The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy and anti-defamation organization, today announced a new Board Member and the results of its annual election of officers. John Hadity and Susan Mindell will serve as Co-Chairs of the national Board of Directors, Collin Sam was re-elected to serve as Treasurer, and Mike Schaefer was re-elected to serve as Secretary.Read more after the jump.
Current Co-Chairs Yvette Burton, Ph.D., a Global Business Development Executive with the IBM Corporation, and Laurie Perper, a Managing Partner at Fusion Advisory Partners (NYC) both applauded the new officers. "We congratulate our new Board Member and officers, all who share our commitment to changing hearts and minds," Burton said.
John Hadity is the Chairman of the Producers Guild of America East and has a VP seat on the PGA’s national Board of Directors. Hadity is an independent producer and financier with over 20 years of studio experience, most recently having served as the Executive Vice President of Motion Picture & Television Production Finance for Miramax Films from 1993-2005. His other board service includes the executive committee for the Alumni Council of Hamilton College, and he previously served as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of GLAAD. At this weekend’s Board meeting, the Directors of GLAAD voted to extend term limits in order to keep Hadity engaged in a leadership role.
Susan Mindell is a Partner at Levine Plotkin & Menin, LLP in New York City representing clients in entertainment law, and specializing in all aspects of theater from development to production. She has been named in Media and Entertainment Section of “The Legal 500,” a directory of leading law firms and lawyers. She graduated with a B.A. from Emory University and received a J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. Mindell was instrumental in leading the creation of the 2009-2013 Strategic Plan for GLAAD. She has served on the Board of Directors since October 2005.
“Today more than ever, GLAAD’s work to amplify our voices, share our stories, and increase understanding of LGBT people, and the challenges we face is critical to our equality,” said Mindell.
“Susan and I are honored to work with our fellow Board Members and the staff to continue GLAAD’s work in delivering LGBT words and images to the public as we expand our media advocacy and anti-defamation work into the digital world and social media,” said Hadity.
Collin Sam will continue serving as Treasurer and has been a Board Member since February 2008. He is based in Pasadena where he is a Director of Business Strategy Reporting & Implementation at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. Mike Schaefer, based in Seattle, serves as Secretary, after joining the Board of Directors in February 2008.
The Board of Directors also welcomed new member James Walker. James Walker is a Senior Commercial Real Estate Executive with over twenty five years experience. He recently served as Chairman of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce as well as its Treasurer and has played an instrumental role in continuing the revitalization efforts of Silver Spring, MD. Walker is also currently a member of the board of Equality Maryland and serves as the organization's Development Committee Chair. He served as Chairman of Basic Rights Montgomery, a political advocacy organization to advocate for legal equality of the transgender community in Montgomery County, MD. He graduated from Harvard College and is also an alumni of Columbia Business School.
"The leadership of our Board has always been one of the most important resources to change hearts and minds,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “GLAAD welcomes our new Board Member, officers and their commitments to strengthen our LGBT advocacy work.”
