Barbara F. Kahlow, a longtime neighborhood resident and community leader, is a presenting sponsor for this year's FBWE Village Gala.
Barbara has taken a leadership role in support of the Village because she believes it provides important services. Barbara’s 95-year-old mother is aging in place in New York City, so Barbara has had first-hand experience with the need for aides/assistance for elderly aging in place.
Since early in high school, Barbara has believed in public service. After college, she decided she could best contribute to improving the public welfare by serving in the federal government and doing local volunteer work after-hours.
Barbara held leadership positions in the federal government from 1968 until she retired in 2005. She also plays key roles in local government and non-profit groups in DC, including the West End Citizens Association and several city task forces.
From 1998 to 2005, she was staff director of the Subcommittee on Energy Policy, Natural Resources and Regulatory Affairs of the US House Government Reform Committee. In that role, she authored the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act, Truth in Regulating Act, and Small Business Paperwork Relief Act. She also wrote two House reports and led investigations into a number of Clinton Administration policy initiatives, including federalism, two Department of Labor major rules (ergonomics and “Baby UI”), and global climate change.
Prior to that, she held executive positions in the federal Office of Management and Budget. During her time in the federal service, she won the Excellence in Programmatic Oversight Award from the U.S. House Republican leadership and several performance awards from the Office of Management and Budget.
Barbara has an impressive resume of leadership in local service as well. She serves on the DC CFO Residential Real Property Tax Advisory Council and is Secretary-Treasurer of the West End Citizens Association. She’s been an officer of the Foggy Bottom Association and Dress for Success DC. She’s served on DC redistricting and homeless task forces.
She says some of her most fulfilling work is assisting communities of color across Washington DC on land use issues. At the request of adversely effected communities in six of DC’s eight wards, Barbara has represented some communities before the DC Zoning Commission and DC City Council and has educated other communities about governmental processes involved in local land use decision-making.
She was graduated from Vassar College and holds a Certified Professional Statistician degree from the U.S. Public Health Service.