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Lambda Legal Announces Two New Regional Directors for Midwest and Southern Regional Offices

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"We are very pleased to welcome Jim Bennett to Chicago and Judi O'Kelley to Atlanta and look forward to the exciting work ahead"
July 10, 2006

(New York, July 10, 2006) — Today, Lambda Legal announced that Jim Bennett has joined its Midwest Regional Office in Chicago and Judi O’Kelley has joined its Southern Regional Office in Atlanta as Regional Directors.


“We are very pleased to welcome Jim Bennett to Chicago and Judi O’Kelley to Atlanta and look forward to the exciting work ahead,” said Kevin Cathcart, Executive Director at Lambda Legal.


Bennett brings over 15 years of not-for-profit management experience to Lambda Legal. Most recently, Bennett led the City of Chicago’s Katrina Relief Project, a project of Heartland Alliance that provided housing and resettlement support to over 2,600 Katrina families who resettled in the Chicago area.


”I’m thrilled to begin working at Lambda Legal’s Midwest office,” said Jim Bennett, Regional Director in Lambda Legal’s Midwest Regional Office in Chicago. “We have an extraordinary legal team in Chicago, led by Pat Logue, and an amazing advocacy team that continue to score GLBT victories here that support Lambda Legal's national strategy for equality. It’s a great honor to be part of their efforts.”


Bennett’s work experience in the non-profit and LGBT/HIV community includes the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Howard Brown Health Center and the American Red Cross in development, marketing and administration leadership positions.


Bennett holds an M.B.A. from the University of Illinois and a B.S. from Illinois State University.


Judi O’Kelley, a member of the bar in Georgia, Alaska and the District of Columbia, brings a depth of volunteer and pro bono experience to her new role at Lambda Legal.


“I am honored to be joining the Lambda Legal team and to have this opportunity to work with the organization that has made such a substantial difference in the lives of LGBT and HIV-positive people and their families,” said Judi O’Kelley, Regional Director in Lambda Legal’s Southern Regional Office in Atlanta. “My experiences advocating for and within the LGBT community over the past nearly fifteen years tell me that we are at a critical juncture in the advancement of legal rights and societal understanding, so this is a particularly exciting time to be a part of Lambda Legal’s work to achieve full equality for all.”


O’Kelley’s public service work includes leadership roles with Just Equal, an LGBT advocacy group in Athens, Georgia that led the north Georgia campaign against Amendment One. She is an Executive Board member of the Jeannette Rankin Foundation, an Athens-based national organization which provides scholarships to women age 35 and older who are seeking to improve their own and their families’ lives through education. O’Kelley has also served on Georgia Equality’s Political Action Committee, and is a cofounder of Athens Pride.


O’Kelley earned her B.A. from Colorado College and her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law.


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Jackie Yodashkin 212-809-8585 ext.229


Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.

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