We love our dogs and our neighborhood, and we want to preserve our community's green space.

Cecilie Lindsay, Vice-Chair

Cecilie is a DC native and has been a resident of Columbia Heights for the past 16 years. Montego joined his family in 2014. The two enjoy going hiking, to the beach, and road trips but their go to spot in the neighborhood is 11th & Bark where Montego’s favorite activities are playing fetch and tug.

Hailey Duncan, Secretary

Hailey has lived in the Columbia Heights neighborhood since 2020. She and her dog, Luca, are both native Texans. Hailey works at a large environmental non-profit doing policy analysis while Luca often supervises her work from his favorite window perch by her desk.

Hailey and Luca love exploring DC together, hiking, and finding the best dog-friendly patios in the city. They discovered 11th & Bark soon after Luca was adopted in November of 2021 as a way to socialize Luca and can be found there most mornings.

Lori Robertson, Treasurer

Lori and her husband, Eric Gronning, are founding members of 11th & Bark. Owners of former 11th Street restaurant Maple and longtime residents in the neighborhood, they wanted to save and improve the park because it is a valued community space that brings neighbors together. Lori, a journalist, has stayed on the board, with the goal of bringing the vision of a renovated and official, city off-leash park to fruition.  

Lori and Eric adopted Silver from WARL (now the Humane Rescue Alliance). One of our dog park elders, Silver was a regular when the park first opened, but now stops by occasionally for events and periodic inspections.

Lori’s institutional knowledge of 11th & Bark’s founding and history is invaluable, as is Silver’s knack for costume competitions.

Roy Houseman

Roy has resided in the DC area since 2011, living in Mount Pleasant, Petworth and Columbia Heights the vast majority of that time. In the midst of the pandemic, Roy’s partner Liz did the paperwork to foster a dog and they quickly foster failed with Cherri the Berri. A staff person at the Humane Rescue Alliance called Cherri “One in a Million” and they were not wrong. 

While Roy does federal affairs for a labor union, Ms. Berri finds time to sleep in every room of their house and perfect her mesmerizing half-blue eye stare. Cherri could probably walk herself to the 11th and Bark but doesn’t understand the concept of cars.

Sheila Koohpai

Sheila and her dog Oliver (i.e., Ollie), have lived in the Columbia Heights neighborhood since 2020 and the DMV area since 2014. Sheila grew up as an international expat and on the West Coast. Oliver was rescued from upstate New York while Sheila was in graduate school. Sheila works in international development (USAID/UNEP) and NOAA/NASA sciences as a strategic communications advisor and senior technical writer. Oliver has been her best friend for 10 years.

Oliver is also a cancer survivor! After losing a leg in 2021, he enjoys a healthy, cancer-free life, thanks to successful chemotherapy. 11th & Bark was instrumental in his recovery and it remains his favorite dog park. Sheila and Oliver enjoy adventuring around DC, hiking and socializing with friends. Oliver especially loves the dog-friendly restaurants on 11th Street in Columbia Heights. They also maintain a bicoastal lifestyle, visiting Sheila's family on the West Coast quite often.

Rohan Luktuke

Rohan is a Columbia Heights local, tech guru by day and a dog park enthusiast on evenings and weekends! Rohan is an amateur guitar player and always on the hunt for a good speakeasy in the city. 

Rohan along with his wife Ujjwala moved to the neighborhood in 2020. His fluffy sidekick Reine is a 3-year old Chow Chow, a certified group therapy dog that volunteers her time at DCPS, Hospitals, Senior Care centers and sometimes the Senate. Reine loves 11th & Bark; especially dressing up for Halloween events. She’s his biggest inspiration for making our dog park the best it can be.