Officers

RJ Narang is the President and CEO of Renegade Technology Systems, Inc., headquartered in McLean, VA. The company provides information technology services, such as cybersecurity and enterprise architecture, to agencies within the federal government.

RJ also serves as a board member for the Health Systems Agency of Northern Virginia, as well as the Virginia Community College System State Board. In addition, he is a member and supporter of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee and the local Dranesville District Democratic Committee. In the past he has volunteered for Jim Moran and the Democratic National Committee. On the philanthropic side, he volunteers his time and financial support for RIF, or Reading Is Fundamental, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to Children’s literacy.

RJ is a graduate of American University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts/Criminal Justice in 2002 and Master of Public Administration in 2018.

Milan is currently wrapping up his third year serving as a Director of DemBiz, and hopes to continue building on the organization’s terrific endeavors should he be elected to another term.

Milan runs Tiger Hill Partners (THP), an Alexandria-based consulting firm focused on government relations and public affairs, where he helps clients navigate complex legislative, regulatory, and political issues.

Prior to founding THP, Milan served in Congress in for eight years, most recently as Senior Economic Advisor to Senator Mark Warner, advising on financial reform, tax, and trade issues, and helping to develop the Senator’s initiatives for workforce development and addressing the “future of work.”  During his time in the Senate, Milan served as one of the Senator’s principal liaisons to the Commonwealth’s business community, frequently traveling throughout Virginia to meet with small businesses, trade associations, unions, and government officials.  It was during this time that Milan first became familiar with DemBiz and its mission, and was greatly honored to be elected to the Board upon his departure from the Senate at the end of 2017.

During his tenure on the Board, Milan has taken particular interest in programming and helping to find speakers who can grow our membership and create more interest in DemBiz’s mission.  This year, he hosted Sen. Warner and Rep. Wexton for virtual events, and engaged with several Democratic presidential candidates to try to secure appearances.  With the gubernatorial and House of Delegates elections approaching next year, Milan hopes to augment our terrific events with more frequent engagement with Democratic candidates for state office.  Furthermore, coming off of a presidential election with heightened youth interest, he would like to focus on expanding DemBiz’s membership with a younger demographic.

Beyond DemBiz, Milan is also active in the community as a volunteer, including providing pro bono legal services to the indigent; has served as Vice President of the South Asian Bar Association; and serves as a Truman National Security Fellow and a Member of the Atlantic Council.  Milan also enjoys teaching and has guest lectured at New York University, Boston University School of Law, American University, and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Beverly Merchant is a McEnearney Commercial associate broker and has spent more than 30 years in commercial real estate as a consultant and principal specializing in investment and financing across all real estate asset classes. She represents tenants seeking retail, office and industrial space—owner-occupants and investors as well as sellers and landlords.

Since 2004, Beverly has also provided advisory services to real estate companies through Davies Real Estate Investment Services, LLC.  Consulting clients include Atlantic Realty Companies, CIM Group and WREP, LLC. Prior to Davies REIS she was a commercial mortgage lender with MetLife Real Estate Investment’s Washington office. She also established and ran the acquisitions group for Guardian Realty and worked in the financial services group of Cushman & Wakefield in Florida.  She was instrumental in closing more than $750 million in transactions for properties ranging from mixed use development in Washington, DC to a 500-unit apartment complex in Columbia, MD.

Beverly has an MBA from the University of Miami and is a graduate of the University of Maryland. She is the past president of two Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) chapters as well as a founding member of CREW Network. Currently, she serves as Secretary for the Board of Rebuilding Together- Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church had has served multiple terms as the Treasurer of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia.

Alisa Valudes Whyte is the CEO and Senior Partner of Merritt Group. She joined Merritt Group in 1997 and helped to shape and grow the agency since its founding. She builds marketing, creative, PR and demand generation campaigns on a national scale for clients in technology, healthcare and government – from venture-funded startups to established market leaders. Her clients have included Microsoft, Samsung, Booz Allen Hamilton, Monster, LexisNexis, Deloitte, Check Point Software Technologies, Corvis, Workfront, Avizia, Yodlee, Heritage Provider Network, GoHealth Urgent Care, Abiomed, MedGenome, HealthTap, U.S. Pharmacopeia, and others.

Alisa is a champion of Merritt Group’s culture, recognized as a “Great Place to Work” by both Washingtonian Magazine and Washington Business Journal. In 2019, she was honored with a Silver Award for Female Executive of the Year in the annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. In 2015, she was named a finalist for DC Inno’s “50 on Fire” and, in 2016, a finalist in Women In Technology’s (WIT) Annual Leadership Awards. Prior to joining Merritt Group, Alisa worked at Ruder Finn in Washington, D.C., where she conducted media relations and public affairs for a wide range of clients including Citibank Mid-Atlantic and the law firm of Shaw Pittman. She also worked at the international architectural firm of Leo A. Daly as part of the marketing team.

Alisa serves on the Board of Directors of Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), Neighborhood Health, and Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia. She graduated with a BA from Dickinson College and spent a semester studying Economic Policy at American University.

Chris King is the President of King Commercial LLC, a real estate valuation company focused on commercial properties in Southwest Virginia and Northern Virginia. His property-level expertise includes multifamily, office, industrial, retail, mixed-use, self-storage and raw land assets. From 2015 to 2018, Chris worked in the Capital Markets mortgage banking group at Walker & Dunlop in Bethesda, MD, and previously spent seven years at Integra Realty Resources, where he appraised nearly 350 commercial properties throughout the Washington, DC, metro area.

Prior to moving to Northern Virginia in 2005, Chris spent eight years as a reporter/anchor at KEYT-TV, the ABC affiliate in Santa Barbara, CA. He won multiple Emmys and has extensive broadcast experience in news, weather, sports, entertainment and hosting.

Chris is a graduate of The University of California at Berkeley and holds the MAI Designation from the Appraisal Institute. He is a Certified General Real Estate Appraiser in VA, MD and DC, and currently sits on the Virginia Real Estate Appraiser Board. He served as President-Elect of the Democratic Business Council of Northern Virginia from 2018-2019.