[New York, N.Y.] SAGE, the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ elders, has promoted Lynn Faria to Executive Vice President and welcomed new board members Molly Lenore and Mady Schuman. The organization also celebrates the return of former board member Kevin Williams.
“During this monumental year, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, it’s more important than ever that we ensure that those who stood on the front lines of our community’s struggle for equality have the support and resources they need to age with the dignity and respect they deserve,” said SAGE CEO Michael Adams.
The elevation of Faria to the newly-created role of Executive Vice President cements her position as the nonprofit’s second in command, where she will work in close partnership with Adams to further the organization’s mission to provide hands-on services as well as state- and national-based advocacy to LGBTQ+ elders. Faria’s elevation recognizes her role in the expansion the organization has experienced over the past five years as SAGE’s budget and staff have nearly doubled.
“We are thrilled to promote Lynn to Executive Vice President, a role that will be critical to the continued success of SAGE’s fast-growing programs and footprint,” said Adams. “I’m honored to partner with Michael, the Board and staff of SAGE, to continue to address LGBTQ+ aging issues and put our community’s pioneers front-and-center where they belong,” said Faria. “Right now, the first out generation of LGBTQ+ people are aging. We owe it to them to ensure that they have the resources they need to age well, especially as we commemorate the Stonewall anniversary and celebrate their heroism in sparking our movement for equality and justice.”
Lenore, the organization’s first transgender board member, brings decades of experience on numerous boards, including the National Gay Flag Football League, the New York Gay Football League, and the Big Apple Softball League. She believes that sports can empower, connect and strengthen the LGBTQ+ community, as well as serving as a bridge to the greater community. “I am humbled and honored to join SAGE in the fight to ensure that the needs of our aging LGBTQ+ community are met, that opportunities for cross-generational empathy and understanding always exist and that our history is preserved for future generations!” said Lenore.
“I’m happy to return to the SAGE Board of Directors after a year’s absence. During the past year, I have remained intimately involved with and committed to SAGE, co-chairing the SAGE National Leadership Council and the Paving Our Way Home naming campaign, and I am thrilled to rejoin the board of this amazing organization,” said Williams, who previously served on SAGE’s Board for six years, from 2012 to 2018.
“At a time when 50 percent of people who are HIV-positive in the U.S. are over the age of 50,
I’m excited to bring my fundraising experience to SAGE so we can better care for the individuals in our community who need support the most,” said Schuman, who was previously the chief development officer for God’s Love We Deliver and a senior development adviser to the Treatment Action Group.
“SAGE is honored to welcome Molly and Mady, and to welcome back Kevin,” said Adams. “Each brings a long history of involvement with the LGBTQ+ community, and we look forward to working with them to further our mission of caring for LGBTQ+ elders.”
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Lynn Faria is the Executive Vice President at SAGE, where she leads SAGE’s Development and Policy teams. Before joining SAGE, Faria worked in senior leadership roles at the Empire State Pride Agenda (New York’s statewide LGBTQ+ advocacy organization), serving as Development Director, Deputy Executive Director, and Interim Executive Director.
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Molly Lenore is the co-founder and president of Moey Inc., a company devoted to the creation of installations at the intersection of art, science, technology, design, and education. Molly specializes in conceptual design and build of media installations and interactive public spaces. Her work, which is both artistic and experiential, strives to make content engaging, comprehensible and immersive. She has developed and designed work for numerous Fortune 100 companies, museums, public spaces, art galleries and government agencies. She has been recognized and has won numerous international awards for her work.
Lenore has been a guest lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, New York University, Virginia Tech, Pratt Institute, Columbia, SVA, the New School, Parsons School of Design, New York Medical College and the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. She has been invited to speak at conferences and gatherings, including ACM, SIGGRAPH, ASTC, the Museum Computer Network and Ozone.
An additional passion has been the LGBTQ+ sports realm, where she has served on numerous boards, including the National Gay Flag Football League, the New York Gay Football League and the Big Apple Softball League. She believes that sports can empower, connect and strengthen the LGBTQ+ community, as well as serving a as bridge to the greater community.
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A veteran of the nonprofit sector, Mady Schuman comes to the SAGE board with 35 years of executive, external relations and fundraising experience garnered at respected healthcare, social service, educational, and cultural organizations and institutions. She has spent her career addressing inequities across diverse sectors, combatting many of the greatest societal and medical issues of our time, including HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ equality, cancer, aging and eldercare, women’s and children’s rights and access to healthcare, education, and economic opportunities.
In addition to her roles as chief development officer for God’s Love We Deliver and senior development adviser to the Treatment Action Group, she served on the NARAL New York board and was a founding board member of Miracle House, an organization that provided temporary housing and support services to the out-of-town families and friends of people with HIV/AIDS in New York City. She also served as senior vice president of development at the New Jewish Home and has held other senior fundraising positions at NYU/Stern School of Business, Planned Parenthood of NYC, the American Cancer Society, and the 92nd Street Y. With an academic background in theater history and lifelong commitment to the performing arts as a change agent for society’s good, Mady is currently the director of development of the Dramatists Guild Foundation.
Mady holds a B.A. from Wheaton College and earned an M.A. and ABD from New York University in theater history. A native New Yorker, she lives with her wife in New York City and Amagansett.
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Kevin Williams, M.D., is the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Pfizer Rare Disease. In this role, he leads a Medical Affairs organization of approximately 200 medical colleagues around the globe supporting Pfizer’s efforts and portfolio in Rare Disease. Williams joined Pfizer in January 2004 as a Director of Regional Medical & Research Specialists working in the HIV disease area. After moving into a Team Leader position in July 2005, he has served in various leadership roles during his career at Pfizer.
Williams has been reelected to SAGE’s Board as a regular member, having previously served on the Board for six years, from 2012 to 2018, as the Secretary and Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee and then Co-Chair.
Williams received his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine and is board-certified in internal medicine. Following a two-year fellowship in Health Services Research at UCLA and a brief academic career as an instructor of Medicine at the UCLA School of Medicine, he spent eight years in private practice caring for HIV-positive patients while maintaining an academic appointment at the UCLA School of Medicine as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine.
In addition to his medical degree, he has a Masters in Public Health from the UCLA School of Public Health and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School.
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SAGE is the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) older people. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in New York City, SAGE is a national organization that offers supportive services and consumer resources to LGBTQ+ older people and their caregivers. SAGE also advocates for public policy changes that address the needs of LGBTQ+ elders, provides education and technical assistance for aging providers and LGBTQ+ community organizations through its National Resource Center on LGBTQ+ Aging, and cultural competency training through SAGECare. With staff located across the country, SAGE also coordinates SAGENet, a growing network of affiliates in the United States.
