GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is pleased to announce the newest slate of leaders for the organization’s board of directors. At its December meeting, GLAD’s board elected Joyce Kauffman, attorney and former board Vice President, to serve as the organization’s next President. Kauffman, who has been a member of the GLAD board since 2012, will be joined by Darian Butcher as Vice President, Marlene Seltzer as Treasurer, and Darla Pires DeGrace as Clerk. Outgoing President Richard Yurko will continue on as a board member for another one-year term.

Kauffman, a 1992 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, is a lawyer with Kauffman Law & Mediation. She is a member of the Boston Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, and the National LGBT Bar Association. Kauffman also serves as a member of the National Center for Lesbian Rights’ National Family Law Advisory Council and of the Family Equality Emeritus Board. She has written and been interviewed extensively on the importance of securing legal protections for LGBTQ families, including in the New York Times.

“To be entrusted with leadership at GLAD, an organization that is vital to our current fight for LGBTQ equality and civil rights, is both an honor and a humbling responsibility,” said Kauffman. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to have served alongside outgoing President Richard Yurko, who steered the board expertly during the dramatically shifting legal and political climate of the past two years. I look forward to working with the other dedicated officers and members of GLAD’s board to continue the critical work of this organization.”

Incoming Vice President Darian Butcher is an Associate at Day Pitney LLP where she practices complex commercial litigation. She earned her J.D. from Boston University School of Law, and clerked for Massachusetts Appeals Court Justice R. Malcolm Graham (ret.). Darian previously served as Clerk of the Board from 2016 to 2018 and has been a Board member since 2014. Darian also serves on the board of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Incoming Treasurer Marlene B. Seltzer recently retired after 10 years as President and CEO of Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit focused on improving education and economic mobility for low income communities and individuals. She consults and speaks on systemic education reform and innovative workforce development practices aimed at improving education systems and labor market outcomes.  Prior to JFF, Marlene held a number of prominent positions in nonprofit management, government and workforce development.  She has served on numerous national and nonprofit boards over her career and currently serves on several boards aimed at improving economic and social mobility.  Seltzer holds an M.A. in labor economics from Northeastern University.

Incoming Clerk Darla Pires DeGrace is a Senior Recruiter at Reebok and founder of DeGrace Group, a diversity and inclusion consulting firm. Prior to launching DeGrace Group, Pires DeGrace served as Director of National Diversity Recruitment and Strategic Partnerships at City Year National Educational Non-Profit. She has served as President and CEO of the National Black MBA Association-Boston Chapter, and currently serves as Commissioner on Governor Charlie Baker’s Black Advisory Commission. As a first-generation college student, Pires DeGrace grew up in Cambridge and went on to earn an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Emmanuel College and later earned a Master of Science in Communications Management from Simmons College.

GLAD’s full list of board members can be found at www.glad.org/about/board-of-directors.

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Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.