March 23, 2011 -The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA), an Illinois statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, has announced their newly formed governing board and newly appointed executive director, Anthony Martinez. With the addition of four new governing board members, the board has now grown to 14: Dave Barker, Tommy Bennett, Lindsey Dietzler, Rich Jacobs, Lowell Jaffe, Maggie Koehler, Jacob Meister, Linda Pauel, Phillip Reese, Alexander Sewell and Mike Simmons.
“We have put together a diverse board whose members bring tremendous knowledge and abilities to TCRA,” said 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. We have made great progress in our first year and will undoubtedly make even greater progress in the upcoming years.”
Additionally, in the past month, the governing board voted to appoint Anthony Martinez as the executive director. Martinez, 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. Since working with TCRA, he successfully led the TCRA lobbying and advocacy efforts surrounding the Civil Union legislation that was recently signed into law. Prior to that effort and during the 2010 election, he coordinated the LGBTQ outreach program in association with the Illinois Democratic Coordinated Campaign that turned out more than 70,000 statewide LGBTQ and allied regular voters. Also, 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.
“I am very excited to continue my work with The Civil Rights Agenda,” Martinez said. “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. As we move forward, I want to continue to build on our mission of coalition building and empowering those in the community that have historically been excluded or marginalized in the movement for equality. 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. I must say, our team is excited for the challenge.”
The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA) continues the fight for individual rights through coalition building and leadership, supporting communities with the necessary tools that will equip them with the resources and confidence to establish equality for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Please find us online at www.jointcra.org or email us at info@jointcra.org.