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Predictably, the HRC's Joe Solmonese (pictured) and Lorri Jean of the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center are among the top-paid LGBT leaders in the country -- but the most handsomely compensated LGBT leader might come as a surprise.
The Washington Blade has published a report of the country's most prominent LGBT leaders and their salaries, including bonuses and benefits packages -- and the results are somewhat surprising.
Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food & Friends, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit providing meals and nutritional services for homebound people with HIV/AIDS, topped the list with a total salary and benefits package of $382,200 in 2008.
That's higher than the Human Rights Campaign's Joe Solmonese (pictured), the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Lorri Jean, and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's Neil Giuliano.
To put those numbers into perspective, in 2008, L.A.'s Gay and Lesbian Center generated $48.5 million in operating revenue, the highest among all the LGBT and AIDS groups in the survey. HRC placed second with $41.4 million in revenue.
Food & Friends generated only $7.9 million, putting Shniderman above the 90th percentile in salary and at the top of the survey for a nonprofit the size of Food & Friends.
Several LGBT leaders on the Blade 's list agreed to significant pay cuts in 2009 in response to the faltering economy. Solmonese took a 10% pay cut for 2009, while Giuliano agreed to a $20,000 pay cut with no health benefits.
The Blade reported the salaries of 30 leaders of LGBT and AIDS organizations for the report. Click here for more on the Blade 's salary report.
