Forest Hills Connection Founders
Forest Hills Connection launched in 2012. These are the friends and neighbors who gathered around dining room tables to brainstorm and build a site that connects our community and tells our stories. There would be no Connection without them. Some are also contributors to our weekday posts and monthly newsletters.
 Marlene Berlin, the Connection’s editor-in-chief, has been a resident of Forest Hills and community activist since 1989. Her advocacy has centered around pedestrian and traffic safety initiatives, including the sidewalk gaps survey for Iona Senior Services. |
| Tracy Johnke is the Connection’s web manager and an editor. Tracy moved to DC in 1996 to work for a national radio network, and has lived in the community since 2000. She, her husband and her son live in a Connecticut Avenue high-rise. |
| Marjorie Rachlin has lived in Forest Hills for more than 40 years. She has been an active member of this community and is a former ANC commissioner. Marjorie writes about the urban wildlife with which we share our neighborhood. |
 Margery Elfin, resident scholar, has lived in the neighborhood since 1984. Since she retired as professor of political science at Hood College in Frederick, MD, she has pursued her interest in the history of Washington, DC and co-authored the neighborhood history published in 2006. |
 Denise Warner, past president of the Forest Hills Neighborhood Alliance/Citizens Association, has resided in Forest Hills more than 10 years. A third generation real estate practitioner, Denise has lived in Washington, DC since 1981 and her professional affiliations include the U.S. Congress, the Federal Reserve Board Fine Arts Program and Very Special Arts. |
| Bill Breer is treasurer of the Forest Hills Neighborhood Alliance/Citizens Association (the Connection is a project of the alliance). Bill is a long-time Forest Hills resident and is interested in furthering the relationship between the Forest Hills community and the University of the District of Columbia. |
| Erica Leighty Blanton, marketing and advertising adviser, spent many years moving up and down Connecticut Avenue before settling in the neighborhood. She has been an active part of the DC advertising and media community as media director at a top agency and now as a consultant. |
| Elaine Melmed has been resident of Forest Hills for more than four decades. She is the executive director of the Fund for Education and Human Services, a nonprofit organization that works with DC public and charter schools to provide professional development services for all personnel. |
| Dzenita Mehic Saracevic, originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, came to the U.S. for graduate school in 1994 and stayed. She has been a resident of Forest Hills since 2008. Dzenita was enlisted by the Forest Hills Neighborhood Alliance to start up the Forest Hills listserv. Through this she became better connected and more familiar with the neighborhood and its resources. |