Contact & Staff

Stewart Schwartz

Executive Director
202.675.0016 ext. 121
stewart@smartergrowth.net
@CSGstewart

A founder and the longtime Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Stewart is responsible for the organization’s overall strategic direction, is our primary spokesperson, and leads our advocacy at the regional level and in Virginia.

Before the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Stewart worked for the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, the Land Trust Alliance, the Southern Environmental Law Center, and as a volunteer for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. He had little idea of what he was getting into with the Coalition, but 15 years later he’s still going strong!

Stewart is an attorney, but he’s also a retired Navy Captain with 24 years of active and reserve service. He holds a BA and JD from the University of Virginia (a “double-Hoo”) and an MA from Georgetown University. We’d think he’s amazing, even if he hadn’t been recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a Business Person of the Year (2002), a finalist for their Green Business Visionary Award (2009), and as a member of their D.C. Region Power 100 in 2012.

Cheryl Cort

Policy Director
202.675.0016 ext. 122
cheryl@smartergrowth.net
@cherylcort

Our Policy Director, Cheryl leads our efforts in D.C. and Maryland. Cheryl is the voice of our equitable development campaigns, working with community activists, non-profits, and government agencies to promote transit-oriented development, housing choice, economic development, pedestrian and bicyclist safety and access in less affluent communities in the region. She routinely demonstrates that it’s possible to use the bus system for hard to reach meetings in the suburbs. (But boy, is there room for service improvement!) Prior to working at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Cheryl led the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities (WRN), which she merged with CSG in 2007.

Prior to WRN, Cheryl worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from UMD College Park and a bachelor of science from UC Berkeley (go Bears).

Adding to the many plaques adoring our office’s walls, Cheryl received the Distinguished Leadership for a Citizen Planner award from the National Capital Area Chapter of APA in 2006. She is a connoisseur of good craft beers and an avid bird-watcher.

Alex Posorske

Managing Director
202.675.0016 ext. 126
alex@smartergrowth.net

In his role as Managing Director, Alex does a little bit of everything – from working with our Champions Council, to managing fundraising, to masterminding our boots-on-the-ground advocacy.  He also keeps the trains running on time and things running smoothly at the office.

Alex can handle all of these things and a few dozen more because he has an extensive background in campaign management, communications outreach, and organization building. He’s managed a whole mess of issue-oriented and political campaigns including grassroots operations, and spent time as a direct mail consultant. Did we mention he’s also covered local and regional government as a reporter? (Sheesh. Way to make the rest of us look like underachievers.) Alex holds a BA in Journalism from Webster University in St. Louis. We asked Alex for a fun fact about himself, and he replied, “I don’t like fun.”

Aimee Custis

Communications Manager
202.675.0016 ext. 123
aimee@smartergrowth.net
@AimeeCustis

If you’ve received an email or read a report from the Coalition for Smarter Growth, you’ve seen a bit of what Aimee does. Online, this means managing our digital advocacy, social media, and websites. Offline, she works on publications and reports. Aimee is also our in-house designer and photographer.

We do let her away from her computer screen from time to time – mainly to oversee our signature Walking Tours & Forums Series, volunteer program, and internship program.

If that’s not enough to keep her busy, Aimee is also an editor and contributor at Greater Greater Washington. Actually a policy wonk by training, Aimee has a Master of Public Policy from American University and a BA in Political Science from Tulane University. Aimee’s favorite color is #F10DAA. (nerd.)

Kelly Blynn

Next Generation of Transit Campaign Manager
202.675.0016 ext. 127
kelly@smartergrowth.net
@kellyblynn

As the maestra of our Next Generation of Transit campaign, Kelly’s often out around town (especially in Montgomery County!) sitting in on community meetings, organizing forums, and getting the word out about our need to invest in the region’s transit infrastructure.

We’re lucky to have a rockstar like Kelly: before joining our team, she helped start the climate change advocacy campaign 350.org where she worked for five years. She took advantage of working at an international organization and chose to live abroad, spending time in both Quito and Mexico City, where she relished zipping through the growing cities’ traffic on their Bus Rapid Transit systems. She’s now eager to empower communities in the DC region to shape a sustainable and equitable transportation future. If you know anything about 350.org, you won’t be surprised that Kelly holds a BA from Middlebury College.

Reba Watkins

Fundraising & Administrative Coordinator
202.675.0016 ext. 124
reba@smartergrowth.net

Reba maintains our fundraising database and assists with donor management and event planning. She also keeps us all sane, making sure we have office supplies and our mail.  Before keeping the rest of us sane, Reba worked her magic in several administrative positions on Capitol Hill for trade associations and nonprofits.

She attended Howard University and lives in Prince George’s county. Reba is the best-dressed of anyone in our office, and she has the shoes to prove it.

Chris Furlong

Housing Policy Fellow
chris@smartergrowth.net

Chris researches and analyzes the economics of housing policies in DC, putting to use his background in multifamily underwriting and market analysis. He has ninja-like analytic skills, but when he’s not obsessing over rental rates and home prices, he’s likely riding one of his three bikes somewhere in the District or Arlington.

Ted Van Houten

Education & Outreach Fellow
ted@smartergrowth.net

Have you attended one of our walking tours? Then you’ve met Ted! Ted is managing our 2013 Walking Tours & Forums Series, and is also hard at work supporting Cheryl, Kelly, and Aimee in on-the-ground advocacy in D.C. and Montgomery County. A newly-minted Maryland Master of Community Planning, he’s the only one in the office with a planning degree, and never lets us forget it.

James Schroll

Virginia Field Fellow
james@smartergrowth.net

James works closely with Stewart on our Virginia policy and advocacy campaigns – specifically, transportation funding and the Outer Beltway.  When he’s not out traipsing across Northern Virginia with Stewart, James is hard at work studying for his Master of Public Administration at George Mason University, or working with community members through the Arlington County Civic Federation, where he currently serves as President.

Andrew Brown

Digital Advocacy Intern
andrew@smartergrowth.net

Andrew is a junior majoring in Urban Studies at Brown University. Growing up in Silver Spring, he had a first-hand view of a community transformed by smart growth, and he wanted to learn more. After reading Jane Jacobs’ “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” it was only natural that someday he would end up interning with us.