Kara Coredini will soon step down from her ED position at MassEquality.
Photo by: MassEquality
BOSTON, Mass.—After more than four years as Executive Director, Kara Coredini will be leaving MassEquality at the end of this year. Her last day will be December 31, 2014.
“For four years, I’ve had one of the greatest jobs in the Commonwealth. It’s been an honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our state’s diverse, strong and beautiful LGBTQ community, to partner with our inspiring pro-LGBTQ lawmakers and civic allies and to lead a team of incredibly talented and passionate board members, staff and volunteers,” said Coredini.
”I’m excited for the next six months to support the MassEquality boards in a smooth and thoughtful leadership transition, and to drive our endorsed pro-LGBTQ champions home to victory. And I look forward in the years ahead to cheerleading MassEquality’s continued success in advancing justice and equality from cradle to grave across issues, identities and communities.” [pullquote]”For four years, I’ve had one of the greatest jobs in the Commonwealth. It’s been an honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our state’s diverse, strong and beautiful LGBTQ community, to partner with our inspiring pro-LGBTQ lawmakers and civic allies and to lead a team of incredibly talented and passionate board members, staff and volunteers,” said Coredini.[/pullquote]
Coredini is credited with having successfully shepherded MassEquality through its POST-marriage strategic direction. With a vitalized focus on partnerships, policy reform, and politics, MassEquality forged vibrant relationships to address LGBTQ justice and equality with powerful allies such as the Chelsea Collaborative, Community Catalyst and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless; organized more than 500,000 constituent contacts with elected officials to pass over a dozen legislative initiatives; generated over 2,500 volunteer hours, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to successfully elect over 80 local, state and federal pro-LGBTQ candidates to office.
“Kara came to MassEquality as a highly respected movement strategist with deep experience building diverse coalitions and running statewide advocacy campaigns,” said Robb Johnson, chair of the MassEquality board. “Her vision and drive has been exactly what MassEquality needed to chart its post-marriage direction and continue its legacy as a national leader on LGBTQ issues.”
During Coredini’s tenure, MassEquality, together with its partners, has also:
- Passed statewide TRANSGENDER nondiscrimination protections in employment, housing, education and credit.
- Passed statewide anti-BULLYING protections for LGBTQ students.
- Secured the creation of the nation’s first statewide commissions to address issues facing HOMELESS LGBTQ youth and older LGBTQ adults.
- Secured groundbreaking action from Governor Deval Patrick prohibiting transgender INSURANCE exclusions in public and private insurance.
- Helped to improve prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS through passage of legislation streamlining HIV/AIDS testing.
- Doubled the number of the Commonwealth’s cities that prohibit discrimination against transgender people in PUBLIC accommodations.
- Secured over $3 million in the state budget for programs supporting LGBTQ youth, older LGBTQ adults and survivors of intimate partner VIOLENCE.
- Increased MassEquality’s number of financial supporters by 60%.
- Raised more than $4 million to support advocacy, public education and political efforts to advance LGBTQ equality across the Commonwealth.
“Kara has been visionary and effective at the helm of MassEquality, and we are grateful to her for her substantial contributions to equality and justice in our Commonwealth,” said MassEquality Education Fund board chair Robyn Ochs. “The lives of LGBTQ people in Massachusetts are better because of her leadership.” [pullquote]“Her vision and drive has been exactly what MassEquality needed to chart its post-marriage direction and continue its legacy as a national leader on LGBTQ issues.”—Robb Johnson, chair of the MassEquality board[/pullquote]
MassEquality remains committed to leveraging the breadth and depth of its recent accomplishments to continue its work of ensuring that everyone across Massachusetts can thrive without discrimination or oppression based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, including:
- Advocating for and winning public accommodations protections for the Commonwealth’s transgender communities.
- Ensuring LGBTQ elders have access to competent CARE.
- Protecting LGBTQ young people from bullying in schools and ensuring that their curriculum includes the information they need to make HEALTHY choices.
- Promoting the care and protection of the Commonwealth’s homeless YOUTH, approximately 40 percent of whom are LGBTQ.
- Challenging the silence and stigma attached to same-sex intimate partner VIOLENCE and HIV/AIDS.
- Advancing solutions that take into account the incredible disparities that LGBTQ communities of color and transgender communities experience across issues in Massachusetts.
The MassEquality boards of directors have launched a strategic planning process, supported by a generous gift from the Evelyn and WalterHaas Jr. Fund, which will include assessing the organization’s leadership needs going forward. The boards anticipate having an update to share in October, and more details about an executive search will be released at that time.
MassEquality is the leading statewide grassroots advocacy organization working to ensure that everyone across Massachusetts can thrive from cradle to grave without discrimination and oppression based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
[From a News Release]
