BY BTL STAFF
FERNDALE – After a year of searching, Affirmations will hire Darrious Hilmon to be the next executive director of the LGBT community center.
Darrious HilmonAffirmations announced Hilmon will take over as executive director beginning in late March. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a best-selling author with over 20 years experience working in strategy driven fund development, event managing and marketing.
"We could not be more excited that Darrious has chosen to lead Affirmations as its next executive director. He is a dynamic and talented individual, with a proven track record of success in the area of fund development and strategic planning," Frank Aiello, Affirmations' board president, said. "He is looking to take on the expanded duties of an executive director and we believe he is more than up to the task. Darrious is the right individual to facilitate development and implementation of the organization's next strategic plan, move us forward in our mission to serve the LGBTQ community and its allies and further strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion."
Hilmon was the vice president and chief development officer for the Chicago Urban League and served as a member of the executive management team with lead accountability for planning and execution of all fund development activity, as well as design and implementation of organization and program evaluation systems.
Before joining the Chicago Urban League, Hilmon was the chief development and marketing officer for Youth Guidance, vice president of corporate, foundation and government relations for Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana and the marketing and development director for Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, where he led the team responsible for being the first Detroit non-profit to ever win the Neighborhood Builder Award from Bank of America and the Achieving Excellence Award from DTE Energy.
"I am awed by the passion and commitment of Affirmations' Board, staff and volunteers," said Hilmon. "The opportunity to help lead this incredible organization into its next chapter of service to metro Detroit's LGBTQ community is beyond exciting."
The search to fill the position has been a year-long process for the center. This past November, Affirmations hired WBB+McCormack, a LGBT-owned firm that provides specialized executive search services for non-profit organizations, to assist interim Executive Director Jon Fitzgerald in filling the position after David Garcia resigned in February 2014.
Hilmon will be communicating with the board and staff to allow for a smooth transition into his new role.
