Farewell to Jarrett Lucas, Stonewall’s longest-serving Executive Director

Jarrett Lucas at the 2022 Vision Awards at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in NYC on June 16, 2022. Photo by Leandro Justen.

After more than 10 years of dedicated service as Executive Director, Jarrett Lucas has made the decision to step out of this role and make space for new leadership at Stonewall Community Foundation. Their nearly 14-year tenure, which began with consulting, has been transformational to Stonewall, making this bittersweet transition one of incredible opportunity—not loss. Stonewall is better positioned than ever to address the resource needs of LGBTQ people nationwide, and much of that is the product of Jarrett’s steadfast and brilliant leadership.

During Jarrett’s time here, we have seen: a major scaling up of organizational operations, including Stonewall’s staff growing from two to seven positions; a steady increase of our grantmaking output, which is soon to surpass $26M in lifetime grants and ranks Stonewall among the top three LGBTQ foundations in the U.S. by number of grants made; the solidifying of Stonewall’s reputation as an equitable, trusted, and trusting funder, awarding more than 80% of grants as unrestricted support each year; the tripling of our assets under management, positioning Stonewall as one of the largest queer nonprofits in the nation; and an evolved articulation and practice of our values to explicitly center racial and social justice, with 107 of 189 nonprofits currently funded by Stonewall being BIPOC-led.

As leaders of Stonewall’s Board of Directors, we are celebrating Jarrett’s accomplishment of the mission they embraced back in 2013 when stepping into the ED role: to steward Stonewall to a place of strength and abundant possibility for the LGBTQ community in NYC and beyond.

Over the years, Jarrett has been vocal in challenging the false dichotomy of being either a benefactor or a beneficiary in philanthropy, and they’ve been diligent in making Stonewall’s own work accessible. Today, Stonewall’s Fund Partner Program, which houses all of our grantmaking, from emergency response to dozens of donor-advised funds, is anchored by purposeful partnerships—with billion dollar businesses and powerhouse couples, but also multigenerational working families and passion-aligned groups of young people giving $10 or $25 a month.

Jarrett also led Stonewall through a successful rebrand that’s resulted in unprecedented and growing visibility. They’ve leveraged that visibility to expand institutional giving and develop global partnerships and funding initiatives with companies like Levi Strauss & Co., L’Oréal, American Express, and General Motors.

We’ve been actively planning for Jarrett’s departure since the fall. They will wrap their work as ED at the end of February, and a national search, led by Koya Partners, will soon launch to find their successor. With support from our community, we anticipate bringing on Stonewall’s next ED this summer. Internally, the Board has established two committees, one dedicated to steering the search itself, and another organized around the longer-term work of transition, including a thorough and thoughtful onboarding of our next ED. Our full Board and staff, along with Jarrett, are likewise focused on the work of setting that individual up for success.

We intend to keep our community updated as this process unfolds. In the meantime, know that we have a plan in place to ensure Stonewall’s critical work continues without disruption and also serves as a beacon for the quality of leadership that will see our mission thrive for years to come. Our senior staff alone have a collective 25+ years of history with the Foundation, and their leadership, alongside a team of consultants who know and love Stonewall, will anchor day-to-day continuity for our partners and our work.

We’re deeply grateful for Jarrett’s inspired, indelible work as Stonewall’s longest-serving Executive Director. At the heart of our work is a drive to nurture and fuel LGBTQ+ Movement leadership and care for our community, and we’re clear that this transition is a vital expression of that responsibility.

In community,

Rachel Korberg, President of the Board of Directors
Melissa Mazel, Vice President of the Board of Directors
Medina, Vice President of the Board of Directors