Danika Dellor Is Building DC's Most Powerful Women's Network
Danika Dellor of Women's Achievement Network and Development Alliance is reshaping how women access power, capital, and community in Washington DC.
In brief
Danika Dellor, founder of the Women's Achievement Network and Development Alliance (WANDA), has emerged as one of Washington DC's most consequential voices in women's leadership — building a community-driven organization that gives women the tools, connections, and capital access to compete at every level of the nation's most competitive city. Her recognition as a 2023 Woman of Influence by the Business Journals wasn't a surprise to anyone who's watched WANDA grow from a vision into a living, breathing power network rooted in the DC metro area.
🔑 Key Takeaways
Danika Dellor founded WANDA to close the structural gaps women face in professional advancement, mentorship, and capital access in the DC region.
WANDA operates as both a network and an advocacy organization, bridging community-level support with institutional power.
Dellor's recognition as a 2023 Business Journals Woman of Influence underscores WANDA's growing footprint in the DC leadership landscape.
The organization is particularly focused on women of color navigating federal, nonprofit, and private-sector careers in the capital.
WANDA's model — part mentorship, part professional development, part community — is increasingly cited as a replicable template for other cities.
Who Is Danika Dellor and What Is WANDA?
In a city defined by acronyms and institutions, WANDA stands out — not because of its proximity to Capitol Hill or K Street, but because of what it actually does for women who are too often left outside the rooms where decisions get made. The Women's Achievement Network and Development Alliance was built on a premise both simple and radical: that women's professional success depends not just on individual talent, but on systemic access to the right people, the right rooms, and the right resources.
Dellor recognized early that Washington DC — for all its talk of equity and inclusion — still operates on informal networks that disproportionately exclude women, and particularly women of color. Federal agencies, think tanks, law firms, and contractors along the Dulles Corridor and throughout the District all depend on relationship capital that has historically flowed through men's channels. WANDA was designed to interrupt that dynamic by creating a parallel infrastructure of power, mentorship, and opportunity.
The organization's programming spans professional development workshops, leadership cohorts, and curated networking events — the kind that actually produce career outcomes, not just business cards. For women at Howard University, in the nonprofit corridors of Columbia Heights, or climbing the ranks at agencies like the Small Business Administration, WANDA provides scaffolding that the formal sector rarely offers. Track WANDA's influence alongside DC's other power movers in the WDCM DC Power Players Index.
The DC Women's Leadership Gap WANDA Is Closing
The numbers behind WANDA's mission tell an uncomfortable story about the capital. Despite Washington DC having one of the highest concentrations of educated women in the United States, women — particularly Black women — remain underrepresented at the executive level across DC's most powerful sectors. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, which is headquartered in the District, persistent wage gaps and leadership barriers affect women even in the federal government, where pay equity policies are more robust than in the private sector.
Dellor built WANDA to operate precisely in that gap. The organization doesn't wait for institutions to change — it prepares women to navigate, challenge, and transform those institutions from within. That approach resonates especially in a post-2025 policy environment where federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have faced sustained rollbacks, making independent organizations like WANDA more critical than ever.
DC's women-led nonprofit sector has expanded significantly, but access to capital remains a chokepoint. Catalyst research consistently shows that women-led organizations receive a fraction of the philanthropic and venture capital available to male-led counterparts. WANDA's programming directly addresses this by connecting members to funders, sponsors, and financial literacy resources — not as charity, but as strategic empowerment. Explore DC's broader women-in-business ecosystem through the WDCM Political Influence Rankings.
Why the Business Journals' Women of Influence Recognition Matters
Being named a 2023 Woman of Influence by the Business Journals isn't a ceremonial honor — it's a market signal. The Washington Business Journal's annual Women of Influence list functions as a credibility benchmark in the DC region's professional ecosystem, the kind of recognition that opens doors at the Chamber of Commerce, accelerates grant applications, and puts a leader on the radar of institutional partners who need to know who's building what in this city.
For Dellor, the recognition reflects WANDA's trajectory: from grassroots organizing to a recognized institution with standing in DC's broader civic infrastructure. It also positions her alongside leaders from Georgetown, George Washington University, and the region's top law and consulting firms — a signal that women-centered community organizations are now being taken seriously as economic and civic forces, not just social services.
The Women & Power desk at WDCM has tracked this shift closely. Organizations like WANDA are increasingly occupying space once reserved for think tanks and trade associations — influencing policy conversations, shaping workforce pipelines, and building coalitions that matter on the Hill. See how female leaders are reshaping the capital in our DC Power Index.
Why This Matters in Washington
Washington DC is not just a political city — it is a city where networks are currency. Lobbyists, federal executives, nonprofit directors, and startup founders all operate through webs of relationship and access that compound over decades. For women entering DC's professional landscape, the absence of those networks isn't a personal failing — it's a structural disadvantage that organizations like WANDA exist to correct.
Dellor's work lands at a particularly charged moment. With federal DEI programs under political attack and private-sector equity initiatives retreating under legal and reputational pressure, the independent nonprofit sector — organizations accountable to mission rather than quarterly earnings — has become the last reliable sponsor of women's advancement infrastructure. WANDA's model, grounded in the DC metro area but designed to scale, offers a blueprint that policymakers, philanthropists, and civic leaders across the country should study. For deeper context on DC's leadership landscape, explore WDCM's DC Politics Guide 2026.
What Danika Dellor and WANDA Are Building Next
WANDA's next chapter is focused on deepening its reach into DC's federal workforce pipeline — one of the largest concentrations of professional women in any single employment sector in the country. With more than 300,000 federal civilian employees based in the DC metro area, the opportunity to shape career trajectories, mentorship cultures, and leadership development within agencies is enormous.
Dellor has also positioned WANDA to engage more explicitly with economic policy — showing up in conversations about procurement equity, federal contracting for women-owned businesses, and the reauthorization of programs under the Women's Business Ownership Act. That policy engagement marks a maturation of the organization: from network to advocacy force.
The WDCM Women & Power desk will continue tracking Dellor's work as WANDA scales. For readers invested in DC's civic future, she is exactly the kind of leader worth watching — not because she's seeking proximity to power, but because she's redistributing it.
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FAQ: Danika Dellor and WANDA in Washington DC
Q: Who is Danika Dellor? A: Danika Dellor is the founder of the Women's Achievement Network and Development Alliance (WANDA), a Washington DC-based organization focused on advancing women's professional development, leadership, and economic equity. She was recognized as a 2023 Woman of Influence by the Business Journals.
Q: What does WANDA stand for and what does it do? A: WANDA stands for Women's Achievement Network and Development Alliance. The DC-based nonprofit provides professional development programming, leadership cohorts, mentorship, and curated networking opportunities designed to help women — particularly women of color — advance in the capital's competitive professional landscape.
Q: Why is WANDA important in Washington DC specifically? A: Washington DC's professional ecosystem runs on informal networks that have historically excluded women. WANDA builds parallel infrastructure — connecting women to mentors, funders, and institutional partners — in a city where access to the right rooms can determine the trajectory of an entire career.
Q: What was the Business Journals Women of Influence award? A: The Business Journals' annual Women of Influence recognition honors women making significant professional and civic impacts in their regional markets. For DC, it's a high-visibility credential that signals credibility across the city's nonprofit, government, and private sectors.
Q: How does WANDA address the DC gender leadership gap? A: WANDA directly targets structural barriers — lack of mentorship, limited capital access, and exclusion from informal power networks — through programming that combines skills development with genuine relationship building and policy advocacy.
Q: Where can I learn more about women in DC's power structure? A: WDCM's DC Power Players Index and Political Influence Rankings track the women and organizations reshaping the capital's leadership landscape.
The bottom line: Danika Dellor built WANDA because Washington DC's promise of meritocracy has always had asterisks — and those asterisks land disproportionately on women. By creating a professional infrastructure that mirrors the old-boys networks while rejecting their exclusivity, she has made WANDA one of the most consequential organizations in DC's civic ecosystem. Watch this space: as federal equity programs shrink, independent networks like WANDA grow in both urgency and influence.
What to Watch Next: WANDA's expanding engagement with federal procurement policy and women-owned business contracting reform — a fight that could reshape how billions of dollars flow through DC's economy. WDCM's Women & Power desk will track every development. Follow our Power Moves tag for ongoing coverage.
Reporting drawn from: The Business Journals. Washington DC Magazine provides original analysis, DC-specific context, and editorial perspective beyond the source material.This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by WDCM editorial staff. Washington DC Magazine is committed to accuracy, transparency, and editorial integrity. If you believe any information in this article requires correction, please contact editor@washingtondcmagazine.com.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
