Anthony Martinez named Executive Director of TCRA
Sun. March 27, 2011 7:33 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
anthony martinez
The Civil Rights Agenda moves forward with new leadership
Chicago, IL -
The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), an Illinois statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, appointed Anthony Martinez as Executive Director. The Chicago-based group also announced a newly formed Governing Board.
"We have put together a diverse board whose members bring tremendous knowledge and abilities to TCRA," stated Jacob Meister, Founder and Governing Board President. "Working together with our Board, the leadership of TCRA will be able to implement projects to help advance the LGBTQ community in Springfield, the workplace and at the ballot box."
The TCRA Governing Board has grown to fourteen members with the announcement of four new members. The board members are Dave Barker, Tommy Bennett, Lindsey Dietzler, Katherine "Kit" Duffy, Rich Jacobs, Lowell Jaffe, Maggie Koehler, Jacob Meister, Linda Pauel, Phillip Reese, Alexander Sewell and Mike Simmons.
The Governing Board voted to appoint Anthony Martinez as the Executive Director. Anthony, who was one of The Civil Rights Agenda's founding board members, has been working as the Interim Executive Director since September 2010 and is one of the founders of the grassroots organization, LGBT Change.
"I am very excited to continue my work with The Civil Rights Agenda," said Martinez. "In the past year, TCRA has become one of the most effective LGBTQ organizations in the state, specifically in terms of political organizing and advocacy."
Since working with TCRA, Martinez successfully led the TCRA lobbying and advocacy efforts surrounding the Civil Union legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this year.
"After working in Springfield and across the state, it became clear that there is still much work to be done in order to strengthen the protections we enjoy, and an immense amount of work to gain equal protections we deserve as citizens of Illinois and the United States," said Martinez.
Prior to his efforts with TCRA and during the 2010 election, Martinez coordinated the LGBTQ outreach program in association with the Illinois Democratic Coordinated Campaign that turned out over 70,000 statewide LGBTQ and allied regular voters. Also, this past month he was one of the lead organizers for the historic Chicago Mayoral Candidate Forum on LGBTQ Issues, which spurred the creation of a citywide coalition that includes over 30 different LGBTQ organizations and groups.
The Civil Rights Agenda along with The Civil Rights Agenda Fund (PAC) have adopted an ambitious strategy, details of which the groups says will be unveiled over the next few months.
"We have made great progress in our first year and will undoubtedly make even greater progress in the upcoming years," concluded Meister.
"We have put together a diverse board whose members bring tremendous knowledge and abilities to TCRA," stated Jacob Meister, Founder and Governing Board President. "Working together with our Board, the leadership of TCRA will be able to implement projects to help advance the LGBTQ community in Springfield, the workplace and at the ballot box."
The TCRA Governing Board has grown to fourteen members with the announcement of four new members. The board members are Dave Barker, Tommy Bennett, Lindsey Dietzler, Katherine "Kit" Duffy, Rich Jacobs, Lowell Jaffe, Maggie Koehler, Jacob Meister, Linda Pauel, Phillip Reese, Alexander Sewell and Mike Simmons.
The Governing Board voted to appoint Anthony Martinez as the Executive Director. Anthony, who was one of The Civil Rights Agenda's founding board members, has been working as the Interim Executive Director since September 2010 and is one of the founders of the grassroots organization, LGBT Change.
"I am very excited to continue my work with The Civil Rights Agenda," said Martinez. "In the past year, TCRA has become one of the most effective LGBTQ organizations in the state, specifically in terms of political organizing and advocacy."
Since working with TCRA, Martinez successfully led the TCRA lobbying and advocacy efforts surrounding the Civil Union legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this year.
"After working in Springfield and across the state, it became clear that there is still much work to be done in order to strengthen the protections we enjoy, and an immense amount of work to gain equal protections we deserve as citizens of Illinois and the United States," said Martinez.
Prior to his efforts with TCRA and during the 2010 election, Martinez coordinated the LGBTQ outreach program in association with the Illinois Democratic Coordinated Campaign that turned out over 70,000 statewide LGBTQ and allied regular voters. Also, this past month he was one of the lead organizers for the historic Chicago Mayoral Candidate Forum on LGBTQ Issues, which spurred the creation of a citywide coalition that includes over 30 different LGBTQ organizations and groups.
The Civil Rights Agenda along with The Civil Rights Agenda Fund (PAC) have adopted an ambitious strategy, details of which the groups says will be unveiled over the next few months.
"We have made great progress in our first year and will undoubtedly make even greater progress in the upcoming years," concluded Meister.