Our Team

John Hughes

John Hughes is co-founder and chairman of Friends of the Soldiers Home. He works as deputy team lead for the legal industry team at Bloomberg Law. A native of Maplewood, Minn., he received a B.S. in political science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and an M.S.J. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He is an adjunct instructor at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism and a past president of the National Press Club. He lives in Washington with his wife, Ellen.

Jordan Vesey

Jordan Vesey is a filmmaker, producer, and communications strategist whose mission is to use storytelling to better the world. She has worked for Discovery +, Oxygen, National Geographic, and the PBS Newshour. She currently manages social media and the website for FOSH, and is a proud US Navy spouse and member of the LGBT military community.

In 2018 she was a Collaborative Studio Fellow for the Union Docs Center for Documentary Art in Brooklyn where she directed a short documentary on a group of interfaith volunteer chaplains for the MTA. She is the recipient of the Fall 2018 RIAS Berlin Commission's German reporting fellowship, as well as the winner of the 2020 Environmental Media Awards for Best Documentary Series “Activate: Ending Plastic Pollution”.

She attended Macalester College, and loves giving back to veterans. She lives in San Diego, CA with her partner and pitbull.

Steve Leisge

Steve Leisge is the treasurer for the Friends of the Soldiers Home. He grew up in Denver, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and has an MBA from Auburn University. He was commissioned in the Air Force and spent the next twenty years flying F-4 fighter aircraft in various locations in the U.S., England and Thailand, from where he completed two combat tours over seven years. He finished his career with two tours in the Pentagon, serving on the Air Staff and in the Plans directorate in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Currently, he represents an Israeli company marketing and servicing X-ray inspection systems to/for U.S. police departments, military and federal agencies. Steve has two daughters and two grandchildren. He lives in Crystal City, Virginia.

Amber Holmes

Amber Holmes lives in NE DC and is a licensed DC social worker with MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital. Prior to a second career in social work, she served over 20 years in the US Army, retiring in 2021. Assigned first in Field Artillery and later as a Northeast Asia Foreign Area Officer, she was stationed all over the country and internationally, including twice in Japan. Somewhere in there was a long combat tour to Operation Iraqi Freedom. She has 20 years of experience managing teams, planning, resourcing, and leading military organizations across the spectrum including combat arms, human resources, intelligence analysis and international affairs organizations. Most Saturdays you can find her at the Armed Forces Retirement Home visiting with her hospice “battle buddies” and talking with residents. In her free time, she enjoys reading, tap dancing, hiking, roller skating, traveling, DIY projects, and quality time with her friends. Personal values include hard work, honesty, and reliability. In all aspects of her life, emphasis is on communication, laughter, and curiosity.

James Salandro

A Western Pennsylvania native, James works as a manager for a locally-based national court reporting agency. He received his BA from Georgetown University and MA from Claremont Graduate University. He is an active member of the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family. He has been a Petworth resident since 2017 and enjoys the sense of community and neighborhood characters. James helps manage the monthly Saloon Nights for FOSH and the end of the year holiday party at the Home.   

Chrissy Thompson

Chrissy Thompson joined the FOSH Board as the Volunteer Coordinator in early 2023. She coordinates all volunteer efforts between the Armed Forces Retirement Home and FOSH. Chrissy also works full time at an education non-profit, Girls Who Code, as the Sr. Manager of Instruction. Most days you can find her and her bernedoodle Mocha getting their steps in while walking around Petworth!

Phil Cornell

Phillip Cornell has been a Park View resident since early 2021, and lived in DC since 2016. He arrived after almost two decades of following his career in international energy to make homes in Europe and the Middle East, and currently works at the Economist Group. 

With a military and academic family background, an early career at NATO, and a love of military history, Phil has an abiding appreciation for veterans, their service, and their stories. 

At FOSH, Phil manages our community efforts to consult with the Home on issues of AFRH property development, its Master Plan, and neighborhood inclusion. 

Lou Avenilla

Louis Avenilla works as a manager with the U.S. Census Bureau. He started volunteering with Friends of the Soldiers Home in 2015. Originally from Los Angeles, Lou completed a B.A. in History from UCLA. An avid student of history, he grew up hearing stories from his parents about the occupation and eventual liberation of the Philippines during WWII. His mother even remembers seeing Gen. MacArthur in Leyte on his return to the islands. His father is a veteran of the Philippine Air Force. With a strong belief in giving back to the community, Louis has volunteered in community gardening, literacy campaigns and taught oversees as a Peace Corps volunteer. He states, “Meeting the men and women of the Soldiers Home has been such a privilege and heightens my appreciation.” A resident of Prince George’s County, Lou enjoys cycling, traveling, golf and tinkering with his car when the engine light comes on.

Sherman Lacey

Sherman Lacey is the Fundraising Coordinator for the Friends of the Soldiers Home. He is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and served as a seagoing officer aboard five Coast Guard Cutters, including command of the USCGC VIGILANT (WMEC 617), before retiring as a Captain. While on active duty, Sherman also served as the maritime advisor to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Coalition Forces in the Kingdom of Bahrain, as well as the Coast Guard’s Liaison to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, where he worked extensively with the Pacific Island Nations and treaty partners in Southeast Asia. He received a MBA from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and was a Fellow at the National Defense University and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies. He lives in Washington with his wife, Charlene (an active-duty Coast Guard Commander) and his sons Silas and Simon.

 

Non Voting Board Members

  • Billy White

    Billy White has been a resident of the Armed Forces Retirement Home since 2006 and leads the Home’s Resident Advisory Council at the Home. He was born in North Carolina and joined the U.S. Navy when he received a draft notice after high school. His duties included working on a ship that transported 2,000 troops to Vietnam, serving in a construction battalion that required him to enter enemy territory and working in data processing where he helped prepare the payroll for the entire seventh fleet. After the service, Billy took computer engineering training and got his first job working for ITT, where he stayed for ten years as a computer specialist. Billy later began working for himself in the field of investment marketing, mortgage refinancing and insurance with Primerica Financial Services. Among the many roles he fills at the Home, he is known for his work as a DJ for at events for the Home, including Friends of the Soldiers Home festivals.

  • Susan Bryhan

    Susan Bryhan is the current Administrator of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington and has worked at the Home since 2016. She grew up in York County, Pa., and earned a BS in Finance at the Pennsylvania State University; an MBA and Masters in Educational Administration degrees at Old Dominion University; and a Certificate in Senior Living Management from Cornell University. She served in the U.S. Navy for 30 years as a healthcare executive and retired as a Captain (O6). She commanded Naval Hospital Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island, Wash. and is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). She is honored to work at the Armed Forces Retirement Home as a way to continue serving veterans.