Join NCLR for a panel featuring our Founder, Donna Hitchens, former Executive Directors Roberta Achtenberg and Kate Kendell, and current President Imani Rupert-Gordon.

The panel will be moderated by Olga Talamante, former board member for NCLR.

This is a hybrid event. The in-person event, which will be held in San Francisco, CA at Chan National Queer Arts Center, is sold out. Registration for the livestream is still open. This event will be recorded and shared.

Please note that space is limited for in-person attendance. If you have questions please contact us at development@nclrights.org.

Speaker Bios:

• Olga Talamante is Executive Director Emerita of the Chicana Latina Foundation (CLF). She became the first Executive Director of CLF in January 2003 serving in that position until March of 2018.  CLF’s mission is the Empowerment of Chicanas/Latinas through their Personal, Educational, and Professional Advancement. In her position she oversaw the granting of thousands of dollars to Latina college students and founded the organization’s pioneering Leadership Institute that has graduated over 700 Latina social justice leaders. Prior to those fifteen years with CLF, she held various positions, including Regional Vice President, from 1986-2002 at INROADS, a career and leadership organization for students of color. Olga’s family migrated from Mexico to Gilroy, California in the early 1960’s where they worked in the farm fields for several years. Those formative years formed the basis for her activism as an organizer and supporter of the nascent United Farm Workers labor union. She is widely respected for her community activism and leadership. During the mid-seventies, she became well known for her experience as a political prisoner in Argentina. As a result of a successful grass-roots campaign, she was released after spending 16 months in prison. Since her return to the United States, she remained active in the Chicano, Latin American Solidarity, LGBTQ and progressive political movements. Some of her awards include, the Cesar Chavez Legacy Award, the San Francisco Latino heritage Award, the GLBT Historical Society Award, the Horizons Foundation Visionary Award and the Commonwealth Club Distinguished Citizen Award. Olga served as co-chair of the Horizons Foundation Board, National Center for Lesbian Rights Board and currently serves on the boards of El Concilio of San Mateo County, The Greenlining Institute, Chicana Latina Foundation, and is co-chair of the Caravan for the Children, which continues to advocate for the reunification and healing of the children separated at the border. She holds a B.A. from University of California Santa Cruz, and Honorary Doctorate from the University of San Francisco.
• Donna Hitchens graduated from Boalt Hall (now Berkeley Law School) in 1977 and founded the Lesbian Rights Project the same year. While carrying cases for the Lesbian Rights Project, Donna also worked as a part time attorney for Equal Rights Advocates. After her tenure with the Lesbian Rights Project, she worked briefly with the ACLU and in private practice.  Donna was elected to the San Francisco Superior Court in 1990 becoming the first lesbian in the country to be elected to a judicial position.  She served a term on the California Judicial Council where she continued her work in judicial education and access to the courts on behalf of LGBTQ people.  Donna and her beloved spouse, Nancy, will celebrate their 49th anniversary this year.  They were one of the first same sex couples to co-adopt and the first same sex couple to successfully accomplish a second parent adoption. They were represented by the LRP.  Donna and Nancy have 2 wonderful adult daughters and 2 amazing grandchildren.
• Roberta Achtenberg has more than 30 years of senior- level leadership experience in business, government, and law, and currently serves on private-sector and public-sector boards and as a corporate advisor in public policy. Achtenberg is a former Commissioner of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011.  She served for 15 years as a Trustee of the California State University System and for two years as its Chair.  She is the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Bank of San Francisco.  She also spent five years as a Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco where she chaired the Affordable Housing Committee. Achtenberg served in the Clinton Administration—first as Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and later as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She co-led the HUD Agency Review Team for the Obama Transition. She is also a former elected member of the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors. Achtenberg was the first Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and a co-founder and former co-chair of BALIF. Additionally, Achtenberg’s 1993 appointment as Assistant Secretary in the Clinton Administration made her the first openly LGBTQ person to be nominated by a President and confirmed by the US Senate.
• For 22 years, Kate Kendell led NCLR. Kate stepped down from this role at the end of 2018. From August 2019 to May 2021 Kate was the Interim Chief Legal Officer at the Southern Poverty Law Center. In June 2021 Kate became the first-ever Chief of Staff at The California Endowment. Growing up Mormon in Utah, Kate learned about the complexities of religion and politics from an early age. After receiving her J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law in 1988 and a few years practicing corporate law, she pursued her real love—civil rights advocacy—and became the first staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah. There she directly litigated many high-profile cases focusing on all aspects of civil liberties, including reproductive rights, prisoners’ rights, free speech, the rights of LGBTQ people, and the intersection of church and state. In 1994 she joined NCLR as legal director, and was named executive director two years later. Under her leadership, NCLR’s programs, budget, and impact grew exponentially, and the issues facing the LGBTQ community—the safety of LGBTQ youth, violence facing transgender women of color, draconian immigration policy, criminal justice reform and the freedom to marry—have taken center stage in our nation’s discussion of civil rights and justice for the LGBTQ community. Kate is a nationally recognized spokesperson and has an active voice in major media. Kate’s most rewarding responsibilities include fostering alliances and building inclusive cultures on the community and organizational levels and advocating from an intersectional perspective in pursuit of racial and social justice and an end to oppressive structures.
• Imani Rupert-Gordon is the President of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Before joining NCLR, Imani served as the Executive Director for Affinity Community Services. Affinity is a LGBTQ social justice organization honoring the experiences of Black LGBTQ women. She also served as the Director of the Broadway Youth Center, part of Howard Brown Health in Chicago, serving LGBTQ youth experiencing housing instability. Imani is a nationally recognized leader and well known for her visionary leadership. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including being named to The Root 100 list, recognizing her as one of the most influential Black leaders in the country, as well as receiving the Judith Butler Award by The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice for her strong commitment to social change, leadership, and innovative approaches to the field of social work. Imani is cited as an expert on a range of topics including LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, gender justice, and has been featured in several news outlets including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and NPR, ABC, CBS, and Fox. Imani received a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.