DASH is led by Koube Ngaaje, President & CEO, who joined DASH in 2017.

Koube is leading a new phase of growth and innovation marked by increased revenue, expanded programming, a focus on monitoring and evaluation, and several awards and honors. Previously, Koube was the Chief Operating Officer at the Arlington Food Assistance Center. There, she oversaw a dramatic expansion in staff and services, successfully providing more than 900,000 pounds of groceries each week to more than 6,000 people in need at 18ndifferent distribution centers. Koube sits on the board for The Alliance for Housing Solutions, a nonprofit organization working to increase affordable housing in Arlington County and Northern Virginia and is a Founding Member of NextGenNow.

In February 2020, Ms. Koube Ngaaje, Executive Director of DASH, was selected to receive the NBC4 “Working for the Community” Award, along with three other honorees. Each honoree was selected for this recognition because of their professional presence and leadership in the nonprofit sector, a firm commitment to advancing the African American community, and to making a difference in the lives of countless individuals and families in our region.

Koube was accepted and joined the Leadership Greater Washington Class of 2020. The Signature Program provides an opportunity for Greater Washington’s most accomplished leaders to make a collective social impact.

Ms. Ngaaje was nominated and appointed to serve on the DC Access to Justice Commission and the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness. Both honors present significant opportunities to elevate survivor needs, raise DASH’s profile externally, and build upon many existing partnerships as well as cultivate new ones to further DASH’s mission. In 2015, she received the Top 40 Under 40 Leader awards from the Leadership Center for Excellence.