Distinguished Service Award to Jeffrey D. Richardson

Presented by GLAA Vice President for Political Affairs Rick Rosendall

GLAA 41st Anniversary Reception
Washington Plaza Hotel
Thursday, April 26, 2012

Jeffrey Richardson is Director of the Mayor's Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs, where he has connected activists with key agency staff to get results; educated District employees on how to relate to LGBT people; assisted with the Mayor's Anti-Bullying Action Plan; promoted community capacity building; launched the LGBTQ Youth Taskforce; and conducted extensive community outreach.

Jeffrey brings to his job the empathy and service-oriented approach he developed as a social worker. In his prior post as president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, he was a steady leader who worked well with GLAA and other advocacy groups. During the final push for marriage equality, he helped ensure that our community presented a united front.

Jeffrey has worked for the Center for Progressive Leadership and the D.C. Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation. He was a researcher and program director at Howard University's DC-Baltimore Center on Child Health Disparities.

He is a former Vice Chair of the D.C. Democratic Party. In 2004 he helped form the D.C. for Democracy Political Action Committee, and was elected to the D.C. Democratic State Committee. He served as the First Vice President and Interim President of Ward 6 Democrats.

Jeffrey's recent schedule included attending a benefit for Youth Pride; giving LGBT cultural competency training to over 100 DDOT employees; DC's 2012 Fair Housing Symposium; the Mayor's Ward 2 budget town hall; the Stein Club Ward 5 endorsement meeting; and the Capital Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce awards dinner. He keeps up his busy schedule while remaining one of the nicest people in town.

It is my privilege and personal pleasure to present GLAA's Distinguished Service Award to Jeffrey D. Richardson.