New Nonprofit Seeks To Lead Reston Forward, While Preserving Bob Simon's 7 Principles

RESTON, VA — Fifty Reston residents have banded together to launch a new advocacy group that aims to bridge the divide between the old and new Reston and chart a course for the community's next 30 years.

Shane Ziegler, who serves as the president of Reston Forward, is a corporate insurance broker who moved into his apartment on Sunset Hills in March 2020, just in time for the pandemic.

"I knew Northern Virginia pretty well from the four years that I've already been here," he said. "I explored a lot of options, especially in the Fairfax County area and settled on Reston for quite a few reasons, but it seemed like the right fit."

The idea of Reston Forward grew out of a shared experience the 50 founders had living in Reston during the pandemic. Many of them were already doing volunteer work in the community, but they weren't able to meet together safely due to the pandemic.

"As more and more people took more of a limited role in the volunteer organizations that they'd already been involved in, we thought, 'Well, we all love living here. We all chose Reston for a reason. Why not come together and find ways to volunteer?'" Ziegler said.

The core group of Reston Forward's founders lived in Ziegler's building and they reached out to colleagues who were also living in other buildings along Dulles Toll Road Corridor. Members range in age from 22 to 60, and work in a variety of fields, from makeup artist and business owners to government workers.

Many had moved to Reston for work or their jobs and didn't necessarily know who the local stakeholders were and what organizations they could get involved in.

"We really wanted to just create a platform for new voices in Reston, to get involved and to help them understand what's available," Ziegler said.

Reston Forward officially launched its website and social media accounts on Wednesday, with a press release touting the nonprofit's goal of bridging the divide between the two Restons.

"When you look at our 50 founding members, it's a group of our colleagues," Ziegler said. "It's a group of our friends. It's a group of people who are interested in Reston, live in Reston and work in Reston."

When asked what were the two Restons his group was trying to bridge, Ziegler roughly described them as South Reston and North Reston, meaning newer residents that live along and to the south of the toll road and older, more established residents to the north.

"We just wanted to have a voice in the community and in the future of the community, and ultimately provide a platform for everyone to have a voice in the conversation."

Although Reston Forward's website and Facebook page doesn't provide a lot of details, it does say the group is interested in preserving Reston founder Robert E. Simon's seven principles.

"Our group wants to make sure that it continues to live up to Bob Simon's seven principles that we collectively don't think it is right now," Ziegler said. "We want to take that into the next 30 years."

Although no events are activities are currently scheduled, Ziegler said that Reston Forward is working on launching its own podcast.

"We want the podcast to be a space where we can interview community leaders, including the Board of Supervisors, but also the stakeholders, RCC, RA, Cornerstones," he said. "We want to provide a place for content where we can interview them, or they can talk about their organizations."