ROBERTA ACHTENBERG
Appointed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights by President Obama, Roberta Achtenberg works to ensure that all Americans, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability or national origin, are offered equal protection by the law. And the work hits close to home for this civil rights attorney, businesswoman and former executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights: In 1993, when President Clinton nominated her to be Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, she became our first openly lesbian or gay federal official to be confirmed by the Senate for such a high-level position. With more than 30 years of senior-level leadership experience, Achtenberg considers advancing gay rights as paramount to her career. “My work in the LGBT community has been, and will continue to be, the most rewarding of my lifetime,” she says. “We’ve had enormous successes in the last 30 years but there’s still much more to do, and I’m eager to join the community’s young leaders in continuing that work.” –SJ
