After a four-month search, the board of directors of the William Way LGBT Community Center this week selected local activist Chris Bartlett to fill its executive-director position.
Bartlett, 44, will take on the task later this summer after wrapping up his duties as co-interim executive director of LGBT grantmaking agency Delaware Valley Legacy Fund.
Bartlett was one of 45 candidates who applied for the position, which was vacated by previous director ’Dolph Ward Goldenburg in the fall.
The center worked with search agency McCormick and Associates to reach out to potential candidates and eventually brought in six finalists for interviews with a search committee, which recommended Bartlett to the board, which in turn voted in favor of his selection.
Board co-chair Emilie Carr said the board was impressed with Bartlett’s “20-plus years of experience within the community and his enthusiasm in bringing the community together. He’s committed to bringing in new programs and reaching out to people we haven’t tried to before or haven’t done successfully. He brings in a new blood and a new flavor that we haven’t had before.”
Prior to taking the helm of DVLF in October, Bartlett, a native of Philadelphia, worked for several years as an independent contractor on projects with such agencies as the city’s AIDS Activities Coordinating Office and coordinating efforts such as the LGBT Community Assessment — a citywide study of the LGBT population — and the LGBT Leadership Initiative. He also currently facilitates the Gay Men’s Health Leadership Academy and, from 1991-2001, served as the executive director of The SafeGuards Project.
Bartlett said his extensive experience in the local LGBT community motivated him to apply for the executive-director position.
“I’ve been doing community organizing in the gay community in Philadelphia for about 20 years, and my mission has always been to bring together the diversity of our community so it seems like there’s no better place to do that work than at William Way,” he said.
The center is just wrapping up its five-year strategic plan, so one of Bartlett’s first responsibilities will be overseeing the creation and implementation of a new course.
He said one of his main priorities will be expanding the center’s fundraising capabilities.
“I want to build on the great work that ’Dolph did and continue to grow our donor base and the number of grants we get to support our programs,” he said. “That has to be key to our financial health and one of the most important pieces.”
Bartlett said he’s also committed to ensuring the center has a wide appeal to all members of the LGBT community.
“I’m really keen to make the center welcoming to all of the different communities under the LGBT umbrella. I want to be listening to and working with the entire community, both in the city and in neighborhoods outside that we’ve never really worked with before to grow participation. I’m eager to have energetic participation from all communities so that they can tell us where they see the center going.”
In particular, Bartlett said he wants to focus on reaching out to “20-somethings and 30-somethings,” as well as transgender communities and people of color.
Last month, the People of Color Coalition sent a letter to the center calling for heightened inclusion of people of color, which Bartlett said he’s eager and prepared to develop.
“One of my commitments across my career has been looking at how to have the LGBT community in Philadelphia have a powerful participation by people of color, transgender people, elders, youth, etc.,” he said. “We’re at the point now where William Way is a stable organization and in a place where we’re able to look at what communities can be better heard. We heard from the People of Color Coalition that they want us to put more energy into it and that’s exactly the same place that I come from.”
Bartlett said his own experiences working on behalf of diverse populations have emboldened his resolve to make sure the center represents the full spectrum of the LGBT community.
“My community training came out of ACT UP Philadelphia,” he said. “And over the past 20 years, I’ve been able to develop relationships and trust with the community and with leaders throughout the city. I already have that trust with key stakeholders, and I intend to develop that with those that I don’t yet have relationships with.”
Bartlett will attend William Way’s Building Bash, which begins at 5:30 p.m. June 5 at the center, 1315 Spruce St., to meet and greet center supporters.