Panelist Bios:
Stephanie K. Blackwood
Co-founder, double platinum
In September 2001, Stephanie co-founded double platinum, a full-service marketing communications agency that specializes in the gay and lesbian market and is affiliated with the Publicis Groupe, a global network of nearly 1,000 marketing agencies.
Double Platinum's award-winning work has supported brands of Fortune 500 clients, including Allstate, IBM, ING, Lexus, Procter & Gamble, Pernod Ricard USA, Nationwide and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among others, and highly respected nonprofits such as The Gill Foundation, GLSEN and Lambda Legal.
Stephanie had previously started or partnered in three other GLBT-focused businesses: Spare Parts (1995), Blackwood and Friends Public Relations (1991) and the New York office of The Advocate, where she was Associate Publisher and Vice President. Prior to moving to New York, she worked at The Ohio State University, holding communications and management-related positions in women’s athletics, central administration and the University Galleries of Fine Art.
Stephanie speaks frequently at seminars, workshops and universities on GLBT marketing best practices, including the 2003 ANA Multicultural Marketing Conference, 2003, 2004 and 2006 Out and Equal Summits, 2005 Echelon Marketing Conference, 2006 NGLCC Conference in Montreal. In 2007, she has spoken at the NGLCC Annual Conference in Miami, Midwest GLBT Marketing Conference in Minneapolis, AARP Conference on Aging and Diversity in Los Angeles, Pride Company Conference in Amsterdam and IGLCC Global Summit in Barcelona. She volunteers extensively in the GLBT community and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and Commercial Closet Association. Additionally, she is an advisor to the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission and Live Out Loud. www.doubleplatinum.biz
Ana L. Oliveira
President & CEO, The New York Women's Foundation
Ana Oliveira became the President & CEO of The New York Women's Foundation in February 2006. She has worked in the health and human services field for over 20 years, developing programs for vulnerable populations throughout NYC.
She served as the first woman and Latina Executive Director of Gay Men's Health Crisis for over seven years, overseeing a complete turn-around of the agency. Before working at GMHC, Oliveira directed innovative community-based programs at Samaritan Village, the Osborne Association, Kings County and at Lincoln Hospitals. Oliveira was a member of the New York City HIV Planning Council and was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to the New York City Commission on AIDS in 2004.
Her awards feature: Mutual Welfare League Certificate, (Osborne Association); Liberty Award, (Lambda Legal & Education Defense Fund); Community Service Award (Empire State Pride Agenda); and Rosie Perez Fuerza Award, (Latino Commission on AIDS). She was profiled in Newsweek (2005) as "America's Best," a series highlighting ordinary individuals using their extraordinary vision on behalf of others.
Oliveira was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and resides in Manhattan. She has an M.A. in Medical Anthropology from the New School for Social Research and is a Licensed Acupuncturist.
Judith Turkel
Partner, Turkel Forman & de la Vega LLP
In the early 1980's Judith was one of the founding Board members of the lesbian and gay bar association in New York, then known as Bar Association for Human Rights (now known as Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York or LeGaL).
From 1984 to 1990, Judith served on the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, as a member of the Executive Committee and as Co-Chair from 1987 to 1989. From 1993 to 1996, Judith was Vice President of the Board of the Paul Rapoport Foundation, then a ten million dollar foundation which funds organizations working on behalf of lesbians, gay men and people with AIDS. Judith joined the Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center Board of Directors in 1994 and served as President from 1995 through 2000. Judith joined the Board of SAGE (Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders - in August 2005 and was elected Co-Chair of the Board in December 2006.
Judith's primary areas of private law practice include non-traditional family law, (including donor agreements, second parent adoptions, parenting agreements), residential real estate, advance directives such as health care proxies and powers of attorney as well as wills and estates with a special emphasis on the needs of lesbians, gay men, people of transgender experience and others in unrecognized or non-traditional families.
Professional Affiliations - Member: New York County Lawyer's Association; Member: New York State Bar Association (Family Law and Real Estate Sections); Member: Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York (LeGaL)
Lecturer/Conference Presenter: New York County Lawyers Association: Making it Legal; New York State Bar Association Civil Rights Committee Program on Practical Approaches to the Legal Issues Facing Lesbians and Gay Men; Practicing Law Institute Program on Legal Issues Facing the Non-Traditional Family; Progressive Family Agenda Conference; NYS Judicial Training Panel on Non-Traditional Family Law; Lesbians at Law; LeGaL; and presenter/lecturer for community-based and other groups including Center Kids, Lesbian Cancer Initiative and The New York Community Trust.
Cuc Vu
Chief Diversity Officer, Human Rights Campaign
Cuc Vu came to the United States with her family as U.S. troops were evacuating Vietnamese refugees during the Vietnam War. Today, Vu works for the Human Rights Campaign to broaden community support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality and to make diversity a critical element of HRC's culture.
Vu has, among many professional experiences, worked as the immigration campaign manager for the Service Employees International Union, where her calm leadership helped establish SEIU as the most effective union on immigration issues, according to The Washington Post. While at SEIU, Vu demonstrated a keen ability to build broad coalitions and honed her organizing and political skills under the mentorship of Eliseo Medina, one of the country's most influential Latino leaders.
Prior to SEIU, Vu worked at the AFL-CIO as an advocate for working women, the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Humanities Alliance. In addition to these jobs, Vu has been involved in her community as a board member and volunteer for the National Immigration Forum, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and the New York City Anti-Violence Project. Vu now serves as one of the founding board members of the Civic Participation Campaign, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build the political influence of immigrants by growing the electorate with potentially 23 million new immigrant voters through citizenship and voter registration drives, issue education and advocacy campaigns and get-out-the-vote strategies. Through all of these efforts, Vu has worked to promote the interests of many different groups -- women, GLBT people, the homeless, the urban poor, artists and humanists and immigrants.
Currently, Vu is the chief diversity officer of the Human Rights Campaign. In that position, she provides the strategic vision and program planning for HRC's diversity work. Founded in 1980, HRC is the country's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. HRC strives to end discrimination against GLBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
Jennifer Brown
Jennifer Brown Consulting
Jennifer heads Jennifer Brown Consulting, a leadership, communications and diversity consulting firm based in New York City. Her company advises leading businesses and non-profits such as Cisco Systems, BASF, Schwab, Ernst & Young, American Express, The New York Times, Working Mother Media, GenderPAC, and many others on the creation of inclusive workplaces that resonate with current, and future, employees and leaders. She speaks and consults globally, specializing in generational differences, leadership development, team dynamics, and personal branding and presence for executives.
Jennifer is also currently Co-Director of the Out & Equal Metro New York regional affiliate, a group dedicated to creating educational and networking events on the topic of LGBT workplace advocacy. She is a five-time presenter at the organization's annual Workplace Summit, most recently on the topics of the unique character of LGBT leadership, and the building of a powerful vision for organizational change for LGBT employees. She is a certified "Building Bridges" trainer, and has delivered sexual orientation and gender identity and expression workshops at Johnson & Johnson, Chubb, and other major corporations.
A graduate of Middlebury College, Jennifer holds an MA in Music/Vocal Performance and an MS in Organizational Development. She and her partner of ten years, Michelle, live in New York City. You can learn more about her work at www.jenniferbrownconsulting.com
