L to R: New Pride St. Louis Directors Marti McClanless, Jesse Doggendorf, Jennifer Jones and Jennifer Reiss
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Pride St. Louis, Inc. approved four new directors to serve on its 2015-2016 Board during elections for new members held Monday night at the Pride offices near the Grove.
Two vacancies on the Board became available following last month's elections for sitting directors, but by a majority vote, four applicants were approved. Per PSL's bylaws, the organization must have a minimum of 13 directors. The new Board now consists of 15 members.
The new directors elected are Jennifer Jones, Jesse Doggendorf, Marti McClanless and Jennifer Reiss - who join Matt Harper (president), Ethan Barnett (vice president), Jason Morgan (secretary), Christopher Smith (treasurer), Todd Alan, Ellen Vanscoy, Marty Zuniga, Wolf Smith, Steve Zeiger, Eliot McDaniel, and Leon Braxton on the 2015-2016 PSL Board.
Applicants were required to be nominated by a sitting member of the Board and encouraged to have one year of experience working or volunteering with the organization. According to PSL, only four applications were submitted following a two month public call for new members. Further, there were no voice nominations for new members by sitting directors on Monday, which is allowed under the organization's bylaws.
Also held were officer elections for president and secretary. Harper and Morgan, who ran unopposed, were both nominated and majority approved for another term to their respective posts. Mirroring the PSL Board of Directors, officers are elected to staggered two year terms.
PSL financials for 2014-2015 were not finalized and will be available next week.
The mission of Pride St. Louis, Inc. is “To foster an understanding of and equality for the LGBT community in the general population by raising awareness through educational programs and events ultimately leading up to the annual PrideFest in St. Louis."