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We run the city’s largest Early Head Start program.
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We prepare youth for college and careers.
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We help people manage their money so they can build wealth and keep their homes.
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Our job training and placement opens doors to the first job security these strivers have ever had. And we’re never “done” with them. They become part of the UPO Family for life.
See the press release for more details:
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS!
WARD 1 & WARD 3
DR. CHRISTINE WARNKE
She is the new Global Business Development Senior Vice President of Capitol Hill Consulting Group. She identifies and works with nonprofits, higher education entities, corporate organizations, and smaller businesses on legislative, regulatory, and international matters before the US Congress, the White House, and various departments and independent agencies of the executive branch. In the international sphere, Dr. Warnke has spearheaded initiatives in the areas of economic/investment, finance, banking, defense/military, energy, medical research, and device development. She gained national recognition during the 2008 Presidential Election when she was appointed to serve as a Superdelegate of the Democratic National Committee. Currently, she is Vice Chair of the DNC Ethnic Coordinating Council, which aims to bring a diverse group of ethnic Americans into the Democratic Party. She served as Chair of the DC Commission for Women under four Mayors where she implemented programs to assist women become self-sufficient in underserved areas throughout our Nation’s Capital.
WARD 2 & WARD 6
RHONDA HAMILTON
She received her master’s degree in public administration from Southeastern University and bachelor’s in psychology from UDC. Raised in Southwest, she has spent the past 15 years working in her community to help residents as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in Ward 6. Rhonda is also the president of Syphax Gardens Resident Council; Syphax is a public housing property. She is very active in advocating for residents on environmental issues, housing conditions, and the gaps in resources that have negatively impacted her community, especially low-to-moderate-income residents. Rhonda works to ensure that her residents’ health concerns and vital needs are not overlooked as a massive amount of redevelopment takes place in SW. She is determined to bring her community’s environmental justice concerns to the forefront so that residents stop suffering in silence from the ill health effects of their exposure to contamination coming from Buzzard Point (a massive brownfield site that is under redevelopment).
WARD 4 & WARD 5
HADIYAH MUHAMMAD
She is a native Washingtonian, business owner, volunteer, and matriarch (5 children, 16 grandkids, 13 great- grandkids). Throughout her working life she has had many successful ventures including Hadiyah Café but her greatest role has been as a volunteer and servant to her community: Helping people who are unable to help themselves is her passion. She has a heart for people; her patience and kindness reach far and wide. She co-founded a homeless shelter for women who survived domestic violence; volunteered for the Red Cross, Walter Reed Hospital, and the DC Summer Youth Program; was a drug counselor at several drug treatment clinics; and is certified as a nurse’s aide, home health aide, and Taekwondo instructor. Also, she broke ground as the first Muslim in the Ms. Senior DC Pageant. Her personality and genuine aura will continue to bring opportunities for Hadiyah to share her light with those who need it most.
WARD 8B
SALIM ADOFO
He is a committed community servant with over 20 years’ experience in community organizing and leadership. As Commissioner of Single Member District 8C07 in Congress Heights, he advises the federal and local governments on economic development, education, budget concerns, infrastructure, public safety, and affordable housing for over 14,000 residents. Salim has created STEM, financial literacy, and health programs for children in one of the city’s most marginalized and vulnerable communities.
In 2019, he was appointed to the Mayor’s Commission on African American Affairs. His role is to advise the Mayor, the Council, and the public on the views and needs of African-American communities with economic, education, or health indicators in the District and to analyze the decline of African-American residents as indicated by the 2010 United States Census.
Salim was previously in the U.S. Army and is a multimedia journalist. He received the DMV Community Award from the National Society of Black Engineers.
