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GCAAR

Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors®

GCAAR committees

Committees are critical to the success of GCAAR’s members, and we deeply appreciate those who volunteer their time and professional expertise to the real estate community.   

The committee description and focus of work, as well as membership requirements and time commitment, can be found below.    

Applications for 2025 committees and other groups of interest are now closed. For those who have applied to serve in 2025, applicants will be notified of appointments in early December. Appointments are made only once a year, so be on the lookout for applications to open again in fall 2025!   

Note that GCAAR requires ALL applicants for committees to be GCAAR Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Champions (that is, to have completed At Home with Diversity (AHWD), Fairhaven and NAR’s Implicit-Bias training, and reported your completion of these items to GCAAR. Learn more).

Community Service

The Community Service Committee identifies and plans community service activities with GCAAR’s strategic charitable partners and other non-profits that fall within GCAAR’s charitable priorities. The committee also nominates the annual GCAAR Good Neighbor Award winner.

Additional details and upcoming GCAAR Community Service Committee events

Membership

Committee members should demonstrate a commitment to community service. Members attend monthly meetings and attend or lead at least one community service activity per year. This committee meets the second Wednesday of every month from 1-2 p.m.

2025 focus
  • Support the work of our strategic charitable partners and identify volunteer opportunities with both our partners and other non-profits.
  • Increase participation and awareness of community service events among the general GCAAR membership.
  • Raise awareness of the GCAAR Good Neighbor Award. 

Chair: Dan Cumberland Jr.​
Vice Chair: Colette Releford​
Board Liaison: Nelson Fuentes ​
Staff liaison: Katherine Gordon

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The mission of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee is to identify opportunities for conversation and education, establish expectations of diversity, and promote the practice of diversity, equity and inclusion within our membership base and industry.
Discrimination has no home here.

Membership
Members should demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Members attend one-hour monthly meetings and work between meetings individually or in subcommittees. Members should expect to attend at least two recruitment events during the year of their tenure as part of their commitment to recruit new DEI Champions.

2025 focus
  • Growing the number of DE&I Champions by increasing awareness of the program and actively recruiting new DEI Champions. Members will conduct direct, peer-to-peer outreach, promote the program on their social media channels, engage in direct conversations with brokers and office staff, and encourage attendance at GCAAR events.
  • Committee members will be expected to recruit at least ten new DE&I Champions in 2025 and encourage participation in all GCAAR events (especially at World Pride on June 7, 2025).
  • Promoting the practices of DE&I and GCAAR’s DE&I initiatives within member brokerages, networks and the larger GCAAR community. 

Chair: Tina Del Casale​
Vice Chair: Dustin Borzét ​
Board Liaison: Theresa Nielson ​
Staff liaisons: Katherine Gordon, Zac Trupp and Lida Rabie 

Forms

The mission of the Forms Committee is to review the association's current forms and make recommendations for revisions. Forms can be reviewed in response to legislative or regulatory requirements, and/or significant changes to either market conditions or industry best practices.

Membership
REALTOR® members must demonstrate extensive experience with GCAAR forms as evidenced by transaction counts over the past three years, or in the case of the broker/manager or team leader/trainer, the number of transactions processed in the office or by the team. Prior experience on another GCAAR committee is preferred, but not required. Members must attend monthly meetings, which occur on the second Wednesday of each month. “Homework” between meetings includes extensive reading, proofing and/or editing forms.

Chair: Malik Tuma ​
Vice Chair: Leigh Andreasen ​
Board Liaison: Marilyn Emery ​
Staff liaison: Zac Trupp

Grievance
The Grievance Committee is the Grand Jury for ethics complaints, arbitration requests and SentriLock violations. The committee reviews filed documents and determines whether to forward cases to the Professional Standards Committee for hearings.

Membership
Members are appointed for three-year terms and should have a deep understanding of and commitment to the Code of Ethics (COE). Members attend two-hour monthly meetings. “Homework” between meetings includes reading and analyzing cases filed and attending the professional standards training seminar in January.

2025 focus
  • Grow the number of trained ombuds people and increase the utilization of ombuds services to promote dispute resolution between parties.
  • Promote member awareness/education regarding their ethical obligations and understanding of the grievance process (i.e., ethics, arbitration, SentriLock).
  • Increase training opportunities for the committee to further their COE education.

 

Chair: Jessica Olevsky ​
Vice Chair: Virginia Gergoff​
Board Liaison: Bruce Cotting ​
Staff liaison: Tammie Grice

Professional Standards

Professional Standards Committee members sit on hearing panels for cases involving Code of Ethics complaints, arbitration requests and SentriLock violations.

Membership
Members must attend quarterly training meetings focusing on case studies and exercises from the NAR Code of Ethics and Arbitration Manual and serve on hearing panels, as necessary (up to three hearings per month). In order to serve on the Professional Standards Committee, a member must have served on the Grievance Committee for at least three (3) years. “Homework” for this committee includes analyzing assigned case files prior to each hearing as well as drafting hearing panel decisions.

2025 focus
  • Grow the number of trained chairpersons for ethics and arbitration hearings.
  • Promote REALTORS®’ professionalism in the practice of real estate.
  • Increase the number of training opportunities for committee members.

Chair: Jeffrey Ganz ​
Vice Chair: Jacque Grenning ​
Board Liaison: Kirsten Williams ​
Staff liaison: Tammie Grice

Public Policy (District of Columbia)

GCAAR’s Public Policy - District of Columbia Committee discusses the impact of proposed legislative and regulatory changes in the District of Columbia on real estate business and the housing market and decides whether to take a position on those proposals. The committee focuses its advocacy efforts on those issues of greatest and most direct impact to the REALTOR® community.

This committee welcomes all GCAAR members to serve, regardless of Maryland or District of Columbia state affiliation. The committee's description and focus of work, as well as membership requirements and time commitment, can be found below.

Membership

Members must attend monthly meetings, participate in county or state task forces and attend hearings.

2025 focus
In the District of Columbia, the committee will likely review reforms and improvements to the Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP), modernization of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), rent control and review possible legislation on rent control reform.

Chair: Colin Johnson ​
Vice Chair: Tony Mancuso ​
Board Liaison: Ileann Jimenez-Sepulveda ​
Staff liaisons: Irene Kang and Tyler Hagen

Public Policy (Montgomery County)

GCAAR’s Public Policy – Montgomery County Committee discusses the impact of proposed legislative and regulatory changes in Montgomery County, Maryland on real estate business and the housing market and decides whether to take a position on those proposals. The committee focuses its advocacy efforts on those issues of greatest and most direct impact to the REALTOR® community.

This committee welcomes all GCAAR members to serve, regardless of Maryland or District of Columbia state affiliation. The committee's description and focus of work, as well as membership requirements and time commitment, can be found below.

Membership

Members must attend monthly meetings, participate in county or state task forces and attend hearings.

2025 focus
In Montgomery County, the committee will likely review proposed zoning changes being considered by the Montgomery County Planning Board and County Council, intended to spur new ‘smart growth’ development.

Chair: Carolyn Burns ​
Vice Chair: Eric Smith ​
Board Liaison: Michele Young ​
Staff liaison: Zac Trupp and Irene Kang

Young Professionals Network (YPN)
The Young Professionals Network (YPN) helps new real estate professionals excel in their careers by giving them the tools and encouragement they need to become involved in four core areas:
  • REALTOR® associations. Attend REALTOR® conference and pursue leadership roles within their local, state and national associations.
  • Real estate industry. Take an active role in policy discussions and advocacy issues; be informed about the latest industry news and trends.
  • Peers. Network and learn from one another by attending events, participating in online communication and seeking out mentoring opportunities.
  • Community. Become exceptional members of their community by setting a high level of REALTOR® professionalism and volunteering for causes they feel passionate about.

Additional details & upcoming GCAAR YPN events

Membership
Members must attend quarterly in-person meetings, monthly call-in meetings and GCAAR YPN-related events.  

 

Chair: Sara Frank 
Vice Chair: Peter Parente ​
Board Liaison: Yves Jean Baptiste ​
Staff Liaison: Sofia Davis

Global Business Alliance
The Global Business Alliance is an informal networking group for GCAAR members interested in promoting international real estate and better serving our clients. The Global Alliance will support our members through education, programming and networking as they work to build global business opportunities within the District of Columbia and Montgomery County.

The Global Alliance will be acting as a REALTOR®-driven community organization. The group will help REALTORS® build partnerships with globally minded businesses, mortgage brokers, attorneys and other local entities, positioning GCAAR as the voice for global real estate in the local market.

Membership
For the inaugural year, GCAAR is looking for members who are interested in launching this effort and putting together a framework for future years.

2025 focus
In 2025, members will focus on building the membership and activities and will meet, as needed.

Chair: Jackie Bennett
Vice Chair: Ruby Garcia
Board liaison: Monique van Blaricom
Staff liaison: Kathleen Dartez

Property Management Advisory Group

The Property Management Advisory Group is for members who want to make a positive impact on the rental property community. This group comprises members who specialize in property management and who seek to share industry best practices and issues of concern by organizing quarterly speaker events with government and industry stakeholders, or planning industry networking events for those involved in the property management space. This group reports to the Public Policy Committees and is activated upon request of the two PPCs.

Membership

Members must be ready (or willing to learn) to actively contribute to conversations surrounding forms and public policy affecting housing providers. Meetings will only be scheduled when a Public Policy Committee requests input on an issue, piece of legislation or other pertinent activity. 

2025 focus

This upcoming year, the Property Management Advisory Group will be restructured to leverage the expertise of property management industry members in the greater framework of the GCAAR committees. The Advisory Group will only meet upon activation by either of the Public Policy Committees (either Montgomery County or the District of Columbia). Issues that may trigger a meeting may comprise rent control, evictions, and/or public housing and voucher issues.

Chair: Dick Stoner​
Vice Chair: Walker Butterfield ​
Board Liaison: Tim Phelps ​
Staff liaison: Irene Kang and Tyler Hagen