Paula Ettelbrick, former Lambda Legal legal director and International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) executive director has passed away after a heroic battle with ovarian cancer.
Ettelbrick, 56, was executive director of IGLHRC from 2003-2009 and helped build the organization into a visible force around the world.
The Washington Blade reported that in July Ettelbrick had been named executive director of the New York-based Stonewall Community Foundation, which funds grants to LGBT community organizations. She stepped down a month later due to her ongoing battle with cancer.
In addition to her work at Lambda Legal, IGLHRC and Stonewall Community Foundation, Ettelbrick also served as policy director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Legislative Counsel at Empire State Pride Agenda.
In a tribute to Ettelbrick, Cary Alan Johnson, executive director of IGLHRC said, “Paula was so many things to so many people – her family, the movement, the New York City and global queer communities. First and foremost I can say that I found her to be so genuinely, deeply, unfalteringly committed to our liberation as LGBT people.”
Johnson said Ettelbrick was also a deep respecter of all progressive movements and causes. Her effectiveness in terms of creating and executing strategies was among the best, according to Johnson.
“Paula was one of the most sophisticated strategists I’ve ever met,” she said. “Though we disagreed from time to time, I always took her advice around approach and politics very seriously. Paula was more about goals than she was about personalities. She forgave and forgot, and got busy with the work at hand.”
Johnson expressed confidence that more will be said by many others, “… as we have lost an icon of our movement.”
