Our Board
Officers
Members
Board Chair
Vice Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
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Caroline Lulli
Board Chair
Caroline Lulli began her professional career in Europe where she worked in marketing in Paris, England and Italy. Upon returning to the United States, she switched from marketing to finance and worked as an investment banking analyst for Morgan Stanley in New York City. This was followed by a move to Los Angles where she earned an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and then worked for the Walt Disney Company in its Corporate Finance Operations Planning division. After 5 years in Los Angles, the Lulli’s moved to the DC area to be near extended family. Joining Marriott International in Bethesda, she worked in corporate finance and brand management until the birth of her fourth child. At that point, she worked on a part-time basis for the next 20 years doing financial analysis in the brand management and project management offices.
On a volunteer basis, Caroline has enjoyed helping out in various capacities: President of the Oakcrest Parents Association, Vice-President of the Heights School Mothers-Club, Oakcrest Newsletter Editor, Oakcrest Ski Trip Coordinator, gymnastics coach, and CCD teacher for young adults with Down Syndrome. With a passion for helping children receive a character driven education, she is now focused on supporting the Youth Leadership Foundation.
Caroline lives in Rockville, Maryland with her husband, Ignacio (Heights ’83). They have four children: a Heights graduate (’14) and three Oakcrest graduates (’12, ’16, ’18). Caroline and Ignacio enjoy traveling and experiencing the great outdoors (particularly hiking, camping and skiing).
Gerard E. Mitchell
Board Vice Chair
Gerard E. Mitchell is ranked by SuperLawyers among the top 100 lawyers in Washington. Best Lawyers in America named him Medical Malpractice Lawyer of the Year in 2010 and 2015 in the Washington D.C. Area. The April 2002 Washingtonian Magazine described him as having the "reputation as the area's most effective medical-malpractice attorney." Mr. Mitchell is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is former President of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. and was Washington, DC TLA’s Lawyer of the Year in 1984. He also serves as the President of the Youth Leadership Foundation, an organization that offers character and academic training for inner-city youth.
Mr. Mitchell graduated from Georgetown University and the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was Notes and Decisions Editor of the Virginia Law Review. He and his wife, Germana, have nine children.
Community & Professional Activities
President and Officer, Board of Directors, Youth Leadership Foundation (2011 - present)
Board Member, The Heights School (1982 - 2011)
Board Member, The Catholic Information Center (2012 - present)
Board Member, The Catholic University of America (2018 - present)
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers (1988 - present)
Past President and Board Member, Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. (President, 1978-1979)
Member, D.C. Superior Court Civil Rules Advisory Committee (1978 - 2019)
Academic Appointments
Adjunct Professor, American University School of Law, 1974-1975
Nancy Walker Bassing
Board Treasurer
Nancy Walker Bassing is President of Fairmont Builders & Vice President of The Lenkin Company. Formerly Director of Tenant Construction, Walker Bassing is a 40+-year veteran of general contracting and construction for commercial and residential buildings. Prior to joining the Fairmont Builders/Lenkin Companies in 1981 she was with Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young) working in energy, transportation and financial consulting and managed the construction of multiple office expansions for the firm. Bassing attended The University of Southern California and graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Concentration in Architecture and Urban Planning).
Bassing is a past president of Commercial Real Estate Women in DC, a former director of the National Network of Commercial Real Estate Women, as well as a former board member and membership chair of District of Columbia Building Industry Association, an American Institute of Architects Affiliate and former trustee of The Langley School.
Sherri Morgan-Johnson, R.N.
Board Secretary
Sherri Morgan-Johnson, RN is a Nurse Consultant with the Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality, Division of Quality Improvement and Innovation Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in Baltimore, Md. Sherri has an extensive nursing leadership and clinical background with experience in Medical- Surgical, Neonatal Intensive Care, Legal Nurse Consultant and Case Management. Prior to joining CMS, she served as the Clinical Director for Case Management at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md., where she was responsible for the daily operations of the department and spearheaded multiple initiatives including the Readmissions Task Force, the Transitions in Care team, the Nursing Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, and the Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration that included such keynote speakers as the late Congressman Elijah Cummings and past Member of the Maryland Senate, Shirley Nathan Pulliam.
During her tenure at the University of Maryland Medical System, Sherri coordinated the UMMS Get Fit Maryland program for faith-based communities, registering over 500 participants in four local churches. The Get Fit Maryland Program was recognized by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Secretary’s Innovation in Wellness Award for Faith-based/Community.
Sherri obtained her BSN from the University of Maryland at Baltimore and her Master of Health Services Administration from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She previously served as a Faculty Associate at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing. Sherri lives in the Washington Metropolitan area with her husband Michael Johnson. They
have two adult children and four beautiful grandchildren.
Mike Barvick
Race for DC Kids Chair
Mike Barvick is the Chairman of the Race for DC Kids Committee. Barvick is a YLF former executive director serving in that role from 2003 - 2010. During his tenure, YLF tripled the number of students served and more than quadrupled fundraising to support its academic and character-building programs and attracted high-profile figures to the YLF board, among them commentator Armstrong Williams; the late newspaper columnist Robert Novak; U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance W. Gainer; and Federalist Society Executive Vice President Leonard A. Leo. During his last year as Executive Director, the Catalogue for Philanthropy named YLF as one of the top small nonprofits in the nation’s capital. Presently Mike is the President and CEO of Alexis Consulting and Director of Institutional Advancement at Oakcrest School for Girls.
Barvick received a bachelor’s degree in political philosophy at the University of Dallas. He enjoys competitive tennis, as well as playing the guitar. He and his wife, Abigail, currently reside in Great Falls, VA, with their seven children.
Jeremiah S. Buckley
Described by Chambers USA as “a recognized dean of the consumer finance bar,” Jerry Buckley is a founder of Buckley LLP, a leading national financial services law firm, and is recognized as a thought leader in the field of financial services regulation. Early in his career, Mr. Buckley served as Minority Staff Director of the United States Senate Banking Committee, and he played an important role in drafting many of the laws that impact the consumer financial services industry today. Since entering private practice, he has guided clients in developing compliance programs, dealing with regulatory and enforcement challenges, and helping shape public policy. Throughout his career, he has focused on promoting enhanced delivery of financial services. He was a leader in advocating the passage of the federal ESign Act, which authorized use of electronic records in financial services and other transactions. He served as counsel to the Drafting Committee for Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures (SPeRS) and also helped to found the Electronic Signatures and Records Association.
He has also taken a lead in promoting national data protection standards. His American Banker article, “Congress needs to hurry up on data protection” lays out the case for national standards as an alternative
to a patchwork of state privacy laws. He serves as advisor to the Financial Services Trade Associations Data Protection Working Group, an informal alliance of national financial trade associations responding to
fast changing legislative and regulatory developments related to privacy and data security. He is also an advisor to the Association for Data and Cyber Governance and the Alliance for Innovation in Regulation
(AIR). Mr. Buckley’s clients include banks, mortgage companies, credit card issuers, insurance companies, broker dealers, fintech companies, investment banks, and private equity investors. He provides strategic counsel and advice on business formations and acquisitions, licensing and chartering, risk management, and enforcement matters involving federal and state regulators.
He has defended companies that are targets of inquiries or enforcement actions by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve, Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Congressional Committees, and state attorneys general.
Mr. Buckley has promoted a modernized approach to financial regulation (regtech). He led the firm’s effort to publish a widely read white paper on “Financial regulators’ dilemma: Administrative and regulatory hurdles to innovation.” The paper is based on interviews with senior financial agency regulators, and lays out legal and administrative stumbling blocks identified by regulators themselves impeding regtech advances. Mr. Buckley has also advocated development of “dynamic disclosures” to offer more useful information to consumers than is provided under the often cumbersome and voluminous static disclosures currently provided.
An article he wrote in the American Banker in 2016, “The compliance officer bill of rights,” focused attention on the growing risks faced by compliance officers. This led to a symposium on “Rights and
responsibilities of today’s chief compliance officers — Their evolving role,” which was chaired by Mr. Buckley and sponsored by American University Washington College of Law. Chief compliance officers from
the nation’s leading companies participated in this seminal discussion about how to define and make safe the job of a chief compliance officer.
Mr. Buckley has acted as counsel for a number of national financial services trade associations on matters before regulatory agencies and Congress, and in filing amicus briefs related to the interpretation of banking and consumer finance laws in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and appellate courts.
He co-authored of The Law of Electronic Records and Signatures (West Publishing Company) as well as Introduction to Mortgage Banking (American Bankers Association). He is an Adjunct Associate Professor
of Law at American University’s Washington College of Law. In 2007, he founded a national financial services consulting company known as Treliant Risk Advisors. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America, and in 2015 he received the Senator William Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers.
Mr. Buckley received his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School, and his A.B. from Fairfield University.
Barclay Butler
Barclay P. Butler, Ph.D., MBA, serves as the J4, Component Acquisition Executive (CAE), and the Head of Contracting Actions (HCA), for the Defense Health Agency (DHA) as a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES). As the J4, Dr. Butler is responsible for oversight and approval of all acquisition matters for the DHA, including those undertaken by the Program Executive Officers, as well as the Agency’s directorates and offices.
Previously, he was the Director of Healthcare Technology Integration for the DHA, and served as the Acting Chief for Infrastructure and Operations (I&O), Health IT Directorate, DHA. As a health technology integrator, he was responsible for progress towards a fully interoperable healthcare record for the DoD through coordination efforts with Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), other federal agencies, private sector health delivery organizations, and Standards Development Organizations (SDOs). In support of Infrastructure and Operations, Dr. Butler was responsible for designing, deploying, securing, operating, and maintaining the IT environment supporting all healthcare operations in the DHA. In his prior roles, Dr. Butler served as the Director for the Interagency Program Office developing the interoperable medical record for the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA).
Dr. Butler also has ten years of private sector experience where his last position was as the Vice President of Operations for the Healthcare Solutions Sector of Harris Corporation guiding the planning and execution of the Veteran Affairs VistA Imaging effort, Health Registries for both the VA and DHA, the State of Florida’s Health Information Exchange, and growing the Harris healthcare sector through both organic and through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) efforts to over $600M in annual revenue. Dr. Butler transitioned to the private sector from the military after 20 years in the Army Medical Department (AMEDD) where he served as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the AMEDD leading medical information technologists supporting our military beneficiaries worldwide.
Dr. Butler has over 35 years of experience as a military and civilian Healthcare Information Technologist supporting the delivery of healthcare IT services improving quality of care, improving the experience of care, improving military readiness, reducing the cost of care, all while delivering improved value.
Denis Harper
Denis graduated from the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN) in 1979 where he majored in Psychology. In 1984 he completed his graduate work at the Catholic University of America and earned a master’s degree in psychology. Denis joined his father and brother at Summit Group, LLC, a brand marketing company, in 1980 and served in several sales and marketing leadership positions including the CEO through 2017 and he is currently a member of the Summit Group board of directors. He has also served on several other boards including The Heights School. Denis
joined the faculty of The Heights School in 2019 as a part-time teacher of seventh/sixth grade Latin, English and Religion. Denis and his wife, Maribeth, have been married for 39 years and they have three sons (all Heights grads), one daughter and ten grandchildren. His interests included giving talks and instruction to married and engaged couples at the Our Lady of Bethesda Retreat Center, reading and traveling.
M. Sharon Hefferan
M. Sharon Hefferan, is the Executive Director of Yuma Center in Washington, D.C. Yuma Center offers personal and professional development to girls and women inspiring them to serve their families, colleagues and society with professionalism and joy. Hefferan previously worked as the Executive Director of Metro Achievement Center, an educational program serving inner-city girls in Chicago. She now serves on its Board of Directors at the Midtown Educational Foundation. After attending public schools in her hometown, she majored in Economics and Spanish at Georgetown University. While in college she worked as an intern at the Organization of American States. She worked in Boston as the Corporate Cash Manager for National Medical Care and later as an Assistant Financial Accountant at The New York Times. Hefferan received her M.B.A. from Iona College in New York. In 2011, she obtained a Certificate in Non-Profit Management at Northwestern University-Kellogg School of Management. She is currently a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group in Washington, D.C.
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Sean Kearns
Sean is currently a Vice President and Financial Advisor with the McLean Tower Group at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Kearns joined Morgan Stanley in February of 2014. Sean graduated from the University of Notre Dame where he was awarded a B.A. degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance.
Before joining Morgan Stanley, Sean was financial advisor at Fulcrum Securities, LLC. His last position before joining Fulcrum was a Research Analyst at a New York based hedge fund manager. While in New York, Mr. Kearns worked as part of a team that analyzed arbitrage and other derivative investment opportunities, as well as individual company review and analysis.
Mr. Kearns holds the Certified Investment Management Analyst certification, administered by the Investments & Wealth Institute, and taught by The Yale School of Management.
Sean and his wife Monica have four daughters and currently reside in Great Falls, VA.
David Moore
A co-founder of MidCap Financial, David brings decades of executive
experience in healthcare finance and commercial banking to his role as a
leader and facilitator of excellence across the firm.
Prior to starting MidCap Financial, David created and ran the asset based
lending practice for Merrill Lynch Capital Healthcare Finance. At GE Capital
Healthcare Commercial Finance, he was responsible for managing
national core asset based lending activities. Before entering the
healthcare lending industry in 1999, he spent 11 years in commercial
banking with Crestar Bank, Citibank, and First Bank of New Orleans, where
he served as President and CEO. David holds an MBA from Loyola
University and a BS in Management from Tulane University. He currently
serves as a member of the Board of The Youth Leadership Foundation in
Washington, D.C., and as Chair of the Business School Council for the Dean
of Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business.
Dwight Murray
Dwight D. Murray is Of Counsel to the firm of Stein Mitchell Beato
& Missner LLP. He is a veteran of over 100 jury trials covering a
broad range of areas. He has tried cases in the District of Columbia,
Maryland, Delaware, Arkansas, and West Virginia. Mr. Murray is a
Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow with
the American Bar Foundation. He retired from Jordan Coyne &
Savits, LLP in 2012 where he was a partner for more than 30 years.
Mr. Murray's experience before the federal and local courts has led
to his selection as a member of the local and federal judicial
conferences, Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group for the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Pro Se
Litigation Committee of the United States District Court and
participated as a panelist on the subject of Jury Reform. He has
also served on the United States District Court’s Committee on
Grievances and as a Trustee on the D.C. Bar’s Client Security Fund.
Mr. Murray is the first African American to be elected president of
the Bar Association of the District of Columbia.
Mr. Murray has taught Trial Tactics at the Catholic University
Columbus School of Law and has lectured on trial tactics for the
D.C. Bar and the Georgetown University School of Law Continual
Legal Education Program. He also served as a Teaching Team
Member of the Harvard Law School's Winter Trial Advocacy
Workshop from 2000-2009. The Trial Advocacy Workshop teaches
techniques of fact presentation at trial.
Although Mr. Murray's experience and leadership were honed in
the courtrooms and boardrooms, these attributes were developed
while a combat Infantry Officer in the United States Marine Corps.
Patrick Senftle
Patrick G. Senftle is a native to the Washington D.C. area who has had extensive civil litigation experience over the past 30 years. His area of expertise include serious automobile and trucking negligence, premise liability, fire cause/origin, wrongful death, and medical negligence.
He has particular interest in litigating the rights of traumatic brain injury clients. Mr. Senftle is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, as well as St. Louis University Law School, where he was a published member of the law journal. He is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Wisconsin. He is also admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, United District Court for the
District of Columbia, United States District Court for the Southern District of Maryland, and United States Court of Federal Claim.
Mr. Senftle has significant experience in fire cause/origin and severe scalding cases. One of Mr. Senftle's Maryland appellate decisions clarified the extent of notice required to trigger a landlords duty to respond to potential fire hazards. Mr. Senftle has obtained substantial awards for fire victims that have involved detailed investigations and the sifting of evidence in often-destroyed fire settings.
Mr. Senftle has also regularly advised transportation management clients. He has guided transportation fleet owners through insurance regulatory matters and assisted in the development of risk management protocols. He has also actively litigated matters involving the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
Mr. Senftle also specializes in the unique details of insurance law and has been involved in complex insurance coverage disputes. He is also engaged in an active Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice and has mediated and arbitrated many civil cases.
Mr. Senftle has tried numerous cases to trial. He believes in developing the details of each client's claim and engaging in innovative trial techniques. He has obtained recoveries and verdicts ranging from $1 million to $3 million, advocating for full compensation for his clients. The National Trial Lawyers has ranked Mr. Senftle within the Top 100 Litigators under a peer review process. He has been regularly selected by SuperLawyers Washington D.C. and has received a Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating of 5.0 out of 5.
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith is the middle child of Professor Edward C. Smith and Mary Magdalene Jefferson Smith.
Chris begins his 23rd year working as a public school educator and follows in the footsteps of his parents (American University professor and D.C. Public Schools teacher), as well as his sister, Dawn, who is elementary teacher in D.C. Chris currently serves as the English Language Arts (ELA) department chair at McClure Health Science High School in Gwinnett County Public Schools (metro-Atlanta). During his career, Chris has coached a state-championship boys' tennis team and a state-runner-up girls' tennis team. Twice he has been selected as a STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) teacher, and once he was selected as Teacher of the Year (Chamblee High School).
Chris’s dad, Professor Edward C. Smith, was not a privileged kid, but because of a village of people who supported him, from teachers at his school to the D.C. Police Boys and Girls Club in the DMV, a young Eddie Smith realized he had potential that could take him far beyond his Dupont Circle neighborhood.
Professor Smith reached professional successes, including his role as a speech writer for Midge Constanza in the Carter White House and his accolade as the first African American tenured professor at American University. Along the way, he never forget where he came from. On March 11, 2023, Chris's dad passed away of natural causes. As his memory lives on, Chris will honor and support his efforts and values with YLF. In addition, Chris asks you to please support YLF, a foundation that was a piece of his father and his father's vision.
Chris, a fourth-generation Washingtonian, and Lisa York (originally an Ohioan and also a public educator) are engaged and will marry in the spring of 2024. In his free time, Chris enjoys playing tennis and golf, doing yard work, watching football, reading, traveling, and volunteering.