The Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation is happy to announce that Arlene Rodriguez has been voted onto their board for a six-year term.
To fill their board vacancy, the Foundation did something different by asking for recommendations from their email list of about 3,000 contacts. They set priorities: a person of color, preferably a Latina/o; from the Midwest or South; and with experience in the issues the Foundation funds. The Noyes Nominating Committee reviewed 62 recommendations of female and male activists from across the country and selected a short list of eight from which five were interviewed.
Rodriguez is the Senior Director of Programs and External Relations of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, where she is responsible for the leadership, marketing and management of its core program areas. Prior to GLSEN, she oversaw Living Cities' knowledge management and evaluation work, and led the organization's external relationships, communications and public relations. Rodriguez worked for The San Francisco Foundation for eight years. She directed the environment program, and was the Director of the Foundation’s Organizational Sustainability and Leadership Development programs.
Additionally, Rodriguez was a Senior Program Officer for the Environment at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Director of Community Programs and Founding Director of the Crissy Field Environmental Center with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and Urban Program Director for the Western Region of The Trust for Public Land. Rodriguez is a native Chicagoan, who has lived in the South and in California, and now lives in Brooklyn.