With the August 27th announcement from the Human Rights Campaign another leader of a major LGBT organization will leave their post. Joe Solmonese will step down as President of HRC in the early part of 2012. Earlier this summer, under a much different tone, GLAAD President Jarret Barrios resigned. Now as I sit back and consider what’s next for these two organizations I also wonder what’s next for the voice and face of the LGBT community.
As the Board of Directors at each of these organizations think to the future I can only wonder what conversations they are having. Will they consider the mission of their respective organization(s) or will they consider the changing face of the landscape in which they work? Will these organizations attune themselves to the messages we are seeing and hearing from a youthful generation of self-starters and leaders who are evermore impacting government and societal outcomes?
Here are my thoughts for the Board of Directors at HRC and GLAAD:
- Think bigger than the organization
- Don’t “be comfortable” with those on the inside
- Identify an orator, a motivator, a thinker and a doer
- Consider impact from day one to five years–no longer, no less
- With age comes experience, not vision
As the two most influential LGBT organizations out there I also see a great time for forging a new alliance. How can we impact societal change and there by help shift political policy? As I tell my team “think about how we might shape the future through our actions today.” The time is ripe…I can’t wait to see what we pick!
(As an aside I wonder why the only major news network that seemed to pick up on Solmonese’s departure was Fox.)
Syndicated from: http://sf.densilporteous.com/lgbt-a-new-face-a-new-voice/