Media Release

Embargoed for News Release

August 17, 2011

Media Contacts:

       Loretta Worthington, MOL, MSP          

Executive Director  (612) 206-3180  

Kate Lehmann, MA, LADC

Board President and Chair (612) 306-4778

Rainbow Health Initiative Announces Resignation of Executive Director

Minneapolis, MN:

Rainbow Health Initiative (RHI) has accepted the resignation of Executive Director, Loretta Worthington, thanking her for four years of exemplary leadership.  “Loretta has been instrumental in leading and growing RHI.  She brought a level of vision, imagination and passion to her work that moved the organization forward by leaps and bounds,” says Board Chair Kate Lehmann.  Originally from California, Worthington plans to return to the West Coast to be closer to her family.

Since the beginning of 2008, RHI has grown from a one-person, one-project, operation to a broad-based organization addressing the health needs and disparities of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) communities.  “I am extremely proud of the work we have done at RHI under my leadership. We moved from a little-known organization doing innovative tobacco control work to a nationally recognized organization addressing a wide range of health and wellness issues,” states Worthington.

During Worthington’s tenure, RHI provided over $250,000 in capacity-building funding for over 26 community projects.  As a result, RHI has begun to change social norms around tobacco, healthy eating, and physical activity in LGBTQ communities.

Seizing on the opportunity to acknowledge and restructure the talented staff, the RHI Board has promoted Community Outreach Manager, Ani Koch, to the position of Director of Programs and Administrative Manager, Deb LeMay, to the position of Operations Director, ensuring that all programmatic and administrative operations will advance seamlessly.

RHI’s Board will form a search committee to recruit nationally for executive leadership with the goal of finding talented individuals with the ability to expand RHI’s core activities, increase donor relations, and build a sustainable and diverse funding stream.

“A celebration of Loretta’s contributions will be held around the time of her departure in early October,” says Lehmann, “and we hope everyone who has benefitted from her drive and energy will come out to thank her.”

RHI is one of the only U.S.-based organizations dedicated solely to advancing the health and wellness of the LGBTQ communities.

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