Jun 14, 2013
Search Underway for Equality NC’s Executive Director
RALEIGH, N.C., June 14, 2013 – In a letter released today from Equality NC and Equality NC Foundation, Board Chairs Elaine Martin and Ken Wittenauer updated supporters and stakeholders on the latest in the organization's search for a new executive director. Current Executive Director Stuart Campbell announced his intention to leave the organization on April 15, 2013.
Subject: Search Underway for Equality NC’s Executive Director
Dear Members of the Equality NC Community,
We are writing to provide an update on the search for Equality NC’s new executive director. You likely are aware of our announcement from about six weeks ago that Executive Director Stuart Campbell has decided to step down.
Prior to joining Equality NC, Stuart’s career was focused on combatting poverty, homelessness, disability, and mental health at the federal and state level. He recently informed us of his desire to return to a deeper policymaking role. He has agreed to stay on until at least the end of July, and our goal is to have a successor hired and in place by that time.
Stuart joined the organization in October 2011, in the midst of the Amendment One fight; his leadership and vision, then and now, has helped make Equality NC a better organization. We thank him for his contributions, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors!
In the meantime, our important work continues unabated. We continue to lead the fight for inclusive statewide employment non-discrimination, we are preparing for the eventual outcome of the DOMA and Prop 8 decisions, and perhaps most notable and most pressing, we have led the effort to stop several regressive bills that represented real threats to the progress and protections for LGBT North Carolinians. So where are we with a successor?
We have retained one of the leading executive recruiters in the LGBT sphere to lead the search for our next Executive Director. Kevin Chase is a Managing Director in the not-for-profit practice at Diversified Search, a top ten executive search firm in the U.S., and brings invaluable expertise to our search, having recruited executive directors for the Equality Federation, the New York Gay & Lesbian Center, Equality Texas and other state-based equality organizations.
A search committee is also operational, consisting of Equality NC board members Jason Belk, Greg Fitch, Sarah Ford, Jonora Jones, Janie Long, Elaine Martin, Rick McDermott, and Ken Wittenauer, as well as former Equality NC Executive Director Ian Palmquist, who is now Director of Regional & Program Support for the Equality Federation. Ian’s perspective as a former Executive Director of Equality NC, and his experience having participated in several executive director searches for other state-based equality organizations, will be invaluable.
After the job posting has closed and a short list of candidates has been identified, the search committee will interview candidates and recommend finalists for consideration by the entire Equality NC board. It is a thorough process, and one that we hope will identify the very best candidate to lead our organization into the future.
You can make a difference!
If you know of any outstanding candidates, please pass along those ideas to Kevin Chase at Kevin.Chase@divsearch.com.
We look forward to sharing further information with the Equality NC community this summer.
Sincerely,
Elaine Martin, Chair, Equality NC
Ken Wittenauer, Chair, Equality NC Foundation