Press

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force today announced the addition of activists Alexis Sainz and Dan Hawes as field organizers to its program staff. Both Sainz and Hawes bring considerable grassroots organizing experience to the Task Force - Sainz as a result of her efforts in the area of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) youth and people of color issues and Hawes as labor organizer.

Sainz is a graduate of the Task Force's 1995 Youth Leadership Training Institute, the first GLBT youth training institute of its kind in the country. Sainz's focus will be primarily on youth and family issues and will include coordinating the Task Force's annual Youth Leadership Institute, which is scheduled this year for August 5 - 9. Hawes will serve as NGLTF's staff coordinator of the Federation of LGBT Statewide Political Organizations. In addition, he will provide technical assistance and support to activists across the country on a variety of issues. Hawes replaces Tracey Conaty who now serves as the Task Force's communications director.

"We are thrilled to bring both Alexis and Dan on board. They each bring with them exceptional experience, enthusiasm, and dedication to grassroots organizing," said Kerry Lobel, NGLTF executive director. "These hires reflect NGLTF's ongoing commitment to grassroots organizing in general, and youth, families, and state and local issues specifically," she added.

Dan Hawes

Dan Hawes comes to the Task Force by way of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), where he served as an organizer for four years, including as National Coalition Coordinator. In that position, he organized a nationwide coalition of GLBT, women's rights, civil rights, environmental, and Latino groups to take actions to improve the wages and working conditions of strawberry workers. Hawes also advocated on federal legislative issues affecting farm workers.

Alexis Sainz

Along with graduating from NGLTF's 1995 youth leadership institute, Sainz was co-chair of the steering committee for the Youth Institute at NGLTF's Creating Change conference in 1997. She graduated from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where she was the co-chair of DaGLO (Dartmouth Gay and Lesbian Organization). At Dartmouth, she was also active in La Alianza Latina and Dartmouth's Women's Resource Center. Sainz comes to the Task Force by way of the Electronic Commerce Practice at KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, where she served as a consultant specializing in internet computing.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.