Friday, September 14, 2012

Tim Sweeney to step down as president and CEO of the Gill Foundation

Gill Foundation Founder and Board Chair Tim Gill announced today that Tim Sweeney (pictured) has informed the board he will end his term as president and CEO of the foundation before the end of 2013. The board will lead a search process to identify Sweeney’s replacement.

“Tim Sweeney’s excellent stewardship has placed the Gill Foundation in the strongest position in its history, and we’re grateful for his service to the foundation, the LGBT movement, and our home state of Colorado,” said Gill.

“Leading the Gill Foundation and working with Tim Gill has been a privilege,” said Sweeney. “I have been humbled by Tim’s generosity, and I am proud of what our staff and our board have accomplished together in the past five years. We were leaders in focusing resources on education and advocacy in the states to build national momentum for equality. We helped reimagine federal advocacy to ensure that agencies include LGBT concerns in administrative decisions. We increased the range and depth of non-gay ally organizations working to advance equality. In Colorado, we revitalized LGBT advocacy and helped build a national model for progressive infrastructure.”

“The foundation is positioned well to continue having a tremendous impact on the LGBT movement and on Colorado, and it’s the right time for me, personally, to return to my home in San Francisco and take on new challenges,” said Sweeney.

“Tim Sweeney is a true pioneer in the LGBT movement and not easy to replace,” said Gill. “From working with Harvey Milk in the ‘No on 6’ campaign, to leading organizations like Lambda Legal and Gay Men’s Health Crisis, to his service in philanthropy at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and the Gill Foundation, Tim’s 35 years of exemplary service in the movement has changed the lives of millions of Americans. We asked him to give us a year of transition when he decided to move on, and we appreciate that he has done that.”

“We’re confident that through this transition we will find the right person to lead the foundation into its next phase,” said Gill.