Danville’s River District Association has new leader

Tina Leone took over as executive director of the River District Association on Monday, Jan. 26.

She succeeds Diana Schwartz, who resigned in June 2025 as CEO of the association that promotes businesses and attractions in downtown Danville. Founded in 1999, the River District Association changed to its current name from the Downtown Danville Association in 2015.

A certified public accountant, Leone led the Ballston Business Improvement District (BID) from its founding in 2011 until 2024. The public–private partnership represents commercial property owners within a 25-block area in Arlington County.

“Tina has a proven track record of leading downtown and business improvement organizations through transformative growth, fostering strong public–private partnerships, and elevating communities on the regional and national stage,” River District Association board Chair Emma Lugar Sellers said in a Wednesday news release. “Her experience launching successful placemaking initiatives, supporting entrepreneurs and advocating for business will be invaluable as we build on the momentum in Danville’s River District and across the Dan River region.”

Telly Tucker, president of Danville’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, recommended Leone for the job. He and Leone worked together when he was economic development director for Arlington County from 2020 to 2022.

Leone was familiar with Danville because she races with the BMW Car Club of America and has raced at Virginia International Raceway in Alton. “Then I started to fall in love with Danville, because I would go there for dinner, and I was staying at [The Bee Hotel],” Leone said in an interview with Virginia Business. “And then, here we are a few years later, and this opportunity came up. I’m like, ‘Wow this is just meant to be.””

The first order of business for her new job, Leone said, is going on a listening tour: “Right now, I have a list of about 60-plus people to be meeting with personally and [to] get to know their roles in the community, and what their feelings are about RDA and our future and where we need to focus.”

Most recently, Leone worked as CEO of the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society from March to November 2025. She was also CEO of District Dogs, a company that runs several dog daycare, boarding and grooming operations in Washington, D.C., and Arlington County, from July 2024 to March 2025.

In October 2024, Washington D.C.,’s Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb announced District Dogs would be required to make safety and emergency preparedness improvements at all Washington, D.C.-based locations and pay $100,000 in connection with a 2023 flood that occurred at the company’s Rhode Island Avenue location that killed 10 dogs.

Both positions were intended to be short-term positions, Leone said.

“The role at District Dogs was always interim to help them turn around the … misperceptions about the company,” she said. “That goal was accomplished.”

Earlier in her career, Leone served as president and CEO of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the Lorton Arts Foundation.

Alyssa Turner, the River District Association’s director of business services, served as interim executive director following Schwartz’s resignation. Schwartz joined the association as executive director in 2017, and her title changed to CEO in 2023. In September 2025, Schwartz launched Impact Strategies, a Danville-based consulting firm.