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Our Story

History and Background

Organized in 1982 as a simple spring cleanup effort, the founding members of the Prince William Clean Community Council quickly recognized the importance of education to long-term success. After a rigorous certification process, the Council became a certified affiliate of Keep America Beautiful (KAB), the undisputed authority on litter prevention issues throughout the world. Following our affiliation status, in spring 2012, the Clean Community Council became Keep Prince William Beautiful. Proud to be aligned with both an award-winning green community and a national network of over 1000 other environmental community organizations, renaming ourselves Keep Prince William Beautiful is an honor.

Our organization now administers several year-round comprehensive programs encouraging community involvement and environmental education and stewardship. Our hope is to engage community members through our outreach and education on environmental stewardship and sustainability, excite community members by developing within our neighbors and friends a sense of pride in their community, and empower community members to take action to keep Prince William County clean and beautiful.

Our Board of Directors:

John Wheeler

President
Founder and CEO, Rising Tide Solutions, LLC

Holly Morello

Vice President

TDM Program Manager, OmniRide

Keisha Strand

Secretary
Senior Deputy Clerk, Fairfax County Planning Commission

Apichada Arquette

Treasurer
Vice President, Branch Manager, United Bank

Members:

Jeanne Jabara

Energy Education Coordinator, Prince William County Public Schools

Katie Knight

Community Engagement Officer, Apple Federal Credit Union

April Thomas

CEO, Realtor Association of Prince William

Tyler J. Blaser, Esq.

Attorney, Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, P.C.

Michelle Bouchard

Prince William County, Service Authority

Eugene Loew

Prince William County Parks, Recreation, and Tourism

Wendy Rogers

Communications and Events Specialist, IKEA

Meet The Team

Executive Director

Rico Fleshman

Rico Fleshman was appointed Executive Director of Keep Prince William Beautiful in September of 2021. Born and raised in Virginia, Mr. Fleshman is a graduate of the University of Lynchburg with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. He has a rich professional history in business development serving nonprofits and has worked on programs at the federal, state and local levels that provided employment to persons with disabilities and established congestion mitigation and air quality improvement programs. He is currently Chair of the Prince William County Green Business Council, serves on the Prince William County Schools Superintendent’s Advisory Council on Sustainability, and is an inductee into the 2024 Class of Leadership Prince William . His lifelong love of nature fuels his passion for environmental education and advocacy. Rico can be reached at rfleshman@kpwb.org.

Assistant Director

Amanda Brown

Amanda grew up in Missouri where she developed a deep love for the environment. Ms. Brown is a graduate of Missouri University of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Philosophy, with a focus on environmental ethics and sciences. With her previous work, she developed a strong sense of community involvement and client relations. Her passions consist of helping others, gardening, reading, and hiking. As our Community Engagement Manager, she hopes to inspire others to welcome a more environmentally conscious and sustainable lifestyle. Amanda can be reached at abrown@kpwb.org.

Leslie Guevara
Membership Coordinator Prince William County Green Business Council

Leslie Guevara

Leslie Guevara, born in Virginia, is a lover of nature and its beauty. Her favorite pastimes include nature walks, bird watching, going to anime conventions, and crocheting. She hopes to one day create and sell her own plush patterns. She has a diverse professional background in sales and acting as a customer advocate. Leslie serves as the Assistant to the Executive Director of Keep Prince William Beautiful and is an integral part of advocating and educating residents, businesses, and government to be good community stewards. She is also an active board member for Woodbridge Potomac Communities Civic Association. As Prince William County Green Business Council Membership Coordinator, she promotes sustainability options for businesses, works with companies to develop sound environmental programs, and assists in onboarding to the Green Business Council.

Programs Manager

Grace Benevento

Grace has a passion for learning and helping others. Ms. Benevento is a graduate of Potomac Senior High School and attributes her move to Virginia as a very positive step. She has an immense love of travel and learning different languages and hopes to classify one day as a polyglot. She is also a cat lover. Grace hopes that as our Programs Assistant she will not only be able to educate and inspire people her age to environmental consciousness, but also challenge herself. Grace can be reached at gbenevento@kpwb.org.

Grace Canna
Programs Assistant

Grace Canna

Grace graduated from Longwood University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, where she cultivated a passion for creative and professional writing. Currently, she loves being able to combine her interest in media with her desire to work closely with our community and environment. Grace also enjoys baking for friends, starting new art projects, going on walks, and tending to her garden.

Marketing & Communications Coordinator

Kamala Espig

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