Board of Directors
Board members are unpaid volunteers who serve on the Board due to their passion for the school and its mission. Board members serve three-year terms, for a maximum of six years.
Peggy Greene - President
Peggy Greene is a retired communications attorney who previously practiced law in private practice, with a trade association, and with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as a member of the Senior Executive Service. A long-time WSS student who holds a Master Certificate from the school, her extensive public service includes co-chairing the Federal Communications Bar Foundation’s scholarship program and volunteering in D.C. public schools. She holds degrees from Smith College and Georgetown University Law Center. Formerly Board Secretary, she brings deep executive legal experience, civic dedication, and institutional knowledge into the role of Board President.
Alex Knox - Vice President
Alex began painting in high school and joined the Washington Studio School in 1997, having previously studied at renowned institutions like the Corcoran School of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the International School of Painting in Umbria, Italy. For over 25 years, she has served the Washington, D.C., area through a thriving acupuncture practice, following earlier careers in journalism and fundraising, including helping raise over $11 million for the Philadelphia Zoo. She now lives in Silver Spring, where her garden serves as a cherished living palette.
Melissa Wyers - Treasurer
Melissa Wyers is a recognized leader in nonprofit technology, fundraising and administration working with clients ranging from Feeding America to the American Cancer Society to Planned Parenthood. As President of Breakthrough Strategies, she helps organizations meet and exceed their annual revenue budgets. Previously she was the Executive Director of EveryAction helping nonprofits meet their technology needs. She is a graduate of Emory University with a B.A. in Political Science and Art History. She has a Masters and ABD from the University of Maryland in International Comparative Politics. She is a current student at WSS and a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco.
Alvaro Peralta- Secretary
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Alvaro J. Peralta is a Nicaraguan-American artist and attorney specializing in international disputes. Alvaro represents governments and industry in international courts with the international law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP. He was previously an attorney-adviser at the U.S. State Department, where he advised on litigation matters involving international law and foreign relations, and represented the United States before international courts, including the International Court of Justice and investment treaty tribunals. He received a B.A. from the University of Florida, and a Juris Doctorate from AU Washington College of Law. As a painter, Alvaro maintains an active art practice focused on abstract figurative oil paintings depicting scenes from memory. He is completing a Master Certificate at WSS.
Fabiola R. Delgado
Fabiola R. Delgado is an independent curator and creative producer from Venezuela based in Washington DC. Formerly a Human Rights lawyer, her practice is shaped by a commitment to justice, engaging questions of power, memory, objecthood, and social responsibility; with a main focus on immigrant and diasporic narratives. She has worked with institutions such as the Hirshhorn Museum, National Museum of American History, Anacostia Community Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Smart Museum of Art, Washington Project for the Arts, and Times Square Arts. Her projects have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Hyperallergic, and BmoreArt Magazine, among other publications.
Ayla Francis Foster
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Ayla Francis Foster is an advocate and nonprofit leader with expertise in philanthropy, federal public service, and the private sector. She currently serves as Director, Policy and Government Relations at Humanity United, leading policy, advocacy, grantmaking, and stakeholder convening. A passionate supporter of the arts, she is dedicated to ensuring equitable access to arts education for young people and has long volunteered as a music and visual arts instructor. Ayla holds an M.A. from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, a B.A. from Baylor University, and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Proud of her Texas roots, she has called Washington, D.C., home for nearly 15 years.
Lisel Loy
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Lisel Loy is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Bipartisan Policy Center, where she leads organizational strategy for the national nonprofit advancing bipartisan policy solutions. Over more than two decades at BPC, she has served in
senior programmatic, development, and executive leadership roles, including founding the organization’s Health Policy Prevention Initiative. Previously, she served as Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary at the White House during the Clinton Administration and as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior. She holds a B.A. in History from Yale University, a J.D. from Stanford Law School, an LL.M. in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center.
She is a current student at the Washington Studio School.
Steve Messner
Steve Messner has over 35 years of experience in finance, general management, operations, and strategy. He works with the top management of small and medium-sized companies to help them define their goals; develop and implement plans to achieve them; and improve profitability and cash flow, typically as a fractional CFO. He also has extensive experience as a board member of educational institutions, especially in the arts. Steve received a BA and an MS in Applied Mathematics from Harvard, an MS in Engineering from MIT, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a current WSS student.
Monet Stanford
Monet M. Stanford is a pharmacist and health policy expert. She is Senior Vice President of Healthcare, a capital market advisory firm, where she translates FDA, CMS, and congressional developments into investment intelligence for institutional clients. She holds a PharmD from the University of Maryland and a BA in Health Policy and Public Administration from UMBC. She speaks at national conferences and has published in numerous outlets. Beyond her policy and finance work, Monet is a collector and connector in Washington's arts community. She runs a home gallery dedicated to local and underrepresented artists and hosts events that bring emerging artists into conversation with leaders across the city's civic and professional sectors. Monet came to the Washington Studio School through its First Friday events and found in it exactly what she believes the city needs: a place that teaches people to slow down, look carefully, and find balance through introspection.
WSS LEADERSHIP
Reem Bassous - Executive Artistic Director and Head of Faculty - ex officio non-voting member
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Jo Weiss, MFA, Chair
Founding Faculty Member
Washington Studio School
Eric Denker, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer
National Gallery of Art
Catherine Kehoe, MFA
Visiting Lecturer, Painting
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Mark Leithauser
Senior Curator and Chief of Design (Retired)
National Gallery of Art
Cory Oberndorfer, MFA
Adjunct Professorial Lecturer of Painting & Drawing
The George Washington University
Adjunct Faculty, Corcoran School of the Arts & Design, American University, George Mason University, Prince George’s Community College and Montgomery College