MISSION GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Mission Navy Yard and Royal Sands
Charlie began his restaurant career in 2003 with the Clyde's Restaurant Group after graduating from Towson University in Baltimore. For more than ten years he held management positions at Clyde's of Tysons, Clyde's of Gallery Place and The Hamilton before joining DC Restaurant Group as General Manager of The Front Page in Dupont Circle in 2015. After four years of managing Mission Navy Yard and having been nominated by the Restaurant Association of Washington DC as Manager of the year in 2019, Charlie now also oversees Royal Sands Social Club. In this role, he is in charge of two of the largest bars in Washington DC. When not overseeing massive crowds in Navy Yard, Charlie enjoys spending time with his wife Jessica and 9 pound shih tzu Fiona. His hobbies include 3 minute office breaks, visiting different Subway franchises to compare bread quality, complaining about being mistaken for Ashton Kutcher and scouring the internet for skinny cut European shirts and ties.
Job Titles:
- Director of Accounting and Finance
Chris joined the Mission team after nearly ten years with the Clyde's Restaurant Group. After bartending at The Tombs and 1789 Restaurant, he took the plunge into management, and spent four years in that capacity at The Tombs and two at Clyde's of Gallery Place. Prior to taking on his current corporate role, Chris was Executive Manager of Mission Dupont for two years. He is a graduate of Georgetown University, and grew up 28 miles from Fenway Park. Chris is a loyal follower of Boston sports and Georgetown basketball, enjoys water sports and playing golf badly, and was told by his eye doctor that he needs to read less.
Job Titles:
- Operations Manager, Mission Navy Yard and Royal Sands
Chris is originally from the mountains of Western North Carolina and is a bilingual Albanian American. After traveling to cities all up and down the east coast and northwest, he moved to DC in the summer of 2018, having fallen in love with the vibrant scene in the nation's capital. After helping to open and manage another nightclub in town, Chris joined Mission Group in September 2021. He is a firm believer that nightlife is an art form created on the combined mediums of time and space and, if done right, can be a beautiful thing that helps people explore and to truly be themselves. When not learning as much as possible from Fritz, Stefan and Reed, Chris spends his limited free time in the gym, swimming like a fish, and spending time with the people that he is closest with.
Job Titles:
- Director of Kitchen Operations
Job Titles:
- Director of Private Events
Dora graduated from TC Williams in Virginia, where she played lacrosse and violin. She then attended Howard University, studying Nutritional Science. After a summer coaching gig in Massachusetts, Dora made her way back to DC and into the hospitality industry. 15 years and many hats later, there are no signs of stopping! She has worked for Clyde's Restaurant Group and DC Restaurant Group, in addition to consulting for other restaurants. Outside of the office, Dora enjoys Saints football, glasses of bubbly and taking way too many photos of her new niece.
Job Titles:
- Cocktail Supervisor, Mission Navy Yard and Royal Sands
Elvis joined Mission Group in 2014 at Mission Dupont, where he worked for three years before accepting a position at Mission Navy Yard as Cocktail Supervisor. Prior to his time with Mission Group, Elvis worked for DGS Delicatessen, Ben's Next Door and DC Restaurant Group. He is a graduate of Miami's Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, a Florida native and an avid 'Canes fan. Elvis has been married for 16 years, has two kids and when not at Mission can generally be found testing innovative cocktail recipes and posting the results on Instagram.
Job Titles:
- Chef De Cuisine, the Admiral
Erwin re-joined Mission Group in 2022. He began as a multi-unit Sous Chef, working to fine-tune kitchen operations at the six company properties. He now serves as Chef de Cuisine at The Admiral in Dupont Circle. In a prior stint with Mission Group, he served as Executive Chef at Mission Dupont from 2017-2019. From 2019 to 2022 Erwin was Executive Chef at Nick's Fish House in Baltimore, MD, which is part of Big Fish Restaurant Group. Prior to this, he had a lengthy stint with the Clyde's Restaurant Group as Executive Sous Chef at 1789 in Georgetown. Prior to that he was a Sous Chef at Fainting Goat and Sous Chef at Neighborhood Restaurant Group's The Partisan. He is grateful to have had the opportunity to train under a variety of highly accomplished chefs including Nathan Beauchamp, Daniel Giusti, Salvatore Ferro, Anthony Lombardo and Samuel Kim.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Since opening Gin & Tonic Tavern as a twenty-four year old law student, Fritz Brogan has developed, owned and operated multiple businesses. Fritz is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center and served on the University's Board of Governors and on the board of Hoyas Unlimited. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Hospitality Leadership program at Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies and is a member of AEI's Enterprise Club and the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO). Earlier in his career, Fritz worked as a senior advisor to elected officials and candidates for statewide and federal office. A native of Fort Lauderdale, Fritz resides in Spring Valley with his wife and son.
Job Titles:
- Director of Facilities
- Manager
- Director of Facilities Manager, Salazar
Igor Milosevic is the longest serving manager in the company. He started as a doorman at Mason Inn, where his knowledge of fake IDs was so legendary that occasionally police officers would stop by to ask him for his expertise. He quickly became a manager and after the company sold Mason Inn, he joined the Hawthorne team in 2016. His experience with high volume operations and customer service is critical to Salazar's success. It is rumored that the movie "Roadhouse" was loosely based on his life story. In 2022, Igor was promoted to Director of Facilities, which has him overseeing the upkeep of all Mission Group properties. When not working his two jobs, he is a leader of the "Stop Selfies" movement, roots for the Sacramento Kings and enjoys educating customers being escorted out that Russia and Serbia are actually not the same country.
Jill Collins Public Relations is a boutique PR firm specializing in restaurant, service and hospitality industry clients and special event planning. Jill is a transplanted Texan who finds the guacamole at Mission Navy Yard to be the closest to her homeland that she has found in the DMV.
Job Titles:
- Construction Management
- Founder and President of Wallace Consulting & Construction
John Gardner is the founder and president of Wallace Consulting & Construction, which has overseen all buildouts and venue renovations for Mission Group since 2017. He is one of the most experienced hospitality contractors in the region, having executed a variety of buildouts for the likes of Chef Geoff's and Fabio Trabocchi in addition to Mission Group. In 2018 John and his team performed the buildout for the 10,000 sq ft Mission Navy Yard in less than three months and recently oversaw construction for The Admiral in Dupont Circle and Salazar on 14th Street. Prior to focusing on the food service industry John oversaw many high profile local projects, including the buildouts of the worldwide headquarters of Nextel corporation, the DC headquarters of the world's highest billing law firm, multiple local high-rises and other buildouts across the nation. To further support the food service industry Wallace has planned and is building the La Cocina food service training facility in Arlington, Virginia.
In his free time John enjoys spending time doting on his wife and young daughter, hosting outings to Caps and Nationals games, and taking annual trips to Las Vegas nightlife conventions with Fritz, Reed and Stefan.
Job Titles:
- Director of Training and Administration
A DMV native, Kathleen graduated from The University of Maryland with a dual degree in Political Science and Mandarin Chinese. After quickly realizing her fear of sitting behind a desk the rest of her life, she found solace in the restaurant industry and jumped right in. With more than 13 years of experience, she came to Mission Group in 2021 as a manager at Mission Navy Yard and was promoted to the Bar Manager position shortly thereafter. Now, she heads the training program for all Mission Group locations. Kathleen's favorite part of working for Mission Group is watching people new to the industry find enjoyment in it much like she did when she first started. When she isn't working, Kathleen loves to spend time with her family, take weekly trips to Costco just because, and spoil her Golden Retriever, Posey, as much as humanly possible.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
Prior to co-founding Mission Group in 2014, Reed owned and operated two bars in Georgetown and ran a variety of other nightlife-related businesses. Reed is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where he was a walk-on to the wrestling team. He maintains an active role in the wrestling community, serving on the Board of Directors of Beat The Streets, an organization that reestablished wrestling programs at all DC public high schools in 2021 and provides support programs to athletes. Reed is Vice-Chair of the Dupont Circle Business Improvement District, a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and serves on the Board of Trustees at The Potomac School, where he previously served as president of the school's Alumni Governing Council. Reed lives in McLean with his wife and three sons.
Stefan oversees all staff and operations at Mission Group venues. He has over a decade of experience at senior management positions in the hospitality business, including a lengthy stint as an Executive Manager in the Clyde's Restaurant Group. His previous positions include General Manager of Triumph Brewing Company in Philadelphia, Craft Beer Sales Manager at Premium Distributors of Washington DC, Executive Manager of the The Tombs in Georgetown and General Manager of Hawthorne. A major part of his responsibility is to optimize processes and service in order to successfully execute the company's current expansion efforts. While not working 25 hours per day to keep the ship headed in the right direction, Stefan enjoys Giants football, Top Gun, sweater vests and low quality domestic beers. He is a graduate of Goucher College and resides in Alexandria with his wife and daughter.