Equality California and Equality California Institute announced that Managing Director Tony Hoang will lead the organization as the next Executive Director when Rick Chavez Zbur steps down at the end of this year to run for political office, a press release noted.
The Bay Area Reporter stated that Hoang will be the organization's first AAPI executive director.
The organizations' boards of directors unanimously selected Hoang after an extensive year-long succession process. Hoang will be executive dDirector-designate through the end of 2021 and will continue to lead Equality California's day-to-day operations. During this time of transition, Zbur will continue to provide strategic guidance and leadership at the organization.
"I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to lead such a diverse, dynamic organization that has been at the vanguard of the LGBTQ+ movement for the last two decades," said Hoang in the statement. "Our community is at an inflection point—recovering from a global pandemic and economic crisis, facing a reckoning with centuries of structural racism and fighting back against a coordinated assault on transgender children. Equality California has both an opportunity and a responsibility to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people, and I'm ready to get to work."
As executive director, Hoang hopes to expand the organization's physical presence across California, with a particular focus on the Central Valley, Orange County and the Inland Empire. He also plans to focus on advancing racial justice and reforming the nation's immigration system as key priorities critical to achieving full, lived equality for all LGBTQ+ people.
Hoang received a BA in international relations at the University of Southern California, with minors in political science and natural sciences. An avid concertgoer, cook, cyclist and traveler, Hoang lives in downtown Los Angeles with fiance Ian Grady, an attorney.
