understanding DC, Xochi supports high school students in developing the tools to become effective social justice leaders and work against racism, antisemtism and all forms of discrimination. Xochi received her BA in Literary Arts from Brown University, where she graduated with honors and as a Royce Fellow for her research on gender justice. While at Brown, she co-founded the Transformative Justice Initiative, a project that seeks to create community infrastructure to minimize, interrupt, and prevent interpersonal violence. As an artist, Xochi has performed at Arena State, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, the American Poetry Museum, New York Poetry Festival, and elsewhere, and has been supported with fellowships from Brooklyn Poets, National Arts Strategies, Latinx in Publishing, and the Abrahamic House. In her free time, you can find her searching for the best lavendar latte in DC.
Kyla Goldsby, Operations Manager. Kyla currently serves as the Operations Manager for OUDC. She is also an aspiring disability rights lawyer, and dedicated community advocate. She graduated from George Mason University with a B.A. in Legal Studies and double minors in Philosophy of Law and Social Justice & Human Rights. While at Mason, she immersed herself in boths academics and activism, building experience in politics and political campaigns alongside her studies. Before stepping into her full-time role at OUDC, Kyla spent three years as an OUDC intern, supporting programming and operations while strengthening her commitment to justice work. That experience, combined with her background in political organizing, has shaped her passion for creating systems that amplify equity and inclusion. Kyla plans to pursue law school with a focus on disability rights, carrying her vision of accessible, transformative change. A Northern Virginia local, she is excited to continue contributing to OUDC's mission and the broader movement for justice in the DMV and beyond.