GLAD Welcomes New Members to Board of Directors
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) announces three new members joining its Board of Directors: DEI consultant and leader Jamie Bergeron, criminal defense and employment attorney Inga Bernstein, and non-discrimination advocate and real estate attorney Rachel Goldberg.
"We're thrilled to have Jamie, Inga, and Rachel bring their substantial expertise to GLAD as we embark on an exciting year of hiring our next permanent executive director, expanding our legal team and deepening our regional and national impact for the LGBTQ+ community and people with HIV," said Board President Shane Dunn. "As we face down unprecedented attacks on the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans to live with dignity, equality, and authenticity, these three strategic thinkers and driven leaders are invaluable additions to GLAD's board."
"Our new board members bring varied and valuable professional expertise and a proven track record of advancing equity, inclusion, and LGBTQ+ equality," said Interim Executive Director Richard Burns. "Jamie, Inga, and Rachel further deepen the board's skillset, and provide crucial experience we will leverage at this pivotal moment for our community and our country."
Jamie Bergeron (she/her) is an experienced diversity, equity, and inclusion leader, practitioner, and consultant. She serves in the Americas Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness Center of Excellence at Ernst & Young, LLP, a global professional services firm. She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) from the University at Buffalo with a specialization in Inclusive Leadership Practice, and a B.A. from State University of New York at Brockport in Spanish Literature, where she became the first in her family to earn a college degree. She is the daughter of two lesbian mothers, originally from Cortland, NY, and has called Boston home for over 10 years. A lifelong advocate, Jamie is very involved in her local community, serving on the board of Pride in Our Workplace and Trans Can Work, as board advisor for COLAGE, and working closely with numerous organizations seeking to align their mission and vision with the principles of equity and justice for LGBTQ+ people and their families.
Inga S. Bernstein (she/her) is a partner at the Boston litigation boutique firm Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein LLP. She is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses her practice on criminal defense and employment law. Following law school, Inga started her law career as a clerk to the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She has been recognized as being among the top 50 Women Lawyers and among the Top 100 Lawyers in Massachusetts from 2019-present. Inga and her partner married in May 2004, receiving their marriage license on the first day same-sex couples in Massachusetts were allowed to do so, celebrating the victory that GLAD fought so hard to achieve. They are parents to two fabulous young adults. She became a lawyer to fight for justice and fairness and is glad to lend her energies to help support GLAD's important work for justice and fairness.
Rachel Goldberg (she/her) maintains a private law practice that is focused on real estate development and consulting on matters of gender identity employment discrimination. Until her retirement in February of 2017, Rachel had served for 35 years as General Counsel for the City of Stamford's Urban Redevelopment Commission, managing some of the Commission's most successful real estate and development activities. She is currently President Elect of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Foundation and a James W. Cooper Life Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. Rachel has served on the Connecticut Law Tribune's Editorial Board and the Lambda Legal National Board of Directors. Rachel has worked for decades to ensure and enforce nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity and expression, advocated for modernizing Connecticut's standard for allowing transgender and intersex people to correct the gender designation on their birth certificates, and was part of the coalition to pass a Hate Crimes bill that included targeting based on disability and gender identity or expression.
Meet the rest of GLAD's Board Members on our website, www.glad.org