The search committee to select the next executive director of the Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) contained no surprises when it was released to the public Jan. 6.
It originally had been announced as a 25-member committee but when the names were made public there were only 24. HRC spokesman Steven Fisher said some prospective members felt they could not make the uired time commitment and 'one or two names might be added before the committee holds its first meeting.'
Most of the members are drawn from the HRC and the HRC Foundation boards of directors. It includes one openly trans person, Donna Rose, a member of the HRC Business Council who resides in Round Rock, Texas.
Activist Michael Petrelis, who first raised the transparency issue that led to releasing the search committee names, suggested HRC might have included non-HRC members as part of the search process. Part of his rationale is that the organization often speaks on behalf of the broader gay community and not just its members.
He pointed to the example of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) . Last December, when it announced a search committee to identify the successor to president Kweisi Mfume, it included several persons who were not part of that organization's governing board.
Three HRC staff members are part of the search committee, which no doubt reflects staff management issues that arouse under Cheryl Jacques' tenure.
Among the three is Winnie Stachelberg, HRC's long time political director. She was believed to be one of the finalists to become executive director during the previous search process. Fisher said, 'If anyone on the search committee were to become a candidate, they would have to leave the search committee at that point in time.'
The search committee members are:
Gwen Baba, BOD co-chair, Los Angeles, CA
Vic Basile, FD co-chair, Baltimore, MD
Joe Barrows, BOD, Denver, CO
Bruce Bastian, BOD, Orem, UT
Terry Bean, FD, Portland, OR
Mike Berman, BD co-chair, Washington, D,C,
Ken Britt, BOD, Atlanta, GA
Lawrie Demorest, FD co-chair, Atlanta, GA
Amy Errett, BOD, San Francisco, CA
Anne Fay, BOG co-chair, Dallas, TX
Emily Giske, BOD, New York, NY
Julie Johnson, BOD, Dallas, TX
Kevin Layton, General Counsel, Washington, D,C,
Marty Lieberman, BOD, Seattle, WA
Andrew Linsky, BOD, Palm Springs, CA
David Medina, BOD, Washington, D.C.
Cathy Nelson, Development Dir., D.C.
Victoria Raymont, BOD, Chicago, IL
Henry Rosales, BOG co-chair, Denver, CO
Donna Rose, HRC Bus. Council, Round Rock, TX
Hilary Rosen, FD, Washington, D.C.
Winnie Stachelberg, Political Director, D.C.
John Sullivan, BOD, Minneapolis, MN
Tony Varona, BOD, Tuckahoe, NY
