Nominees to the Board of Directors are listed below in alphabetical order.
The election will take place at the Annual Membership Meeting at 2 PM Sunday January 29 at the HV LGBTQ Center. The snow date is January 31. If you cannot attend the meeting, you can submit an online ballot no later than January 28, 2012.
Lyn Deshields
Kingston, NY (Ulster County)
Lyn brings a history of advocacy and support for the gay/lesbian rights movement to her candidacy. She helped to promote the first Gay Pride March in Seattle, served on the Gay Seattle Election Board and offered counseling for Seattle’s Gay and Lesbian Crisis/Suicide Hot Line. Quite familiar with the nonprofit world, Lynn served on the Board of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles and five years as the Commissioner and Chair of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Commission of West Hollywood, a city founded and run by the LGBT community. Since arriving in Kingston, she has been rehabilitating local properties and runs the alternative Café/Bar/Disco, @Broadway, with her partner JoAnne. Lyn’s goal, if elected, is to enhance the Center’s support and programming for youth.
JoAnne Myers
Kingston, NY (Ulster County)
Joanne has strong connections to the Center. As a Founding Member, she was instrumental in the development and writing of our bylaws. She is an Associate Professor of Political Science and co-director of the Women’s Studies Program at Marist College and served in the Cuomo and Koch Administrations. Her favorite positions were with NYC Department of Sanitation, and cooking on the Hudson River sloop Clearwater. Author of two reference books on the Lesbian Liberation movement (2003, 2009), she’s currently completing another on the lesbian and gay movements. She is the immediate past chair of the board of the Eleanor Roosevelt Center at Val-kill (2006-current). Other board service includes the Grace Smith House and Clearwater. Her goal is to involve the Marist community with the Center and to develop LGBTQ programming to counter battering.
Jan Whitman
Nanuet , NY (Rockland County)
Jan is a familiar presence here at the Center and throughout the Hudson Valley. From her start as the Public Service Director for WDST of Woodstock, she has an ongoing record of support for public service and for the LGBT community. She has served on the Orange County Safe Schools Coalition and as co-Chair of GLSEN Hudson Valley. Most prominently, as a Founding Member of the Center, while serving as our Vice President for a three-year term, 2005-07, Jan helped to draft the Center’s mission statement and bylaws and served on multiple committees. As the Director of the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley she has continued her career of service. Her goal, if elected, is to help to ensure the Center’s financial stability.
Robert Witkowski
New Paltz, NY (Ulster County)
A Hudson Valley resident for over 35 years, Robert resides in New Paltz and serves on the Board for Wallkill Valley Land Trust. He brings multiple skills to the Center from his extensive background in business. He has managed a large restaurant and began his career in information technology for Pawling Savings Bank, where he worked for over a decade. For the past twelve years, Robert served as the Vice President of Operations, Facilities Director and Dean of Students for SetFocus of Parsippany, NJ, which trains and places Microsoft professionals across the nation. If elected to the Board, Robert wants to use his background in business management and in IT to bring efficiencies to the Center.