Growing and glowing
Stonewall’s Board of Directors is growing and glowing. We’ve added a couple brilliant new individuals to our ranks, Mira and Melissa, and we’re excited to bring their unique experiences and expertise on board to help inform our work. Our Board is full of agents of change, even outside of the work they do for Stonewall. Read on to learn how Board members Rachel, Cecilia, and Neill are moving the needle on progress.
Introducing our new Board members
New members of Stonewall’s Board of Directors: Mira Patel (left), and Melissa Madzel (right)
Mira Patel (pronouns: they/them)
With their long history of working at the intersection of public, private, and philanthropic organizations to expand domestic and international economic opportunity, LGBTQ rights, and human rights, we're beyond excited to bring their expertise to our Board of Directors. In Mira's own words: "Stonewall represents both the foundation of solidarity on which our movement is built and the future of collective power we are driving towards."
Melissa Madzel (pronouns: she/her)
Melissa has a wealth of experience in the social justice and DE&I spaces, and we look forward to utilizing her expertise as we move Stonewall's mission forward. In Melissa's own words: "We're seeing now, more than ever, the impact that community-based philanthropy can have on marginalized communities. Joining the Board of the Stonewall Community Foundation is an absolute joy for me because I have the opportunity to partner with incredible leaders who are leveraging the power of giving for the communities that are closest to my heart." Welcome to the Board, Melissa!
Board members making waves
Building an equitable economy
Rachel Korberg (pronouns: she/her) isn’t just the President of Stonewall’s Board of Directors, she’s also the Executive Director of the newly-launched Families & Workers Fund. Founded in the early months of the pandemic, the Fund moved millions of dollars in direct cash grants to individuals who were locked out of federal and state support. Now, with over $51 Million in funding, the Families & Workers Fund is investing in innovative work to build a future in which everyone has access to economic security and opportunity – especially those who have been most locked out of the country’s prosperity.
Read more about Rachel’s work with the Families & Workers Fund at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The cover image from Cecilia Gentili’s NY Times piece “This Is What Will Make Sex Work In New York Safer”
Advocating for sex workers
“Criminalization of either side of the sex trade does not help protect sex workers, but rather merely perpetuates the social stigma that treats sex work as an inherently harmful activity.”
At Stonewall, we believe that those who are closest to the issues they face are the ones who are best equipped to bring about solutions. That’s why we look to leaders like brilliant Stonewall Board member, Cecilia Gentili (pronouns: she/her), when we wonder what we can be doing to keep sex workers safe. Cecilia, a former sex worker and the founder of Transgender Equity Consulting, penned an illuminating piece in the New York Times advocating for the full decriminalization of sex work. Check it out here!
New York owes nonprofits
“It is not reasonable for the government to outsource responsibility for meeting critical community needs and then starve the nonprofits doing the work. The best way for the city to celebrate front-line workers is to meet its most basic obligation to them: pay them, as agreed, for the work they’ve done.”
In this eye-opening piece for Philanthropy New York, Stonewall Board member Neill Coleman (pronouns: he/him) breaks down the many challenges government-contracted service organizations face as the City of New York delays hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to them. Check out the full article here.