Former board president steps down from Reston Association board

RestonNow.com May 31, 2023 at 9:32am

Sarah Selvaraj-D’Souza, former president of Reston Association’s Board of Directors, has resigned from her position after more than three years on the board.

In a Facebook post announcing her resignation on Friday (May 26), Selvaraj-D’Souza said her commitments to other projects and her nonprofit advocacy organization Reston Strong motivated her decision to resign.

“My decision to resign from the Board of Directors is not the result of any disagreement with the operations, policies or procedures, but to focus on my family, my advocacy and Restonstrong,” she wrote.

First reported by Patch, the resignation was effective immediately.

Selvaraj-D’Souza also recently accepted a role as the Hunter Mill District representative on the county’s Affordable Housing Advisory Counsel and a board position on the Faith Alliance for Climate Change.

Selvaraj-D’Souza said those positions were in line with her work ons social justice, housing equality and environmental sustainability. She still plans to continue serving on RA’s Environmental Advisory Committee.

More from Selvaraj-D’Souza’s Facebook post:

I have appreciated the opportunity to serve on the board as both a Board Member and Board President, and wish you and RA the best as you continue to move forward. Restonstrong was born as a by-product of my decision to run for the RA board and for that I am eternally grateful. The last 3 plus years have been an exercise in self-discovery – RA propelled me from a happy go lucky small business owner selling frozen custard and ceramics to a community activist championing for our neighbors’ rights.

RA’s board will now select a new board member from a pool of applicants. The individual will serve until the next board election, after which the decision will be left up to the members.

Selvaraj-D’Souza is now the fourth RA board member to step down before the end of their term within the past two years. Three people resigned in 2022, including two members who left shortly after that year’s board election.

The results of this year’s board election, which saw 10 candidates vying for five seats, were announced in April. RA’s board has nine directors, including four at-large members, four who represent a specific district and one representative for apartment owners.