Funders for LGBTQ Issues is excited to introduce our community to our three newest board members: Matty Hart, Kristine Stallone, and Nathaniel (Toby) Thompkins. All three will add a unique and valued perspective to our work going forward.

• Matty is currently the president of the board of directors of the Calamus Foundation and a founder and principle of the Lafayette Practice in Paris. As a representative of Calamus, he has participated in several funding collaboratives, including the Civil Marriage Collaborative, and currently is the Senior Strategist of Europe for Funders Concerned About AIDS. His prior experience includes founding a social justice theater, running an Olympics press center, and building public-private partnerships for a US based antipoverty policy and technology firm.
• Kristine is currently the Vice President for Finance and Administration at American Jewish World Service, a leading grantmaker for LGBTQ rights and other global human rights issues. Prior to AJWS, Kristine served as the Chief Financial Officer at the Arcus Foundation and worked for Bloomberg LP and start-up media company NOBOK, Inc.
• Toby is currently Vice President at Tides 21st Century. Toby has held executive positions with Arthur Anderson and Co., Kraft General Foods, Baxter Healthcare, and Amoco Oil. He has worked with a broad range of leaders, including CEOs, Heads of State, United Nations country managers and grassroots social justice advocates.

Andy Lane, chair of the Funders board and director of the Johnson Family Foundation, said, “We’re excited and honored to welcome these three outstanding new additions to the Funders board. Not only do they expand the diversity and scope of funders represented on the board, they also add wonderful new energy and enthusiasm for our core work of expanding funding for LGBTQ issues.”

We welcomed these three new board members to our Annual Meeting in New York City on November 19th and 20th.

Sadly, Jesse King and Judy Patrick retired from the board at the end of their terms this year. They will both be greatly missed, but we know they will continue to be close to the Funders family.

At the annual meeting, we elected a new slate of officers and we’re pleased to announce that for 2014 the board will be led by:

• Chair: Cindy Rizzo, Vice President of Organizational Learning and Grants Management at the Arcus Foundation
• Vice Chair: Rebecca Fox, Program Officer at Wellspring Advisors
• Treasurer: Mitch Singer, Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
• Secretary: Patricia St. Onge, Partner at Seven Generations Consulting and Coaching

Outgoing chair Andy Lane reaches the end of his term limit as chair in December but will remain on the board as a member-at-large for another year.

“Andy has been an incredible leader and mentor to me in my first year at the helm of Funders,” said President Ben Francisco Maulbeck. “It’s impossible to over-state just how much he’s done in helping our organization move to a new phase of effectiveness and impact. We’re incredibly lucky to have a seasoned and savvy leader like Cindy succeed him as we look ahead to even bigger things in 2014 and beyond.”

“I’m humbled and honored that Cindy Rizzo will succeed me as board chair,” said Lane. “It’s great news for Funders for LGBTQ Issues–and great news for LGBTQ philanthropy.”