Herndon Graddick Takes Helm at GLAAD

When we attended the GLAAD Media Awards in NYC last month I asked Sheri Fults, GLAAD’s National Co-Chair of the Board of Directors, when a decision would be made about the next president of GLAAD. She assured me that they were very close. Saturday it was announced that Herndon Graddick has been named the new president of the org. This time GLAAD decided to promote someone from within. Herndon Graddick is the current Vice President of Programs & Communications at GLAAD a position he assumed in 2010. In his role Graddick has led GLAAD's media initiatives & oversees the organization's National & Local News; Entertainment; People of Color; Religion, Faith & Values; Advertising; & Spanish-Language Media programs. Under his leadership, GLAAD has engaged in numerous highly visible & successful campaigns including ‘Stand Up For Ellen,’ which prompted the group One Million Moms a project of the American Family Association to end their call for J.C. Penney to fire Ellen DeGeneres as its new spokesperson because she is gay. Graddick also oversaw GLAAD’s work on the Commentator Accountability Project an initiative launched in March to highlight the extreme rhetoric of anti-LGBT activists who currently appear in national news outlets. He is leading efforts with the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC) on the “I AM: Trans People Speak” video series as well as with film director Brett Ratner to develop a series of videos with GLAAD featuring high-profile celebrities & public figures speaking out for LGBT equality. Graddick has also put resources behind GLAAD’s work to share stories of LGBT people of color & allies with African American media, sports media & Spanish-language news outlets, among others. Prior to GLAAD, Graddick served as the Executive Producer of the Global Observatory, a media & communications effort which aimed to bring public awareness to the climate change crisis. He also served as Supervising Producer at E! Networks & the day-of-air news division director at CURRENT TV, the youth-oriented news & entertainment network created by former Vice President Al Gore. As a producer at CNN, Graddick also contributed to the creation of daily primetime programming such as "Paula Zahn Now," "Anderson Cooper 360," & "Live from the Headlines." So this is the first time in a long time that GLAAD will actually be led by some with broadcasting experience. Graddick will be formally introduced at the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles on April 21st. Updates to Come…:)

Listen to our Red Carpet coverage at the NYC 2012 GLAAD Media Awards where we chatted with the winners of the Vito Russo Award producing team of Craig Zadan & Neil Meron (Chicago, Hairspray, Smash), NY INK’s Robear, figure skater Johnny Weir, actress Kim Wayans talked about her role playing the mother on PARIAH which won the award for Outstanding Film- Limited Release, CHOPPED host Ted Allen shared his spin on LGBT issues & we concluded with Jay Manuel sharing his advice for LGBTQ teens faced with the bully epidemic & more @ OUTTAKE VOICES™