Candidate Statements for the FSGW Board 2026-27

President - Charlie Pilzer I’m honored to be asked and reluctant to lead the Folklore Society of Greater Washington as President of the Board of Directors again. I was the President from 2019 through 2024. I commend the current Board of Directors and Officers for the tasks and initiatives they have accomplished developing policies and procedures for the operations of FSGW. They have done so much to ensure the future of FSGW. If elected, I intend to serve as President for one year and as previous president for one additional year. Upon the commencement of my term as president, I will work with the Treasurer and Finance Committee on the 2026-2027 budget. I will convene the nomination committee to solicit candidates for 2027- 2028 and beyond. I will establish a committee to review the mission and develop revisions to the bylaws to ensure that FSGW is responsive to its members, the participants in events and the local folk community.

Vice President - Ayan Kishore is a social entrepreneur with a career dedicated to equity in education and employment, and peace promotion. He is currently the CEO of Benetech, a global non-profit focused on making education and reading accessible for learners of all ages with neurodivergence and disabilities. Ayan grew up in a family surrounded by folk music and dance, particularly influenced by his father who played classical Indian slide guitar. While he doesn't play an instrument, he is an avid live music enthusiast. Ayan has served on the FSGW Board for 2 years and last year co-chaired the return of the Washington Folk Festival and is co-chairing the 2026 festival again and negotiated a discounted arrangement with GEPPAC. If elected VP of the FSGW Board, his goal would be to potentially explore strategic planning, organizational transformation and transition, so that FSGW and its programming can engage more people and continue into the future. 

Treasurer – Joel Bluestein I am running for my second term as Treasurer. I have been involved with FSGW for over 40 years. I served on the Board for 8 years in the 1980s including as President, Treasurer, and Special Events Chair. I have served twice on the Washington Folk Festival Coordinating Committee. I served 7 years as Treasurer of the Country Dance and Song Society. I look forward to continuing with the Board and staff of FSGW to manage the Society's finances. 

Secretary - David Nicholson I have had the pleasure of attending FSGW contra dances for the past two years, and I have been impressed by the extraordinarily welcoming dance community as well as the thoughtful behind-the-scenes work of the organizers. It would be an honor to give back to this community by serving as FSGW Secretary. I have a passion for clear and precise communication, and I would welcome the opportunity to apply those skills in support of FSGW’s mission to foster folk art and dance in the Washington area.

Dance Chair - Stephan Rochefort has been contra dancing for over 15 years, having first discovered it while in high school. Since then, he has been part of contra communities all over the country but Washington, D.C. is now home for the foreseeable future. He is particularly passionate about the communal aspects of dancing and wants to ensure that dance spaces are open, welcoming, and safe for everyone. In addition to contra, Stephan also enjoys other dance forms, especially square dancing, bal folk, and Scandinavian partner dancing. 

Membership Chair - Sherry Lynn Smith I am running for membership chair. Membership in FSGW creates a community of people who believe the DMV area can benefit from the activities FSGW offers. As membership chair, my goal for the upcoming year is to promote the advantages of membership.  By increasing membership, FSGW can continue to offer a wide variety of programs and sponsorships.

Program Chair - Betsy Platt This will be my third consecutive term as concert chair. My goal for this year is to continue to restore our public venue concerts, while continuing to support the local ecology of house concerts and other collaborations, with an eye to regrowing our membership. If re-elected, I’ll be actively seeking your input for performers, venues, and partnerships, help in supporting our concerts, and your ideas about future leadership for the concert chair position. Please reach out to me with your thoughts!

Publications - Paul Lieberman I started international folk dancing at MIT when I studied there, and took up contra dancing in the '80s. Since coming to Glen Echo in 2013, I've become passionate about the dance and the community it fosters. I also have a long history with folk music; in the '90s I was one of four volunteer DJs on a weekly show on WTJU (U.Va.) playing Celtic music. I have experience with publishing; in the '80s, I was part of a publishing collective, publishing books on social change, for which I was an editor and computer guru. I spend some of my time editing Wikipedia.

Publicity - Ingrid Gorman has been involved with the Washington Folk Festival for decades, first helping to put up tents, then helping out with publicity, eventually joining the programming committee 10 years ago, and now also serving as co-coordinator of the festival. During this time, Ingrid was recruited to serve on the FSGW board and has done so as Publicity Chair (mainly doing the heavy lift of luring thousands to come out for the festival) and also Vice President. Ingrid also is in charge of programming the stages at the Wheaton Arts Parade and Festival, held in September.  Four years ago, Ingrid moved to Pittsburgh and now serves on the board of directors of Calliope, Pittsburgh's folk music society. Though remote, Ingrid is dedicated to assisting in continuing to bring the festival back to the community annually and guiding FSGW as a whole into the future and, therefore, running again as Publicity Chair.

At-Large - Liz Donaldson A DC area native, I have long been involved with FSGW. My early dancing years were taken up by Scottish Country dance, and evolved in the early 80s to playing dance music. About that time, I found English Country and Contra dancing and have participated in many FSGW events since then. FSGW is of vital importance to our area. In addition to contras and English Country dancing it provides story telling, singing, concerts, and annual events such as the Mini-Fest, Folk Festival, and Annual Picnic. FSGW also co-sponsors many activities which brings the wider community into the picture. I have served on many dance related committees, and am currently co-scheduling the musicians and callers for the FSGW English Dance, and have served in the past on the English Country Dance Committee. I am currently running again for a Member-at-large position on the FSGW Board, and hope you’ll say yes to including me.

At-Large - Daniel Greenstein By word of mouth from friends, I started contra dancing in the spring of 2022 as the new thing I wanted to try after the worst of the pandemic. Four years later, I am now reaching beyond the dances to experiencing and supporting the other parts of FSGW’s portfolio. My professional background is in editing, accessibility, document formatting, and project coordination. My goal for the next year is to find which functions I can take on and augment to support the other board members and staff, the society, and the folk scene in the DMV.

At-Large - Tim Livengood I look forward to returning to the FSGW Board. We have relaunched both the Washington Folk Festival at Glen Echo and the MidWinter (Mini) Festival, and I would like to continue with further developing the storytelling program for each venue, as well as continuing the Grapevine Storytelling Series.