Rest is radical

Stonewall’s Executive Director, Jarrett Lucas, speaks at the 2022 Vision Awards at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City on June 16, 2022.

This August, Stonewall’s Board and staff welcomed our Executive Director, Jarrett Lucas, back to the office as they returned from a sabbatical. Back in May, just as things were ramping up for the busy - and often chaotic - Pride season, the team here at Stonewall said “see ya later!” to Jarrett as they headed out on a well-deserved 3-month break. After more than ten years of tireless leadership at the helm of this organization — a decade steeped in critical LGBTQ Movement building — it was time for them to step back and take a pause, and we’re grateful to our Board of Directors for understanding the value and necessity of rest. Rest is a vastly undervalued resource in the nonprofit sector, in which leaders are routinely expected to put the work first, and their own wellbeing second. But if our leaders are unable prioritize their wellbeing, how can we expect our Movement to continue powering forward?

Earlier this summer, at the 2023 Vision Awards in June, our Board President, Rachel Korberg, shared some brilliant insight on the radical power of rest:

“How do we continue to fight, and to find joy in these moments, and to build the future we need without sacrificing our own wellbeing in the process? I want to acknowledge that Jarrett Lucas, our visionary, beautiful, and incredible Executive Director is not here tonight, and this is the first Vision that they haven't attended since joining Stonewall over a decade ago. And that is because they're on a 3-month board-approved — board-blessed! — sabbatical.

Rest! It is not easy to rest, especially when our people are under attack, when our people are under assault. There's so much work to do, but this rest is really necessary. And I think what Jarrett's sabbatical has really taught me is that there are different seasons. There are seasons when we need to lean in and support others in their rest, and there are seasons when we need to grant ourselves that rest. To continue to build the power we need to create the world that we all want to live in, we need to not only invest in our Movement and in this work, but we also need to invest in care and rest for ourselves and for each other.”

The season is changing, and we’re glad to have Jarrett back working alongside us to move Stonewall’s mission, and our Movement, forward. We hope to see more nonprofit boards - especially those of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC-led organizations - supporting their staff in similar ways in the years to come. Let’s continue to care for our people!