Workin’ It 2008

Brokers, Bakers & Girl Party Makers. These self-starters have each found their niche.

Stacy Lentz
Investor, Stonewall Inn

Stonewall Inn is iconic, having been the site of the riots that set off the modern gay rights movement. But in 2006, the Inn had fallen into disrepair, a no-man’s-land of crime and drugs that risked closing for good. Then Stacy Lentz stepped in. The managing director of Taylor Grey, a top recruitment firm that hires a high number of LGBT employees, she saw an opportunity to save Stonewall by becoming the sole active lesbian investor in the bar’s history. “I am very blessed in my professional life, so I wanted to give back to the community,” Lentz said.

Stonewall has since enjoyed a rebirth, hosting fundraisers for organizations like GLAAD and the Hetrick-Martin Institute. A lesbian pool team, the Stonewall Riots, has taken root, and GirlNation and Victoria are two of the parties hosted regularly there, along with Stonewall 69, a weekly party honoring the 1969 riots that started them all. “At Stonewall, we created a vision of what we wanted it to look like,” Lentz says, “and everyone in the community has gotten behind that vision.” —LF


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