National Black Justice Coalition
Leadership Staff
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Sharon J. Lettman is Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Justice Coalition. Sharon comes to NBJC after eight years at People For the American Way PFAW) and People For the American Way Foundation (PFAWF) where her responsibilities included leading the Homophobia in the Black Church program through their African American Religious Affairs division. Along with NBJC’s mission to eradicate racism and homophobia, her personal goal is to make the Black family the focal point of NBJC, to put a face on the Black LGBT community, and to embrace it with the respect and dignity that are due to every human being. As Executive Vice President of Leadership Programs and External Affairs at PFAW and PFAWF in Washington, DC, Sharon’s responsibilities included overseeing the institutions' dynamic leadership programs—including Young People For, Young Elected Officials Network, and African American Religious Affairs—in addition to the organization’s engagement with supporters and investors, key constituencies groups, and coalition allies. She was one of the chief architects of the leadership programs and has provided invaluable vision as well as innovative implementation models that have led to the programs’ tremendous growth. Sharon has been successful in orchestrating strategic partnerships, ranging from building grassroots activism to catalyzing the engagement and investment of key influencers and funders. Sharon is recognized nationally for her political acumen and ability to bring together unlikely allies as stakeholders in joint endeavors to strengthen the progressive movement and give power to progressive ideas and policies. Her outreach and work to bridge race, religion and sexual orientation divides were featured in the Gill Foundation's annual report, which identified her as a key ally for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality movement. She has been on broadcast and in print media, such as CNN, Air America, NPR, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Miami Herald. In addition, Sharon serves on the Board of Directors for the National Stonewall Democrats and the Advisory Council of Progressive Majority’s Racial Justice Campaign; she has been a national trainer for Wellstone Action, Democracia USA and the Front Line Leaders Academy (FLLA). Sharon believes activism includes the need to financially support your interests; she is a fully paid life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., FAMU National Alumni Association, and the NAACP. |
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Dr. Sylvia Rhue is the Director of Religious Affairs with the National Black Justice Coalition. She is the longest serving member of the staff and was instrumental in the founding of NBJC. Her work with the Religious Affairs Program includes launching and developing the annual Black Church Summit, held in mainstream Black Churches and featuring prominent national religious personalities. Each Black Church Summit helps lead our LGBT faith communities and allies in creative and spiritually based challenges to religious discrimination. Previous positions held by Dr. Rhue include Coalition Manager for California Freedom to Marry and the Director of Equal Partners in Faith, as well as positions with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights, and also with Woman Vision. She also worked at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, first as the Assistant Director of Counseling, and later as the Policy and Public Affairs Advocate. Her activism began with meeting Martin Luther King in 1964 which led her to go door-to-door to raise money for the Civil Rights Movement. This activism accelerated when she began work with the LA Gay and Lesbian Community Center and helped found the Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum in 1988 with Phill Wilson. At this time she created a video on Black Gay and Lesbian History called “We Have a Legacy”. A native Californian, she graduated from UCLA with a Masters Degree in Social Work and received a Doctorate in Human Sexuality from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. She is the first African American to receive this degree. Dr. Rhue is the co-producer of the award-winning film "All God's Children" and she is an expert on the "ex-gay" movement, which she calls “the cult of the annihilation of the authentic self”. Dr. Rhue is a noted public speaker, a documentarian, a religious scholar and a writer. |
