Our Staff and Board of Directors

GARDEN STATE EQUALITY STAFF

Troy Stevenson, Executive Director
In January 2013, Troy took the helm of Garden State Equality as Executive Director.

Troy was raised in a suburb of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After high school, he completed two years of national service through Americorp, working to help at risk youth graduate from high school and enter college programs. In 2002 he graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in political science and history. It was during his undergraduate career that he first became interested in political activism, working with the College Democrats during the Gore campaign, as well as organizing a university program that was aimed at building community activism on campus. After graduation, Troy moved to London where he earned a degree in international law from The University of Westminster. He gained valuable experience in public affairs – working as a consultant for an international security firm.

In 2007, Troy returned to the United States and began working on President Obama’s 2008 campaign in the early primaries, in Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Montana; before finishing the general election in Pittsburgh. In 2009, he took a position on the “No on One” campaign in Maine – fighting for marriage equality. After a hard fought defeat in Maine, Troy came to New Jersey to continue the fight for marriage, first as a campaign organizer and continuing as managing director during one of GSE’s most exciting periods – with the passage of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, and passage of the marriage equality bill legislatively, in early 2012. Troy also served as the founding chair of the Essex County LGBTQ Advisory Board, for County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo.

In 2012, Troy returned to President Obama’s reelection campaign, serving as a senior staff member in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.

GARDEN STATE EQUALITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

As New Jersey’s largest civil rights organization committed to being a true grassroots movement, Garden State Equality has a large and diverse Board of Directors. Leading the Board and most organizational policies is the Executive Committee.

The Board includes an Executive Committee comprised of:

Chair Troy Stevenson
Vice Chair Ronald Botelho
Vice Chair Jack Denelsbeck
Vice Chair Jeff Gardner
Vice Chair John Keating
Vice Chair Steve McIntyre
Vice Chair Lucy O’Brien
Vice Chair and Treasurer John Otto, Jr.
Vice Chair Kim Otto
Vice Chair Luanne Peterpaul

Other members of the Board of Directors: