News
October 15, 2015Pride Center of the Capital Region Announces New Executive Director
The Board of Directors of the Pride Center of the Capital Region are pleased to announced that after a five month search, they have appointed Michael Weidrich as the new Executive Director of the Pride Center. Michael brings years of experience to the position both professionally and as a LGBTQ activist. Says Board President Patricia Wood, “In his dedicated service to the Pride Center, Michael Weidrich has demonstrated the leadership, vision and creativity to ensure that the Pride Center will thrive in the coming years. We are delighted to name him our Executive Director effective October 1, 2015.”
Michael has been an LGBTQ activist for nearly 25 years, having started demonstrating and rallying on the campus of Syracuse University, and having participated in the 1993 Million Gay March on Washington DC. Since then, he has participated in events in Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, New York City and Albany, NY. Michael’s affiliation with the Pride Center of the Capital Region began in 2006 when he began volunteering as the Gallery Manager of the Romaine Brooks Gallery and started the monthly “1st Friday” event in Albany to promote the work of the Center. In 2008, Michael joined the Board of Directors and was a part of the rebranding committee that facilitated the Center’s name change from the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Council to the Pride Center of the Capital Region. Since 2012, Michael has served on the staff of the Center, going from being the Finance & Grants Administrator, to Director of Operations, to Deputy Director and since May have been serving as Interim Executive Director.
Michael brings 20 years of business administration experience to his new role, having worked in both the for-profit arena and the not-for-profit community. He has held notable positions such as the Director of Corporate Development at the Albany Institute of History & Art and Executive Director of the Lark Street Business Improvement District. Michael is a recipient of the Business Review’s 40 Under 40 Award, the Albany County Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Hospitality Excellent Award, the Pride Center of the Capital Region Volunteer of the Year Award, and the Lark Street Business Improvement District Award. He is also a graduate of the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Tech Valley program. Michael holds a Masters in Business Administration and an Advanced Graduate Certificate in Not-for-Profit Management both from the College of Saint Rose; and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Syracuse University.
The Pride Center is the oldest LGBTQ community center in the country, celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, and representing over 40,000 LGBTQ and allied residents in ten counties of the Capital Region, including Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Fulton, Montgomery, Columbia, Greene, Warren and Washington counties. The Pride Center has provided life changing and life saving services to the LGBTQ community since 1970.
For more information on the Pride Center, contact Executive Director Michael Weidrich at 518.462.6138 or via cell phone at 518.852.9340.
