DETROIT –
Members of the Triangle Foundation's board of trustees unanimously elected Roland Smith as their new chairman Feb. 4. Smith replaces Jackie Anderson, who chaired the board for 17 months.
"Roland Smith has the wit, wisdom, and depth of human heart to be able to nurture, support and lead the Triangle Foundation through whatever may come with the next several years of growth," Anderson said of her replacement.
Smith, a lifelong Detroiter, is a retired customer service supervisor for the Wayne County Friend of the Court, and currently serves as the executive director of Wayne County Court Appointed Special Advocates, where he teaches Cultural Diversity and Cultural Competence as part of the mandatory training for Child Advocates for abused and neglected children.
For her part, Anderson will now replace James Lessenberry as the chair of the Triangle Action Fund, the organization's political arm. Lessenberry, meanwhile, will remain on the board as a trustee. And, finally, Mark Oumedian will step up to fill Smith's previous role as vice chair of the Foundation's board.
"Mark Oumedian is not only a delightful, high-energy person, but he also brings to the table his skills as one of the finest human resources professionals on the planet, and I am thrilled with the upcoming opportunity to work with the board of the Triangle Action Fund to take our political efforts to the next level," said Smith. "This set of organizational changes represents one of those unique moments where the changes that are occurring are absolutely perfect no matter how you look at it."
The chair changes were made as a part of Triangle's ongoing work with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's Capacity Building project. In addition to a $100,000 grant over two years, the Task Force has been working with the Triangle Board and staff to help implement changes to accommodate the organization's growth.
"Thanks to the help we've received from the Task Force and the leadership of our board, Triangle is now poised to leap into 2007 and make it our own," said Jeffrey Montgomery, Triangle's executive director. "In the space of 2006 alone we were able to almost double our staff size. In 2007 and beyond, look for Triangle to be even more active throughout the state providing services to victims and a voice for the state's entire lgbt community in the political arena."
Triangle changes board leadership
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