Our Team
Board of Directors
David Banks
President
David Banks
David has been vegan since 1995. He has served on several national and local boards including National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, Fairfax County Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Board, and foundation boards of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Born and raised in NYC, now living in Germantown, MD with Nia (13 year old cat originally from the DC Animal Shelter). Linkedln profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbanksperfil.
Elissa Free
Vice President
Newsletter Editor
Elissa Free
Elissa is a long-time member of VSDC and has served on the board since 2016. Her first exposure to VSDC was when her mother brought her to VSDC potlucks in a church basement in the 1970s!
A vegan since 2008, Elissa lives with her husband Bill, three cats (Freddy, Anna & Babycake) and little dog, Chucky. Her daughter Amanda, who inspired her to go vegan, lives in Colorado and runs marathons. Elissa’s professional background is here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elissa-free-9a75846/
Lindsey Van Wagner
Secretary
Lindsey Van Wagner
Lindsey feels strongly connected to animals and is passionate about taking a stand for their protection and defense, as well as promoting awareness on the various health benefits—mind, body, and soul—of eating a vegan diet. She has been involved in various vegan and plant-based organizations and events. As a volunteer captain for The Humane League, she coordinates animal activism meetups to bring vegans together and influence changemakers on policy implementation. She began eating vegetarian in 2015 when she began her master's program in nutrition education and health promotion; she transitioned to a vegan diet shortly thereafter.
Lindsey enjoys writing for local newspapers and magazines, creating and teaching holistic wellness programs, practicing yoga, and spending time outside with her rescued chickens.
Saurabh Dalal
Treasurer
Saurabh Dalal
Saurabh Dalal enjoys being involved in outreach, education, and greater advocacy of a vegan lifestyle as a compelling solution to many global problems. Saurabh is a lifelong vegetarian, ethical vegan since 1991, and volunteers as a board member/advisor to numerous vegan-oriented organizations. He has been active in the Jain community and has long been interested in ethical investments. Saurabh works as an engineering consultant, holds graduate degrees in engineering and physics, and explores ways of integrating sound science into related activism.
Wendy Finn
At Large
Wendy Finn
Whole Food Plant-Based Group Coordinator and
Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary Volunteer Coordinator
Wendy has always been an animal lover. She started as a vegetarian as a teenager and became vegan more recently. She was involved with dog rescue for many years, initially as a foster, and later led the largest breed-specific rescue in the country. Wendy also served as a nonprofit management consultant for Rosie’s Farm Sanctuary, working with the team to strengthen the organization. She launched the VSDC Whole Food Plant-Based Affinity Group and she also organizes the volunteer days at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary. In addition to her work with VSDC, Wendy is engaged in animal advocacy with a national organization. She lives in Bethesda with her husband, Brian, and her rescued dog, Ruthie.
Alena Schwandes
At Large
Alena Schwandes
At Large
Alena has always liked animals and actively participated in rescuing and finding homes for stray and traumatized cats. Now Alena has two rescues from Russia, one of them (Catsey) was adopted as a kitten over 16 years ago and the second one (Frash) was saved on a freezing New Year's Day in 2013.
Key Volunteers
Beth Preiss
Book Club Coordinator
Beth Preiss
Beth (she/her) has coordinated the VSDC Book Club for more than 25 years! Beth previously served on VSDC’s board for two years, helped edit the newsletter, and planned numerous VSDC events including author talks, picnics, and outings to museums, movies, and concerts.
Beth went vegetarian in high school, after learning her biology class would be dissecting animals, and transitioned to vegan in the mid-1990s after attending a vegetarian conference. She returned from that conference with ideas that various vegetarian organizations were using to attract new members. Beth created early versions of VSDC’s brochure and t-shirts from that experience.
Danielle Kichler
Email Coordinator
Danielle Kichler
Danielle Kichler (she/her) has been a member of VSDC since 2002. She has served on the board and as restaurant visit coordinator. Currently, she monitors and manages the VSDC email account.
She went vegetarian in January of 2002 and a few months later went vegan, at the dawn of vegan awareness and acceptance. She's also a huge Washington Capitals fan (yes, there are vegan sports fans!) and her dream is to go to a Caps game at all 32 NHL arenas. She's been to 16 so far.
She lives with her cat, Penelope, a 13-pound British shorthair mix with a tabby coat.
Sonya Eremenco
Membership Co-Coordinator
Sonya Eremenco
Sonya Eremenco(she/her) serves as the Membership Database Coordinator for VSDC.This roleprocesses new memberships and renewals and maintains the database containing information for eachmember and contact. This role also updates contact information and membership status as needed.
Sonya has been a VSDC member since 2009. She has been vegetarian since 1995 and went vegan in 2013. She enjoys participating in VSDC events as well as seeking out veg restaurants and businesses when traveling to other locales. She lives with a cat named Zokni.
Pujak Arora
Hiking & Biking Co-Coordinator
Pujak Arora
Pujak, eating veg since 1986, co-organizes hiking & biking activities. He loves nature and is an avid hiker too. Originally from India, he has been in the area since 2008.
Miles Harter
Running Group Coordinator
Miles Harter
Running Group Coordinator
Miles has been a social runner since freshman year at Duke University, which has two campuses. He immediately recognized the enormous benefits of creating communities of friends simply jogging together between the two campuses. He moved to DC in the 80s, and has run countless races, including five marathons (the photo shows him fake-smiling after the 2014 Boston Marathon). On August 10, 2002, during a thoughtful long run, Miles had the burst of insight that cows, chickens, and pigs are no different from dogs and cats, and he decided that day to no longer eat any sentient creatures. On Christmas Day 2008, he read “Skinny Bitch,” and based on its astonishing insights, he instantly made the leap to veganism.
Mindy Kursban
Movie Night Host
Mindy Kursban
Movie Night Host
Mindy has been an ethical vegan since 2000 (and vegetarian since 1992), after learning about what happens to animals used for food. She is the Chair of the Board for a national plant-based nutrition advocacy organization and works as in-house counsel for a local home care company. She and her husband David live in Fairfax, having moved back to the DC metropolitan area after spending a few wonderful years temporarily living in San Diego.
Sarah Cusack
LGBTQIA+ Group Coordinator
Sarah Cusack
They have two lovely cats, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, who have helped keep them sane during this pandemic.
He organizes this chapter so that queer vegans can unite and build community, as it is very common for people sitting in this intersection to feel left out in non-vegan queer spaces, and cishet vegan spaces.
Sarah was born in DC and lives in Falls Church, but has spent years living in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.
Sara Murray
Membership Co-Coordinator
Sara Murray
Sara is a plant-based Registered Dietitian, a supporter of animal rights organizations, and an active investor in vegan startups. In 2004 she became a vegetarian and has been vegan for the majority of the time since then. She is also on the board of the Farvue Foundation. She’s a DC native who lives with a rescue mutt and foster fail kitty.
Eliane DeMedeiros
Rosie's Farm Sanctuary Volunteer Coordinator
Eliane DeMedeiros
Rosie's Farm Sanctuary Volunteer Coordinator
My name is Eliane (she, her), but you can also call me Ellie. I became a vegetarian in 2016 and went vegan one year later after watching the documentary “What the Health”. I love nature, all animals, dancing and hiking. I’ll be the organizer for volunteer days at Rosie’s Farm Sanctuary. Originally from Brazil, I’ve been living in the area since 1997.
Jeanette Irwin
Hiking Group Co-Coordinator
Jeanette Irwin
Jeanette has been helping to coordinate VSDC hiking and biking events since
2019. She has been vegan since 2008 and served on the VSDC board from 2020
to 2024. She lives in Washington DC with her husband, dog and cat.
Kathryn Evans
Singles Group Coordinator
Kathryn Evans
Jen Riley
Caroline Cherry
Monthly Potluck Coordinator
Caroline Cherry
Caroline J. Cherry is happy to accept the role as VSDC's new monthly
potluck coordinator, as she is passionate about creating and maintaining
support and a sense of community for existing vegans as well as for those
interested in adopting this compassionate lifestyle.
A vegan since 1996, Cherry served on the VSDC board during the OOs as
tabling and outreach coordinator. In 2011, she founded VeryVegelicious, where she worked until 2018, offering personalized shopping tips and cooking
instruction in the privacy of the clients' homes. Currently, Cherry works
at a middle school teaching English as a Second Language. In her spare
time, she enjoys practicing chess, hiking in nature, and watching
thriller/suspense films.
Margaretha Backers-Netherton
Sunflower Restaurant
Monthly Visit Coordinator
Margaretha Backers-Netherton
Margaretha Backers-Netherton has been a vegan RN for over 30 years. She has degrees in biology, education, and nursing and has been a wellness RN for the past 20 years. She specializes in vegan lifestyle education and offers presentations at vegan fairs, libraries, community centers and other available venues. She is a regular volunteer at Vegan Summerfest. She has earned certifications in Plant Based Nutrition from Cornell University and as a Food for Life Chef through PCRM. She has a Master of Fitness certification from Cooper Institute and recently became a National Health Coach.
She has two grown daughters and a 3 year old grandson and lives with Nijntje, her cat.
She visits her mom's home in Amsterdam in the Netherlands frequently where she eagerly participates in the city's vibrant vegan offerings. She also loves travelling to other Scandinavian countries where a vegan lifestyle is appreciated.