Connecting Regional Leaders
The Schar School's Regional Elected Leaders Initiative (RELI) was created in 2018 to enhance regionalism and support Northern Virginia’s regional elected leaders—General Assembly members, city and town mayors and council members, county supervisors and school board members - from Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties, the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park, and the towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg, Purcellville, and Vienna.
As Northern Virginia grows and faces new challenges, RELI recognizes the value of working across jurisdictional boundaries and levels of government to identify and implement effective and sustainable solutions. Through webinars, podcasts, legislative briefings and in-person meetings, RELI helps elected leaders, advocates, business leaders and others to engage, learn and connect, all in service of creating positive change for their communities and the Northern Virginia region. In 2023, the Public School Leaders Network was added to RELI’s suite of programs with a goal of supporting collaboration among 8 NoVA public school divisions.
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"The Regional Elected Leaders Initiative creates new opportunities for all Northern Virginia elected leaders to work together to meet our biggest challenges."
-Sharon Bulova, Former Chair, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
"As a newly elected local elected official, I learned so much and left with a number of good policy ideas - particularly in the area of affordable housing. I will return."
-Andrea Bailey Prince William Board of Supervisors
"I would recommend these seminars to my colleagues. Having time to talk with local elected officials helped me understand their perspective and fine-tune my legislative proposals."
-Dan Helmer, Delegate 40th House District
RELI Advisory Board and PSLN Steering Team
RELI Advisory Board
RELI is guided by a distinguished Board of former elected officials who contribute to the development of webinars and select RELI’s Regional Leadership Award winners.
2026 Board members
Hon. Dave Albo - Former Member, VA Houseof Delegates, Fairfax County
Hon. Kris Amundson - Former Member, VA House of Delegates, Fairfax County
Hon. Christian Dorsey - Former Chair, Arlington County Board
Hon. Signe Friedrichs - Former Council Member, Town of Herndon
Hon. Penny Gross - Former Member, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
Hon. Mark Keam - Former Member VA House of Delegates Fairfax County
Hon. Rob Krupicka - Former Member VA House of Delegates & Alexandria City Council
Hon. Chris Lewis - Former Member, Alexandria City School Board
Hon. Harris Mahedavi - Former Member, Loudoun County School Board
Hon. Randy Minchew - Former Member VA House of Delegates, Loudoun County
Tannia Talento - Former Member, Arlington School Board
Hon. Dave Tartar - Former Mayor, City of Falls Church
Hon. Ann Wheeler - Former Chair, Prince William County Board of Supervisors
PSLN Steering Team
PSLN’s Steering Team is made up of current and former School Board Chairs and Superintendents. This group guides the focus of the PSLN’s work.
2026 members
- Mary Kadera, former Chair, Arlington Public Schools
- Peter Noonan, former Superintendent, Falls Church City Public Schools
- Babur Lateef, Chair, Prince William County School Board
- LaTanya McDade, Superintendent, Prince William County Public Schools
- Aaron Spence, Superintendent, Loudoun County Public Schools
RELI partners
From its onset, RELI has partnered with other regional organizations, leveraging their expertise and supporting programming focused on practical and practicable solutions to challenges facing NoVA’s localities. Our partners include:
Business Sponsors
In 2026 RELI’s work is supported by the following sponsors:
