Task Force Names Russell Roybal New Deputy Executive Director

Reverend Darlene Nipper to Leave Organization at the end of March

Washington, DC, March 13, 2015 — The National LGBTQ Task Force (“Task Force”) has announced that long-time lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) movement leader Russell Roybal, the organization’s current Deputy Executive Director of External Relations and former head of the movement building department, will become the new Deputy Executive Director. At the end of the month, Reverend Darlene Nipper will be leaving the Task Force following six years serving as the Deputy Executive Director of the organization. Nipper has accepted a senior position at the Rockwood Leadership Institute.

 “Russell is an extraordinary leader who brings a combination of deep movement experience, strategic thinking and an invaluable sense of fun to our work. I am very excited to work with him and our staff to deliver our next phase of growth, engaging millions more people in the work we do to deliver freedom, justice and equality for all LGBTQ people and their families,” said Rea Carey, National LGBTQ Task Force Executive Director.

Under his current role, Roybal is responsible for overseeing the organization’s fundraising work and ensuring that the Task Force increases the visibility of the broad range of issues affecting LGBTQ people. A noted fundraiser, trainer, and LGBTQ movement leader, he previously worked with the Gill Foundation for over six years. Roybal is a former board member of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and a former board chair of the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT), a nonprofit group focused on building the fundraising skills of people of color and others working for social justice. He currently serves as a board member of the International Imperial Court System.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work toward full freedom and justice for LGBTQ people and I look forward to continuing this work in a new capacity at the Task Force. It’s been an honor and privilege working alongside Darlene to secure basic rights and protections for LGBTQ people all across the U.S. Her heart, talent, insight, and nurturing leadership have propelled our organization’s work forward and the entire Task Force family will truly miss having Darlene on our team,” said Roybal.

“Congratulations to Russell for his appointment as the new deputy executive director. This is a bittersweet moment for me—I’m excited about the unique opportunity at Rockwood to continue my professional journey, to do new things and to meet new challenges, but I am also going to miss my family here at the Task Force so much. It has been one of my life’s joys to be part of an organization so committed to racial, economic and gender justice. I will always be intensely interested in the future of this great organization. I know that people in communities large and small across the country will continue to be drawn to the Task Force in the coming years because our values, mission and work continue to resonant with so many,” said Nipper.

During her tenure at the Task Force, Nipper oversaw the continued development and increased focus of the organization’s policy, advocacy and grassroots organizing programs. She led the restructuring of the organization’s faith work, and the organization’s leadership development and training programs to increase the diversity of the LGBTQ movement and to increase the number of people with skills to create change at the local, state and national levels. Nipper also shepherded the organization through two significant strategic planning processes.

“Darlene is one of our movement’s outstanding leaders and has been a true partner to me in this work. Many of the achievements that we can all feel proud of can be traced back to Darlene’s leadership. We will miss her so much, and on behalf of the extended Task Force family we wish her success with her new role at Rockwood — building leadership for the entire progressive movement. We will all benefit from her continued work to build strong leaders.  And as we say at the Task Force, ‘once you’re in, you’re in,’ so I know that our partnership together will be continuing in new and exciting ways,” said Carey.

–30–

To learn more about the National LGBTQ Task Force, follow us on Twitter: @TheTaskForce.

Media Contact:
Jorge Amaro
Media and Public Relations Director
(Office) 202.639.6306
(Cell) 213.842.7564
jamaro@thetaskforce.org