Georgia Equality, the state’s largest gay rights group, tapped veteran Atlanta activist Jeff Graham to serve as the organization’s next executive director beginning April 14.
Graham, 43, was selected from about 30 candidates who participated in the nationwide search for a new executive director. Graham currently works as the director of advancement for Positive Impact, and formerly served as executive director of AIDS Survival Project for more than a decade.
“He is respected all over the state for his work, and he’s respected in all different types of communities,” said Allen Thornell, chair of Georgia Equality’s foundation board and co-chair of the search committee for the new executive director. “As [the demographics of HIV/AIDS] evolved, his organization matched that evolution, and I think he gained a whole lot of credibility in all different types of communities doing that.”
Graham’s activism history includes street demonstrations with ACT UP targeting the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention during the early days of AIDS, as well as working within the state’s public health bureaucracy to ensure treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. He called Georgia Equality “an ideal fit for me at this particular time.”
“I have always been someone who has prided myself on being able to make connections between movements and make connections between issues,” Graham said. “Building and participating in strong coalitions is an important part of community work.”
Graham will replace interim executive director Cathy Woolard, also the organization’s lobbyist. Woolard was appointed to the post in August to take over for Chuck Bowen, who left the organization in September 2006.
Georgia Equality’s staff also includes Kyle Bailey, political director, and Melinda Morgan, operations director.
With primary elections for the Georgia General Assembly four months away, followed by what’s expected to be an intense campaign until November, Graham said electoral issues will dominate his first few months as executive director.
“With this being an election year, the agenda really has been set for the next nine or 10 months for me,” said Graham, who is charged with implementing Georgia Equality’s “Campaign for a Fair Majority.”
Created last fall, the campaign targets General Assembly and municipal races in an attempt to remove anti-gay legislators and support gay-friendly candidates. The campaign also aims to increase the number of municipalities with domestic partnership and non-discrimination policies, and strengthen Georgia Equality affiliates in cities like Savannah, Augusta and Macon.
Graham’s extensive experience lobbying the Georgia General Assembly is one of the traits that made him an attractive candidate for the job, said Ronald Moore, chair of Georgia Equality’s political board and the other co-chair of the search committee.
“He knows his way around the Dome,” Moore said, referring to the state capitol. “We cannot wring our hands and think that because it’s a Republican-dominated state government, we have no chance of getting our issues heard.”
In addition to making Georgia Equality a more relevant political player, Graham is expected to help the organization get on more solid financial footing. The group cites an ambitious $500,000 budget to support its work through 2008.
“Internally, we’ll need his leadership in development work — fundraising, managing our donor base,” Moore said.
While leading AIDS Survival Project, Graham helped dramatically increase the organization’s budget. The AIDS non-profit was $40,000 in debt when Graham took over in 1994, but had an annual operating budget of $1.3 million by the time he resigned in March 2005.
“We wanted someone who had worked with an organization and knew how to take it from being a small organization and into being a big one,” said Thornell, who declined to discuss what Graham’s salary will be at Georgia Equality.
The upcoming primary elections in July force Graham and Georgia Equality to hustle to make an impact while it counts, Graham said.
“In so many contests, that’s actually when the state senator or state representative is elected,” Graham said of the primaries. “It’s not like we can build on activity until November, we have to move quickly.”
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mudshark770 on 3/29/0810:33 AM:
A very wise choice Georgia Equality made in selecting Jeff Graham for the next Executive Director position. It may be enough to draw me back into the activist mix. NOW! How about enticing back Mr. Larry Pellegrini as chief lobbyist? I will never understand to this very day why GA Equality allowed him to get disenchanted with the office politics of that organization back in 1997-98. To everyone in GA Equality leadership who can get Pellegrini back into your payroll fold, I will say that, if you're indeed successful, that I'll dance at your gay wedding and cry at your funeral.
