A local LGBT foundation and grantmaking agency announced this week it has hired a new executive director.
John Moeller Jr. will take the helm of the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund on Feb. 1.
Moeller, 32, was most recently the director of development for Planned Parenthood of Bucks County, a position he held for six years.
Mark Mitchell, DVLF board president, said Moeller was offered the job last month after Michael Kendrick, who had been with the agency since August, resigned.
The board hired Kendrick after an eight-month national search; Moeller had also applied during that search.
Due to the transition DVLF has undergone in the past year — including a new board president, interim co-executive directors and the hiring and resignation of an executive director — Mitchell said Moeller will be focused on taking the organization to the next level in fundraising and connecting with the community.
“Moeller will work closely with the advisory council and will work to reinvigorate the Barbara Gittings Circle,” which includes individual donors who give more than $1,000, said Mitchell.
Moeller will also focus on co-sponsoring events with other organizations to build the community — a sentiment the new director echoed.
“I’m really looking at DVLF as a community fund,” Moeller said. “DVLF really needs to be connecting with the community. Connections have been lost in this year of transition, and we need to rebuild those connections and make new ones.”
Moeller, who is openly gay, added he would work to expand the organization’s reach into the counties surrounding the city.
“DVLF is already in Bucks County, so we need to be looking to Montgomery, Delaware and Chester counties. How can we expand out and meet their needs, as well as build partnerships there?”
Moeller, who has an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management, said he’s honored to be working in the LGBT community in this capacity.
“I’m really excited and honored to be in the LGBT community, to be connecting and reconnecting with those in the community, and also building new relationships.”
While at Planned Parenthood, Moeller oversaw two development programs totaling $1.3 million annually.
Moeller, who lives in Queen Village, is currently treasurer of networking group Our Night Out, and served on the board of directors of FACT Bucks County from 2008-10.
Mitchell said interim executive director Sandra Thompson will stay with DVLF as director of operations and will be responsible for grant writing.
Interim co-executive directors Thompson and Chris Bartlett took over management of DVLF when Perry Monastero resigned in 2010 to take a position with Mazzoni Center. Bartlett departed in July to head the William Way LGBT Community Center.
Moeller said DVLF is planning two meet-and-greets, one in Philadelphia and one in Bucks County, for late February or early March.
For more information, visit www.dvlf.org.