(L-R) Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, outgoing One Orlando Alliance executive director Josh bell and Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan at an event for the city’s “Bring Kindness to the Table Project” in April. (Photo by Jeremy Williams)
ORLANDO | The One Orlando Alliance announced in a press release Nov. 14 that Josh Bell will complete his tenure as the coalition’s executive director with State of the LGBTQ+ Communities event at Orlando City Hall Nov. 15.
“In the past two years, the Alliance has clarified their mission, vision, and work in the midst of ongoing attacks on the LGBTQ+ communities,” the release states. “Josh’s leadership has made crucial contributions to the Alliance’s work. The Alliance Board of Directors expresses their gratitude to Josh for his service and wishes him well in his future endeavors.”
Bell became the Alliance’s second executive director in October 2020 following the organization’s founding director, Jennifer Foster’s two-year stint in the position. The Alliance did not name a successor in the release.
“In the coming months, the Alliance will enter a period of evaluation of its structure and role in the nonprofit ecosystem of Central Florida guided by the Board of Directors, members of its Coalition, and key local stakeholders. The Alliance will be engaged in strategic conversations about future growth and effectiveness for the immediate future to fulfill their vision of transforming Central Florida into a community where ALL LGBTQ+ people can belong and thrive,” the Alliance stated.
The Alliance recently completed work on its first-of-its-kind, LGBTQ-focused survey in Central Florida. The survey — funded by Contigo Fund and facilitated by Polis Institute — launched this past summer and gathered information in an array of areas including basic demographic data, household size, education level, annual income, health care access, mental health access, stigma, sexual and gender identities, housing stability, religious affiliation, family makeups, citizenship status and more.
The results of the survey will be discussed at the State of the LGBTQ+ Communities event. The event will include pre-recorded comments from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, as well as feature appearances by Bell, City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, Alliance board chair Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, board members Shea Cutliff and Adrian Kierulf, Polis CEO Dr. Bahiyyah Maroon, JPMorgan Chase executive director Patty Burton, Come Out With Pride executive director Tatiana Quiroga and LGBT+ Center Orlando CEO Dr. George Wallace.
The event is free to attend but you must register at OneOrlandoAllianceNov15.Eventbrite.com.
