HomeFHNN Board & Staff

FHNN BOARD AND STAFF

Board Members

Evan Smith, President

Evan is a corporate and structured finance attorney who was a Member of the law firm of Winston & Strawn in New York and Of Counsel to the law firm of Garofalo, Goerlich & Hainbach in Washington, DC. He participated in the founding and management of several companies that modified jet airliners to comply with the federal noise rules. He has served in elected and appointed positions on public school boards in New York, on the board of Abbott House, a foundation for neglected children, and on the board of the Irene Tenants Association. He and his wife, Linda, have been in Friendship Heights since 2007.

Kathleen McGuinness, Vice President

Kathleen started her career as an executive with a Fortune 500 company for 20 years (Trans World Airlines). Then she moved to new role as a Senior Leader with a foreign government in the British West Indies for 14 years. In 2018 she took a leadership role with a homecare company in Montgomery County until she retired in late 2023. She has given talks globally, on a variety of topics, Scuba Diving, Aging in Place, Destination Management, Caregiver Tech Tips and Safe Aging Programs in MoCo on TV, Radio and in person throughout the USA to audiences in the 1000’s with excellent reviews! Kathleen has lived in the Carleton since 2019.

She was the primary caregiver for both her parents who lived in Va & Md. She cared for her parents for six years locally while they aged in place, until they could not. In 2015, she began another caregiver role for her husband who was diagnosed with Parkinsons, & Dementia until he passed in 2020. Kathleen now offers Consulting Services for those trying to Age in Place. She recently began serving a 3-year term, 2023-26, as Commissioner, Commission on Aging for Montgomery County, advocating for older adults. Putting the pieces together!

Noel McCaman, Treasurer

After graduating from college, Noel worked for two years as a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) Volunteer in Oklahoma and Texas as part of the War On Poverty. He then spent almost twenty years at ACTION, the Federal Government's umbrella agency for volunteer programs working primarily in support of the Peace Corps and VISTA. After that he spent twelve years at the Smithsonian as a Senior Manager in their Human Resources department. His last position was working for the AmeriCorps volunteer program.

Pat Donovan, Secretary

After college, Pat held a series of jobs in the news industry, including at Newsweek, the Voice of America, and NBC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report. In 1972, Pat joined the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research and policy organization that is committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide through research, evidence-based advocacy and strategic communications. During her 40 years at the Institute, Pat served as an editor, director of publications and vice president of the publications and communications division. Pat moved to Friendship Heights in 2008. She has been a member of the FHNN board since 2019.

David Cohen

David is a retired career senior executive with the federal government. He served primarily with the Office of Economic Opportunity and its successor, the Community Services Administration, and with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, managing anti-poverty, community development and housing grant programs. In retirement, he has been an active volunteer leader and participant in homeless and neighborhood organizations. A Washington area resident since 1961, he has lived in Friendship Heights for more than 21 years and has served as the FHNN building representative for Willard Towers since FHNN's founding.

Jim Curtin

Jim is a retired attorney and long-time Friendship Heights resident. Him and his musician wife, Ginny, moved to Friendship Heights in 1982. They raised their two children on Garrison Street, just across the DC/Maryland line, and since 2019 have lived in the Willoughby. While living on Garrison Street, Jim served as an elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (1988-1994), deliberating and acting on a wide range of issues of concern to the neighborhood.

More recently, Jim has served as a member of the Willoughby's Board of Directors. Between 1989 and 2022, Jim practiced law in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of General Counsel, advising agency clients on a wide variety of legal issues under the Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes. Before that, Jim practiced antitrust law at a large D.C. law firm, served as a staffer for then U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes, and taught and coached high school English and basketball. Currently, Jim is the Willoughby's FHNN building representative and a volunteer FHNN driver. In his spare time Jim loves to dote on his grandkids, swim, cycle, listen to rock (and other) music, and root, root, root for our local sports teams.

Nancy Peavy

Nancy Peavy was a high school history teacher before beginning a 20-year career at the National Council on Aging (NCOA), a nonprofit organization that advocates for services and initiatives to improve the lives of older Americans. At NCOA, Nancy was responsible for evaluating potential job discrimination affecting older workers, pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. She also facilitated educational programs through conferences and seminars, including an annual 3,000-person NCOA meeting which she coordinated.

Her most recent job was at the Alliance for Health Reform, another nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping all people gain access to quality, low-cost health care. She was the Alliance’s Director of Operations and coordinated numerous briefings on Capitol Hill to help Congressional staff, the press, and policymakers learn about the components of both proposed and passed legislation on health reform. She worked at the Alliance for 22 years. Nancy and her husband Bob have lived in Friendship Heights since 2001. She has been an FHNN board member since 2018.

David L Rabin

Dr. Rabin is retired from Georgetown University School of Medicine where he was of Health Services

Research in the Dept. Of Community and Family Medicine and Departmental acting and interim chair. David is an MD, MPH with research interests in the use of health services domestically and internationally and the impact of out-of-pocket costs on medical service use and people’s health. He also has interests in long term care and Medicare having worked in Congress on those issues, lectured Congressional Staff about health insurance, led the American Public Health Association section on Gerontology, and served on the Boards of several area agencies providing in-home and residential services for the elderly. David is a collector of Native American Art an interest developed after working on the Navajo Reservation.

New Board Members

Starting January 1, 2026, we welcome the following new Board Members to our FHNN team.

Gigi Elizee

Gigi Elizee, MSN, RN, ALM, DN, is the owner and administrator of Jill's Harbor, two boutique-style residential assisted living homes opening soon in Chevy Chase and Bethesda. Named in honor of her late mother, Jill, a fellow registered nurse and caregiver, Jill's Harbor is built on a commitment to supporting the dignity, meaningful connections and quality of life of older adults.

A registered nurse with more than 20 years of experience, Gigi has worked across health care settings, including long-term care, acute care, public health and health care technology. She holds a bachelor of science in nursing from Stony Brook University, a master of science in nursing from the University of Phoenix and a post-master's certificate in health care informatics from the University of Maryland. She is also a certified dementia practitioner and a proud Navy veteran. Gigi brings a passion for community-based aging, a deep understanding of senior care systems and a strong belief in supporting older adults to live with purpose and connection.

Megan Pryor

Megan Pryor, a certified dementia practitioner (CDP), is an accomplished senior living and health care executive with more than 20 years of expertise in business development, hospitality, sales leadership and senior community engagement. She is currently the director of sales for Brighton Gardens, a Sunrise Senior Living property. While at Synergy HomeCare, she drove a 55% increase in client hours within six months, building strong community partnerships across hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and senior living communities.

Megan's passion for keeping seniors safe, wherever they call home, is clear to all who interact with her.

A former director of sales at Sunrise Senior Living in Rockville, Megan combines strategic growth skills with a deep commitment to serving older adults. She serves on the board of directors for GROWS (Grass Roots Organization for Well Being of Seniors), leading programs that connect and educate senior service professionals, and brings a proven ability to deliver results while enhancing the quality of life for seniors.

Bob Schlager

Robert Schlager is a recently retired family physician. He had his own practice in Calvert County, Maryland, from 1980 to 2007. After leaving private practice, he worked as Calvert Memorial Hospital's first chief medical officer while continuing to practice as a family physician.

From 2007 to 2024, he moved to Maine, where he worked in the same roles for smaller, rural hospitals within a larger hospital system. In July 2024, Schlager and his wife retired to Friendship Heights. "Right at home" in their new community, the couple believes in giving back to every place they have lived, and Friendship Heights will be no exception.

Estelle Quain

Estelle Quain joined FHNN in 2017 as a Social Member after retiring from the US Agency for International Development, where she worked on population planning, reproductive health services, and the HIV epidemic. Over a 33-year international career, she worked to improve access to health services in 15 countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Estelle is fluent in Spanish and previously taught Spanish and Latin American literature at the college level. After retirement, she found her dream volunteer assignment with the National Gallery of Art. She trained for two years to become a docent there. She regularly gives tours for special exhibits for FHNN and LFV.

FHNN Staff

Beth Beisel
Interim Executive Director

Louise Smoak
Programs Director