During the past year Pride Foundation bid farewell to several beloved staff members who left to pursue new opportunities. We are very grateful for their countless contributions to Pride Foundation and our community. We are also proud that their time with our team positioned them to advance their careers in new and exciting ways.
Staff transitions are a natural and common part of nonprofit life cycles; they can also be hard. At this time of tremendous momentum and possibility for the LGBTQ community, Pride Foundation approached these transitions as opportunities to invest in growing new leaders and as a challenge to adapt as we strive to remain at the forefront of the LGBTQ equality and philanthropic movements.
To help position us for the future, we recently hired Rachael DeCruz, Communications Manager, and Karen Mudd, Interim Development Director. We are thrilled to have these amazingly talented leaders join the Pride Foundation team, and we hope you will join us in welcoming them to the family.
Rachael DeCruz is excited to bring her passion for justice to the Pride Foundation. She previously served as the Communications Director at Washington Community Action Network. In this role she managed the communications and media work of a dynamic, multi-issue organization dedicated to advancing racial, social and economic justice. Rachael also authored Washington CAN’s annual “Facing Race” report, which highlights the impact of budget and policy decisions on communities of color. She currently sits on the Executive Committee of the Seattle King County NAACP. Rachael grew up in Massachusetts and attended Colby College in Maine before relocating to Seattle in 2011.
Karen Mudd comes to Pride Foundation with 20+ years of experience in nonprofit administration, philanthropy, advocacy, and communications combined with a demonstrated commitment to equality and social justice issues. Most recently, she served as the interim chief development officer for Women’s Funding Alliance and Cornish College of the Arts. From 2007 to 2010, Karen was executive director of Equality South Dakota. Prior to that, she was director of development at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, following 14 years at Philadelphia Corporation for Aging. Karen served as a volunteer board member of Rainbow Endowment for 15 years and is proud to have been part of a grant making process that invested more than $3 million in LGBT projects of national scope. Originally from southern Illinois, Karen has a MA degree in Women and Public Policy from George Washington University and a BA degree in philosophy from Webster University.
Kris Hermanns is Pride Foundation’s Executive Director. Email Kris.