Family Pride Coalition names new executive director

Will Halm and Allison Bauer, cochairs of the Family Pride Coalition board of directors, announced Tuesday that Jennifer Chrisler has been selected to serve as the organization's new executive director. Chrisler will begin her tenure in April. She replaces Aimee Gelnaw, who served as head of the national gay rights organization for four years. "As a married gay mother of twin boys, I am honored to be leading the Family Pride Coalition at such an important moment in our struggle for full equality for LGBT parents and their children," Chrisler said. "More and more LGBT people are becoming parents, and the Family Pride Coalition's mission is vitally important to ensuring that those families--numbering in the millions--have the support and protection they need to remain strong." Currently a fund-raising consultant, Chrisler previously served as director of operations for SoftBank's i-Group and as director of corporate communications for American Science and Engineering Inc. Chrisler also spent five years serving as a staff director in the Massachusetts state senate. Chrisler is a graduate of Smith College with a degree in education. She and her spouse, Cheryl Jacques, a national LGBT civil rights activist, reside in Washington, D.C., with their 3-year-old twin sons, Timothy and Thomas.