FHNN Building Representatives

Robert Blaemire has been a participant in politics all of his adult life. Born and raised in Indiana, his career began at the age of 18 upon entering George Washington University. His employment with Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN) began in 1967 and concluded with Bayh's election defeat in 1980. Those 13 years saw Bob rise in the Senate Office, with campaign experience that began by traveling with the candidate throughout the 1974 re-election campaign and ended as Political Director of the 1980 campaign.

Bob completed his B.A. in Political Science and his M.A. in Legislative Affairs at George Washington University. After the 1980 defeat, he founded The Committee for American Principles, seeking to combat the growing role and influence of the New Right in political campaigns.

He began providing political computer services in 1982 before it was a business in politics, as it is now. He owned his own firm for 17 years and left the business only to write a biography of Senator Bayh, Birch Bayh: Making a Difference, which was published in 2019. His new book, Unforced Errors: 15 Bad Decisions That Changed American History, will be published soon.

Bob has two sons, two daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren.

David Cohen is a retired career Federal Senior Executive who managed grants to cities, states, and nonprofits for anti-poverty, community development, and housing programs.

Following his retirement in 1994, he became an active volunteer in DC area programs for the homeless. For 10 years he was the volunteer director of a small nonprofit housing men and women with chronic mental illnesses. He later served on its board and executive committee. He also chaired a standing committee of a large DC homeless program provider.

David grew up in New Jersey but has lived in the DC metro area all his adult life. He and his late wife moved to Willard Towers in 2003. There he has served on the tenants' association board for over 20 years, chairing it for five years. David has served as FHNN’s Willard Towers building representative since its inception. Since January, he is also serving on the FHNN board, where he is the coordinator of all the building representatives.

Born in Lima, Peru, Liliana Kostner has called the Washington area home since 1986. Before moving to the US, Liliana attended secretarial school and studied business administration. In Peru she worked at Dow Chemical, USAID, and the US Embassy. While in Vienna, where she lived during the first two years of her marriage, she worked at UNDCP and the IAEA. She met her husband Markus at a Halloween party in Arlington and has been married for 32 years.

Liliana retired in 2018 after a 33-year career at the World Bank. After retiring, Liliana and Markus spent four years in Sarasota, Florida, then moved to Friendship Heights in January 2024. She now lives at The Carleton, where she co-chairs the Social Committee. In her free time, Liliana enjoys reading, cooking, music, exercising, and spending time with friends. She loves languages and the opportunity they bring to understand other cultures. She speaks Spanish and English fluently, French (a little rusty), and German (still working on it!).

Stephanie Olshan has lived in The Elizabeth Condominium since 1999. She was born in DC, educated in its public schools, and earned both a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degrees in art therapy at The George Washington University. She worked as a corporate officer for several years before becoming a registered art therapist. Since then, Stephanie has introduced art therapy to institutions, providing short-term crisis intervention for adults, adult day care, and nursing homes. Before retiring, Stephanie supervised 120 volunteers in the outreach reading program and 60 volunteers who staffed daily operations at OASIS.

Stephanie has been volunteering since her children's early school years. In the last 20 years, she has focused her efforts on supporting agencies that serve seniors and an aging populations. She has volunteered at the Friendship Heights Village Center and at FHNN. In The Elizabeth, she has chaired the Library Committee for over 10 years. Among her many interests are gallery outings, creating art, dancing and other forms of movement, traveling with family and friends, and, of course, volunteering, a legacy that her parents through their example passed on to her.