Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 10:16:47 -0500 Subject: Melinda Paras Named E.D. of NGLTF ************************************************* National Gay and Lesbian Task Force NEWS RELEASE Contact: Gregory Fisher (202) 332-6483 ext. 3309 (800) 757-7736 pager Beth Barrett (202) 332-6483 ext. 3215 2320 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20009 ************************************************* MELINDA PARAS NAMED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NGLTF "New Vision For A New Era" Includes Re-Engineering of the Oldest National Gay Advocacy Organization Washington, DC, [Embargoed until December 6, 1994].....The Board of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) announced the appointment of San Francisco Health Commissioner Melinda Paras as the new executive director of the organization, which has been newly re-shaped following a four-month program evaluation of the agency. Appointed to the San Francisco Health Commission in 1993 by Mayor Frank Jordan, Paras chairs the Budget Committee and serves on the Joint Conference for San Francisco General Hospital. For the past four months, Paras has headed a transition team at NGLTF, assessing the organization's strengths, challenges and duties, and developing a plan for NGLTF's next two years. The NGLTF board established the transition team in response to the departure of several key staff people, the changing demands of NGLTF's constituents and the altered political atmosphere facing the gay and lesbian community. Following extensive evaluation, Paras has created "a new vision for a new era." Important changes at NGLTF, as developed by Paras, include: --the full activation of the NGLTF Policy Institute, which will become the organizational framework in which the creative and vibrant analysts and organizers in the gay/lesbian movement will produce and disseminate valuable reports and organizing materials. A nationally-known and respected director will recruit researchers, political analysts, writers, and organizers throughout the country (many of whom are already seeking an organized relationship with the Task Force) to affiliate with the Institute. Their work -- funded, published and marketed through the Institute -- will become the backbone of the organization's policy work in such areas as AIDS activism, youth, domestic partner benefits, hate violence, right wing rhetoric, lesbian health initiatives and the hundreds of other important issues that face the community. -- a revamped field operation, attentive to the needs of local activists. Thousands of organizers around the nation rely on NGLTF as a vital source of information and assistance. The field operation will be staffed with activist experts who have access to the most complete information and resources available to the lesbian and gay community. -- expansion of the organization's technological infrastructure to quicken the dissemination of information and resources. -- creation of a leadership team that will assist the executive director, who in the past has been called on to serve as visionary/spokesperson for the organization and movement, while simultaneously managing the complex organizational duties of a large national organization. The Board is currently recruiting top-notch professionals for the position of deputy director, communications director, marketing director, Institute director and field operations director. NGLTF expects to have most of this team in place and at work by early January. -- commitment to the full and diverse representation of the lesbian and gay community in the agency's leadership and in all areas of operations. The board has prioritized strong multi-cultural leadership as an essential criteria in the selection of the leadership team of the organization. In addition to heading the transition team responsible for creating the new structure for NGLTF, Paras has assisted in stabilizing NGLTF's finances. The organization had scaled back its budget to 2.6 million dollars and had prepared for a potential year-end deficit following income shortfalls earlier in the year. In her four months as interim Chief Operating Officer, Paras has eliminated that projected deficit and the organization plans to end on the targeted budget. "Melinda has done an amazing job of guiding NGLTF out of a period of crisis and through an important evaluation and transition process," said NGLTF co-chairs Chris Collins and Deborah Johnson-Rolon. "Her contributions in only four months have been tremendous. She has created a new vision for a re-engineered NGLTF and has succeeded in stabilizing the organization's finances. These accomplishments give us the deepest confidence in Melinda's ability to lead NGLTF into the future." "I have been a great admirer of NGLTF for years," Paras said. "I am proud to have led NGLTF out its internal crisis so it could resume the critical work it does. Our constituents need so much from us -- and the re-engineered NGLTF will be in a better position than ever before to deliver relevant programs and resources to our community." Dozens of gay and lesbian community leaders from San Francisco and around the country have hailed Paras' appointment, and re-doubled their support for a strong and vibrant NGLTF. Individuals and organizations from San Francisco voicing support for Paras include Carole Migden, member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors; the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Democratic Club of San Francisco; Mitchell Katz, Director of the AIDS Office of the San Francisco Department of Public Health; and Pat Christian, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Others who have voiced support for Paras' appointment include Torie Osborn and Urvashi Vaid, former NGLTF executive directors; Elizabeth Birch, former NGLTF board co-chair and newly appointed executive director of the Human Rights Campaign Fund; Richard Burns, executive director of the New York City Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center; Lorri L. Jean, executive director of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center; Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund; Kate Clinton, lesbian comedian and activist; Suzanne Pharr, author and organizer with the Women's Project in Arkansas; and Tim Sweeney, former executive director of the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York. Paras has been active in movements for social change in the Filipino and lesbian/gay communities for more than 20 years. In San Francisco, she served as coordinator of the lesbian/gay speakers bureau of the Community United Against Violence anti-violence project; vice president of the Harvey Milk Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club; staff member of the 1990 and 1991 political campaigns for domestic partners legislation in the city; and campaign manager for the successful campaign to defend the new domestic partner law in 1992. She pioneered efforts to make AIDS services available to poor and disenfranchised communities as the Director of Multicultural Affairs and later as the Deputy Director of Shanti Project, a large AIDS service provider in San Francisco. -- end -- [To arrange an interview with Paras, please contact Gregory Fisher or Beth Barrett at (202) 332-6483, ext. 3309]