Board of Directors
Our dedicated and diverse team of experienced professionals is committed to working hard to achieve GCHIC's noble mission. Get to know us by reviewing our biographies below! As you do so, please remember that GCHIC has no paid staff, and that our board members have full-time jobs. Therefore, GCHIC very much needs YOU--your donations, your volunteer work, and your ambassadorship.
Find out how you can get involved with GCHIC!
Bradley E. Heard
Founder and President
Bradley E. Heard is the president and founding board member of Greater Capitol Heights Improvement Corporation (GCHIC). A longtime civil rights attorney and citizen activist, Brad has lived in Prince George’s County since 2007. Brad currently works as the Deputy Legal Director of the Voting Rights Practice Group at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Previously, he was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Brad frequently writes on smart growth, walkable urbanism, transit-oriented development, and political governance and accountability issues in his blog, Prince George’s Urbanist. He also has significant experience advocating land use and zoning legal issues before the Maryland–National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Prince George’s County Council, the Board of Zoning of Appeals, and various Maryland courts.
Brad has collaborated with numerous groups to put on public presentations and to engage county officials in positive dialogue around sustainable growth and community revitalization issues. He also frequently attends and offers public comments in connection with comprehensive planning efforts and individual development review proceedings.
Brad founded GCHIC in the belief that it embodies and manifests Margaret Mead’s wise counsel: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
A magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Brad received his Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut. He is also a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated.
Anika N. Gzifa
Vice President
Anika Gzifa is an experienced trainer, facilitator, and public interest lawyer. She is the Director of Legal Training and Development at Earthjustice, where she spearheads programs that support the legal team as they advocate for sound and just environmental policies. Previously, she was a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and a supervising attorney at the Children’s Law Center in Washington, DC.
Driven by a strong belief in community engagement, accountability, and the great potential of the Greater Capitol Heights area, Anika joined the board of GHIC in January 2021. She purchased her first home in Seat Pleasant, MD in 2008, and currently resides there with her husband and daughters.
Anika holds a B.A. in English from Howard University, an M.A. in English Education from NYU School of Education, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Roger F. Weber
Secretary
Roger Weber, AICP, LEED, CNU-A, is an urban planner, architect, and economist who works with cities and regions on transformational urban development strategies. Roger founded, and since 2015 has led and managed the Washington, DC-based City Design Practice for international architecture and urban planning consultancy Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He is an Associate Director of the firm and its leading author of comprehensive plans. In addition to his work for SOM, Roger manages Capital Frontiers, a public policy research platform. He is also an Eisenhower Fellow.
Roger has worked with dozens of new and existing cities across five continents on strategies for their continued sustainable growth. In 2018, he was the principal consultant responsible for developing the Master Plan for the City of Seat Pleasant, Maryland. Roger also enjoys working directly with developers and community coalitions domestically on ground-up community revitalization efforts.
Roger is an avid writer. He has served on the Advisory Council of the DC Historical Society, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and Habitat for Humanity's Loan Servicing Committee. There, he helped Habitat manage its zero-interest mortgages and re-evaluate the way it offers home ownership to low-income families.
Roger holds a Master's in Urban Planning from Harvard University. He also holds a Master's of Science in Finance from Georgetown University, and a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.
Dustin N. Kuzan
Treasurer
Dustin M. Kuzan is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE), certified Accessibility Inspector (AI/PE) and certified Road Safety Professional (RSP) with 15 years’ experience in transportation design, safety and planning, innovative placemaking and land use. Dustin has 15 years working in or with government agencies, community advocacy groups, and local political leaders. He uses this combination of experience to focus on creating safe and accessible environments for vulnerable road users and developing vibrant public spaces.
Dustin developed and implemented the Maryland State Highway Administration’s (SHA) first statewide pedestrian safety program. He also led a statewide coalition on pedestrian safety that was responsible for creating, coordinating, and implementing strategies across the state. He also has led and managed numerous highway design and ADA projects, including streetscapes and sidewalk retrofits. Dustin currently works as a senior transportation planner for Loudoun County, VA, working closely with developers on application approvals.
Dustin has a history of leadership roles in his HOA and in the City of Bowie. He has experience in Prince George’s County political campaigns, and has served on numerous boards for professional organizations in both transportation and local advocacy groups. He holds a bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Rowan University, NJ and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from University of Baltimore.
Traci R. Scudder
Board Member
Traci Scudder is the Principal at Scudder Legal, a boutique law practice that includes various aspects of real estate development, with a focus on land use, zoning, and municipal law. Traci has worked on large-scale mixed-use projects, retail shopping centers, multi-family developments, single-family residential communities, church projects, and private school campuses. She focuses on representing clients in zoning and land use matters before various administrative boards and commissions, elected and appointed bodies, including the Prince George’s County Council, the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, the Prince George’s County Historic Preservation Commission, and the Prince George’s County Board of Appeals.
Traci is experienced in assisting her clients develop transit-oriented mixed-use projects in Prince George’s County’s rapidly urbanizing inner-Beltway communities, which reflect a variety of existing suburban development patterns. Such developments require a keen awareness of and attention to environmental, urban design, affordable housing, and historic preservation issues. Traci looks forward to using her zoning and land use legal skills in the furtherance of GCHIC’s mission to transform the inner-Beltway communities around the Addison Road and Capitol Heights Metro stations into a vibrant walkable urban regional activity center in the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Traci holds a bachelor’s degree in communications, a Master’s degree in communications, and a J.D. all from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A lifelong Tennessee Vols fan, Traci resides in Bowie, Maryland. She is a member of the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association and the Urban Land Institute.
Kyle O. Reeder
Board Member
Kyle Reeder is a sixth-generation native Prince Georgian and self-proclaimed “community alchemist.” He finds purpose in his quest to revive the heart of Prince George’s County and transform the perceptions of those unaware of the potential of Greater Capitol Heights.
A product of the Prince George’s County Public Schools, Kyle received an associate’s degree from Prince George’s Community College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Towson University. He currently works as a global project manager for the U.S. General Services Administration, where he supports a multidisciplinary team to deliver the planning, acquisition, design, and construction of federal real estate projects around the National Capital Region.
Kyle takes pride in being an engaged citizen and a good neighbor. In 2018, he helped to organize The Capital Market, a locally-sourced community farmer’s market. He was also a member of a working group that prepared a Maryland Sustainable Communities renewal application and action plan for the Central Avenue–Metro Blue Line Corridor.
Kyle serves his faith community as a deacon at Gethsemane United Methodist Church. As a steward of the environment, Kyle has advocated for green principles and educated his neighbors on local reuse/recycling programs. He has also worked with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in public education campaigns designed to reduce tobacco use among at-risk youth.
Kyle looks forward to bringing all of these perspectives and talents to bear as a member of GCHIC’s board of directors.
