Seasoned LGBT movement veteran Kara Suffredini has extensive background advancing laws that promote justice and fairness
BOSTON, August 18, 2010 —MassEquality announces today that it has named Kara Suffredini, Esq. its new executive director. Suffredini was, most recently, the Director of Public Policy and Community Engagement for the Family Equality Council (FEC).
“We are thrilled. Kara is a talented attorney and policy maker and she has extensive experience running statewide advocacy campaigns,” said Sara Whitman, chair of the MassEquality Board of Directors. “She is a visionary thinker and a highly regarded LGBT movement strategist. We are confident that Kara will bring us to the next level of LGBT advocacy in Massachusetts.”
While at the Family Equality Council, Suffredini designed advocacy campaigns around legal and policy initiatives impacting LGBT families at the local, state, and federal level. She also led community-building initiatives focused on local service organizations, schools, LGBT groups, and online communities. Throughout her career, she has trained hundreds of activists, lawmakers, and policymakers on grassroots organizing and community building. She has written hundreds of bills promoting LGBT equality and provided technical assistance on hundreds more. Last month, the National LGBT Bar Association named her one of the “Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40.”
“This is an amazing opportunity,” said Suffredini. “My goal for MassEquality is simple. I want this organization to lay the legal, policy, community-, and coalition-building framework to ensure that every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender person in Massachusetts is protected from cradle to grave — with equal rights and opportunities in school, in marriage and family life, at work and in retirement.”
Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of FEC, thanked Suffredini for her years of service to LGBT families, and added: “As a long-time Massachusetts resident and the executive director of a national, non-profit educational and advocacy organization, I can think of no one better than Kara Suffredini to lead MassEquality in this next phase of its work. I look forward to working closely with MassEquality to advance equality, ensure acceptance, and promote the vibrancy of the state's LGBT community.”
Sue Hyde, chair of the board of directors of the MassEquality Education Fund, and who worked with Suffredini when Suffredini was a state legislative director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, highlighted Suffredini’s experience working with multiple state organizations on laws advancing justice and fairness for LGBT people. “Kara is a seasoned movement leader who knows how to build diverse coalitions,” said Hyde. “That’s exactly what we need to pass the Transgender Civil Rights Bill, to eliminate LGBT health care disparities, and to make our schools safer for all students.”
Suffredini holds a law degree from Boston College Law School and started her legal career as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Joette Katz on the Connecticut Supreme Court. From there she worked as an associate at Updike, Kelly, and Spellacy, P.C. in Connecticut. In 2004 she joined the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force as its state legislative director, where she worked until 2008 when she joined the Family Equality Council. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley and lives in Somerville with her partner. She will begin working at MassEquality September 7.
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MassEquality works to achieve full equality for the LGBT Community. We're protecting marriage equality and promoting a full Equality Agenda in Massachusetts and supporting other states in winning marriage equality.
