Meet The Team

Paula Manion is the Founder and Chair of City Center NOVA, and also serves the community as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and Primary Mental Health Care Specialist at Children’s Medical Associates of Northern VA. Paula has over 25 years experience caring for children from birth through age 22 with a special focus on advocacy and care of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and mental health issues. She is a strong passionate leader for this mission to create affordable, inclusive communities and meaningful lives for adults with disabilities in Northern Virginia. She is married to Joe Manion, the president of City Center NOVA, a vital support to the mission. She and her husband have 3 children. Their oldest son Michael is an adult with autism, who continues to experience daily challenges and barriers as an adult with a disability. She is also a board member for the Northern Virginia Pediatric Society.

Larysa Kautz has served as Director to the City Center NOVA Board since March 2019, and serves on the Corporation’s Legal Committee. Ms. Kautz also supports the Melwood nonprofit organization for individuals with differing abilities as Chief of Staff and General Counsel, supervising all departments working behind the scenes to execute Melwood’s strategic goals, challenges, and day-to-day issues. Ms. Kautz has more than 15 years of experience in law, corporate governance, risk management, government relations, and communications.

Jacqui Winters is a Principal at Deloitte Consulting. She and her husband, David have two sons – Henry and Luther. Henry was identified as autistic at the age of four, after he started preschool and it was noticed that his communication and social skills were less developed than the other children his age. Since that time, Ms. Winters has been active in school advocacy and supporting her kids to be included in classroom and extracurricular activities. Both of her boys are very active in theatre and music, including school musicals and a local rock band. Jacqui has been a management consultant since 2001, serving clients in the Government. Prior to her experience in consulting, Ms. Winters led non-profit management for a healthcare services provider in rural Northwest Colorado.At Deloitte, Jacqui leads Deloitte’s Change Strategy & Analytics practice where she helps leaders to systematically influence their organization to perform better and to achieve their goals. She has a B.A. in English from Lenoir-Rhyne College and an M.B.A. from the College of William and Mary.

Bruce Finland joined the Board of Directors in June 2019, focusing on the development of affordable and accessible housing for City Center NOVA. As Managing Director of MED Developers, Bruce has been directly responsible for the development and operation of over 1,000 units serving low income and special needs families in Washington, DC. Bruce and his wife Glen reside in McLean, where they raised their three sons, the youngest of whom is on the Autism spectrum. Glen is the author of “Next Stop”, which chronicles the Finland family’s experiences in helping their son achieve independence. Both Bruce and Glen are graduates of the University of Georgia.

Mark Lowe serves as Treasurer for City Center NOVA and is a member of the corporation’s Financial Committee. Mark is also Vice President of Gas Supply and Engineering for Washington Gas and an active member of the American Gas Association and the Southern Gas Association. Sixteen years ago, Mark and his wife Julie adopted Matt from Russia and shortly after returning home determined he was intellectually disabled and socially challenged. Now a wonderful young adult, Matt continues to be challenged by many of life’s routine, and struggles to develop those relationships essential to a full and happy life. Mark and Julie are focused creating homes and safe, inclusive communities for Matt and his peers to live independently. Mark holds degrees in Geological Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, an MBA from Pepperdine University and is a Registered Professional Engineer.