Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 16:36:49 -0500 From: RAKNGLTF@AOL.COM To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS Subject: NGLTF Deputy Dir./Other Staff Updates NATIONAL GAY AND LESBIAN TASK FORCE PRESS RELEASE Contact: Robin Kane, 202-332-6483, ext. 3311; rakngltf@aol.com Beth Barrett, 202-332-6483, ext. 3215; babngltf@aol.com NGLTF CHOOSES DEPUTY DIRECTOR; INTERIM FINANCE DIRECTOR TO STAY ON PERMANENTLY; FIELD / PUBLIC POLICY DEPARTMENTS REORGANIZED Long-Time Activist Kerry Lobel Becomes Organization's First Deputy Director Washington, D.C. -- March 23, 1995 -- Kerry Lobel, former lead organizer of the Women's Project in Little Rock, Arkansas, has been chosen by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) to serve as the organization's first-ever Deputy Director. Lobel will oversee the day-to-day management of NGLTF's program, administration, finance and development areas while NGLTF's Executive Director Melinda Paras travels frequently on organizing and fundraising trips. NGLTF currently has 25 staff members, including four and a half outside the Washington office, and a projected 1995 budget of $3.1 million. Lobel, age 41, was lead organizer at the Women's Project from 1985 through December 1994, when she decided to forgo a six-month paid sabbatical in order to become NGLTF Deputy Director. While at the Women's Project, Lobel's programmatic work focused on bias violence, women and AIDS, women in prison and domestic violence. Lobel was also responsible for fundraising and financial planning for the organization. Lobel has served as an organizational consultant to 200 groups around the country to help them clarify purposes and goals and strengthen internal structures. Prior to moving to Arkansas, Lobel served as executive director of the Southern California Coalition on Battered Women from 1979 to 1984. Lobel is editor of Naming the Violence: Speaking Out About Lesbian Battering (Seal Press, 1986); co-author of "Lesbian Teens in Abusive Relationships" in Dating Violence: Young Women in Danger (Seal Press, 1990); and co-author of HIV, AIDS, and Reproductive Health: A Peer Trainer's Manual (1992). She served as chair of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (1988, 1989); is a board member of National Network on Women in Prison; and was a board member of the Ryan White Center, a direct service agency for people with AIDS in Arkansas. "Having worked with Kerry work for 10 years, I have been consistently impressed with the breadth and depth of her politics and organizational skills," said author and activist Suzanne Pharr, who also works with the Women's Project. " Rarely can you find in one person a superb fundraiser and brilliant organizer. Kerry is someone who can work with every kind of person -- women in the Junior League, lesbians and gay men in the Diamond State Rodeo Association, battered women in prison, the Deaf community in Little Rock. Kerry's style of leadership is rare -- she fostered, encouraged and supported the best work each of us had to offer." "She's a highly organized, effective administrator," said Mary Ann Snyder of the Chicago Resource Center, who has known Lobel for more than 10 years. "She's also an incredible political organizer, which is not a combination you come up with all the time. She's a solid leader who's going to be great for NGLTF." "We're thrilled to have someone with such an incredible depth of experience -- a leader who understands the importance of grassroots organizing and also has strong management skills," said Melinda Paras, NGLTF Executive Director. "NGLTF is taking steps to strengthen management systems to ensure the organization's stability. Kerry brings a wealth of that experience with an activist vision that informs all the work of NGLTF." Other NGLTF Staff News: Interim Finance Director Mary Farmer has agreed to stay on permanently as Director of Finance and Administration. Two current NGLTF staff members have joined the 7 1/2-person field organizing department to shore up the DC-based response to grassroots activists around the country. The Public Policy department has been reorganized to include one director and one associate who also assists the media department. Farmer was the long-time owner and president of Lammas Women's Books & More, a feminist bookstore in Washington, DC that also served as an impromptu community center. From 1976 to 1993, Farmer oversaw sales, marketing, purchasing and special events productions for Lammas. Farmer has extensive organizing experience within the network of feminist bookstores, and was coordinator of the historic 1981 Women in Print conference in Washington, DC. She was co-founder of Iris Films and the National Women's Film Circuit. Farmer is a well-respected and admired leader in the lesbian and feminist communities in Washington, who has also done sports events organizing in the community. Most recently, Farmer served as a financial consultant for organizations, handling fundraising, personnel matters and organizational development issues. Former Special Events Coordinator Stefan (his full legal name) and former Fight the Right Associate Karen Bullock-Jordan are now DC Field Organizers, serving as the first point of response for all requests for assistance from grassroots activists. Stefan and Bullock-Jordan will offer technical assistance, publications and referrals to dozens of activists who call NGLTF daily for assistance in their community. The two DC Field Organizers will also be responsible for directing pressing community issues to the four outside-the-Beltway Field Organizers -- Robert Bray, Sue Hyde, Scot Nakagawa and Curt Shepard. All four are responsible for field organizing around the country, with each specializing in the following areas: Bray -- media advocacy and grassroots movement building; Hyde -- coordinating the annual Creating Change conference; Nakagawa -- opposition research, fundraising and people of color organizing; and Shepard -- organizing on college campuses. Also available through the NGLTF field department is Susan Hibbard who is retained part-time to serve as our campaign consultant to activists facing electoral issues. The field department is currently seeking a full-time director for the Washington office. Stefan has been with NGLTF since January 1994 serving as Special Projects Coordinator. Prior to coming to NGLTF, Stefan was founder, state coordinator and spokesperson for Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Alabama and founder of the Mobile Area Lesbian and Gay Assembly. He was coordinator of volunteer services and case manager at Mobile AIDS Support Services, and also served as Alabama's first-ever gay and lesbian advisory board member to a city's human relations commission. Bullock-Jordan has been with NGLTF since June 1992 and has served in a variety of roles, including Receptionist, Volunteer/Intern Coordinator and Fight the Right Associate. She is a lesbian s/m organizer who founded Lesborados and co-founded S&Mazons, both DC-based groups. Bullock-Jordan is a regular columnist for Black Leather In Color. Beth Barrett is now the Public Policy Associate, serving as a part-time assistant to the Public Policy Director. NGLTF is currently interviewing candidates for the director position. Barrett has been with NGLTF since March 1994, first serving as a lobbying/public policy assistant and then as media associate. Barrett will continue to assist the media department on a part-time basis. Prior to coming to NGLTF, Barrett was a youth organizer in Seattle. --end-- [Photos available upon request. Contact Beth Barrett, 202-332-6483, ext. 3215.]