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| National Gay and Lesbian
Task Force Leader to Speak in Boulder Nov. 1 |
Lorri Jean, executive director
of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is the featured
speaker at the sixth annual Monsoon dinner and auction
Nov. 1 to benefit the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
community of Boulder County.
The gala event is the major fundraiser of The Open Door
Fund of The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.
Jean will speak at the Spice of Life Event Center, 5706
Arapahoe Road in Boulder. A cash bar and a silent auction
begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m.
Jean was appointed executive director of the 28-year-old
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in May. She previously
served as executive director of the Los Angeles Gay &
Lesbian Center from 1993 to 1999. Under her leadership,
the center's annual budget grew from $8 million to $32
million and became the largest GLBT organization in the
world.
With Jean at the helm, the L.A. center launched Lambda
Medical Group, the first-of-its-kind HMO/managed care
practice, and opened three state-of-the-art medical facilities.
Jean also co-founded the National Association of LGBT
Community Centers, a coalition of centers serving the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
From 1986 to 1988, Jean was president of Washington, D.C.'s
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance and was the lead plaintiff
in a landmark lawsuit against Georgetown University charging
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Jean previously was the deputy regional director of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in San Francisco,
where she oversaw the disaster response and recovery operations
of FEMA's largest region. She also served as associate
general counsel at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
She holds a law degree from Georgetown University and
a bachelor's degree in communication from Arizona State
University. She and her partner of nine years, attorney
Gina M. Calvelli, live in Los Angeles.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has worked to
eliminate prejudice, violence and injustice against gay,
lesbian, bisexual and transgender people at the local,
state and national level since 1973. It has satellite
offices in New York, Cambridge, Mass., and will soon open
another in Los Angeles.
The Monsoon dinner supports The Open Door Fund, which
has provided nearly $160,000 to worthy groups that work
with the gay and lesbian community in Boulder County in
areas including civil rights issues, workplace discrimination,
relationship and mental health counseling, cultural events
and networking.
Previous recipients of Open Door Fund grants include the
CU-Boulder Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Resource
Center; Boulder Valley Women's Health Clinic; Boulder
County Safehouse; Safe Schools; Teens Inc.; and the Boulder
and Longmont chapters of Parents, Families and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Grants also have supported
cultural events by the choral group Sound Circle and the
Goddess Theatre.
Tickets are $85 per person and are partially tax-deductible.
For reservations or information call (303) 442-0436.
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