LaDawn Best will serve a second year as board chair. Justin Potier has been elected to the position of vice chair, and Ron Nelson has been elected treasurer. Sylvia Rodemeyer will continue on as the agency’s board secretary.
Additionally, local residents and community leaders Otis Hogan and Jay Hong have been elected to join The Center’s governing board of directors.
Best currently works as the executive director at Peer Health Exchange Los Angeles, a national nonprofit organization that provides health education and mentorship services to teenagers. Previously, she worked at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, where she provided support to LGBTQ victims of domestic violence. A graduate of the African-American Board Leadership Institute, Best holds both a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and a master’s in education with an emphasis on leadership and change from Antioch University.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”200px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Screen-Shot-2016-12-22-at-12.14.17-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Sylvia Rodemeyer” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] “I am incredibly honored to serve another year leading our incredibly dedicated board of directors,” Best said. “I am equally thrilled we have voted on two new members who I know will serve our LGBTQ community faithfully and exceptionally well.”
Potier is currently a vice president at Boardwalk Properties in Long Beach and previously served as the president of the Pride Real Estate Professional Organization.
Nelson currently serves as the executive director for the Long Beach Museum of Art.
Rodemeyer works for CSULB, providing digital and social media content for the university and is a co-founder of AMP Org, a nonprofit serving queer and trans youth in Long Beach. This is her third term as secretary.
Hogan has lived in Long Beach for over three decades and serves on the Long Beach Human Relations Commission and is active in Long Beach neighborhood groups and committees. He lives in north Long Beach with his partner of over two decades, Ralph Brooks.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”200px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Screen-Shot-2016-12-22-at-12.13.40-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”LaDawn Best” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off”] Hong, a recent transplant to Long Beach, retired from a career as a corporate executive and now spends time as the executive director for Art Exchange Long Beach. He lives with his longtime partner in Belmont Shore.
The new executive committee, along with the full board of directors, will provide strategic oversight and fundraising support to an organization that has tripled its budget and quadrupled staffing over the last five years. The Center’s annual budget, over $1,500,000 for 2017, is the largest budget managed by the organization in over a decade.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”200px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Screen-Shot-2016-12-22-at-12.13.54-PM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Ron Nelson” captionposition=”right” revealfx=”off”] “Our board of directors are truly dynamic, talented and thoughtful leaders in our LGBTQ community,” said The Center Executive Director Porter Gilberg. “It is an honor and a privilege to work alongside such a dedicated team of volunteers. I am thrilled to welcome Otis and Jay to our center.”
