Lorri Jean
Encyclopedia
Lorri L. Jean is nationally recognized as one of the most seasoned and effective leaders in the LGBT
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) civil rights movement. Jean currently serves as CEO of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
, the world's largest LGBT organization with an annual budget exceeding $32 million dollars, a staff of over 200, and which serves more than a quarter million people every year. Immediately prior to her return, Jean spent two years as the Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
(NGLTF).
Jean has been a lesbian activist for almost 25 years. She served as the lead plaintiff in the successful landmark lawsuit against Georgetown University
to prohibit its discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
.
In 1993, Jean began her first six-year tenure at the helm of the Gay & Lesbian Center (to which she returned in June 2003). She led the Center through a period of unprecedented expansion, dramatically increasing the number of clients and volunteers, the diversity and volume of services, the number of staff, and the size of the budget. She also oversaw the purchase and renovation of a $7 million facility and built the nation's first $10 million dollar endowment fund in support of a LGBT organization.
During her tenure as executive director of NGLTF, Jean oversaw an organizational turnaround that brought the organization to financial solvency and increased the annual revenues to an all-time high of $5 million.
Prior to 1993, Jean spent ten years as an attorney with FEMA, including three years overseeing the disaster response and recovery operations of its largest region, where she was responsible for the management of a staff of 1,000 and a budget of more than $1 billion. Jean holds a Juris Doctor
degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Science degree in communication from Arizona State University
. In 2007, she was ranked 27th in Out Magazine's "50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America".
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) civil rights movement. Jean currently serves as CEO of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center provides a broad array of services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Its clinic and on-site pharmacy offers free and low-cost health, mental health, HIV/AIDS medical care and HIV/STD testing and prevention, although there are no direct...
, the world's largest LGBT organization with an annual budget exceeding $32 million dollars, a staff of over 200, and which serves more than a quarter million people every year. Immediately prior to her return, Jean spent two years as the Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community from the ground up. The Task Force is the country’s premier social justice organization fighting to improve the lives of LGBT people, and working to create positive, lasting...
(NGLTF).
Jean has been a lesbian activist for almost 25 years. She served as the lead plaintiff in the successful landmark lawsuit against Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
to prohibit its discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
.
In 1993, Jean began her first six-year tenure at the helm of the Gay & Lesbian Center (to which she returned in June 2003). She led the Center through a period of unprecedented expansion, dramatically increasing the number of clients and volunteers, the diversity and volume of services, the number of staff, and the size of the budget. She also oversaw the purchase and renovation of a $7 million facility and built the nation's first $10 million dollar endowment fund in support of a LGBT organization.
During her tenure as executive director of NGLTF, Jean oversaw an organizational turnaround that brought the organization to financial solvency and increased the annual revenues to an all-time high of $5 million.
Prior to 1993, Jean spent ten years as an attorney with FEMA, including three years overseeing the disaster response and recovery operations of its largest region, where she was responsible for the management of a staff of 1,000 and a budget of more than $1 billion. Jean holds a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, and a Bachelor of Science degree in communication from Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
. In 2007, she was ranked 27th in Out Magazine's "50 Most Powerful Gay Men and Women in America".