November 4, 2011, New York, NY - The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today announced the election of Chad Boettcher and Sheri Fults as Co-Chairs of its National Board Of Directors. The Board also announced new members Marci Bowers, M.D., and George Cheeks.

Chad Boettcher, who this month was named Executive Vice President of Social Action & Advocacy of Participant Media in Los Angeles, leads the creation, development and execution of multi-platform social action and advocacy campaigns for Participant's films to inspire citizen awareness and create active communities engaged in social change.  Most recently, Boettcher taught marketing innovation at New York University, launched a web co-creation platform called Goodzuma, and was Senior Vice President of Social Innovation at Weber Shandwick. He has worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including the Gill Foundation, with whom he and his team at co-authored "Business of Change" - a guide to corporate-nonprofit collaboration to promote LGBT equality.  Previously, he worked at Nike as Global Director of Corporate Responsibility, and at MTV as Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs building and managing Emmy-Award winning pro-social initiatives and campaigns. Boettcher, who worked for the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and President Barack Obama, is originally from Edina, Minnesota and graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in Political Science, Spanish and Botany.    

Sheri Fults is a literary manager, representing emerging screenwriters and directors. She began her partnership with GLAAD in Los Angeles, initially serving on the LA Leadership Council, then subsequently co-chairing for two years, followed by two years of co-chairing the GLAAD Media Awards in LA. She has also served with GLSEN, HRC, Liberty Hill, and Outfest. Fults moved with her family to Los Angeles in 2000, from Austin, Texas, where she had a corporate communications practice, specializing in regional accounts in entertainment, health care, real estate and retail sectors. While in Austin, her community service included development and media communications work for AIDS Services of Austin, HRC, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, and the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Liberal Arts.

"GLAAD brings stories about LGBT people and allies that spotlight our common humanity to millions of Americans," said Fults. "We have never had such an opportunity or a need to continue this culture changing work." 

"Our Board of Directors and staff are committed to continuing our work with local organizations across the nation to share the LGBT words and images that not only grow understanding, but build support for full equality," said Boettcher.

It was also announced that Roxanne Jones will serve as Secretary and Michael Lammons will serve as Treasurer. Two new members of the GLAAD Board of Directors were confirmed and welcomed at the New York Board meeting:

Dr. Marci Bowers, M.D., of San Mateo, Calif., is viewed as a pioneer in the field of gender reassignment surgery and is the first prominent transgender woman to perform the surgery. After practicing in Trinidad, Colo., where she was the subject of a WE tv series entitled 'Sex Change Hospital,' she recently relocated to San Mateo, Calif. She is a frequent media commentator on transgender issues, having appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Tyra Banks Show and as the subject of a Discovery Health documentary entitled 'Transgender M.D.'. She has also served as an occasional consultant for 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and had a small cameo appearance for the show's 100^th episode which featured a transgender victim. She was voted as one of America's Best Doctors for 2002-2003 and was recently elected to the European Academy of Sciences. 

George Cheeks, J.D. is the Executive Vice President of Business Affairs and Co-General Counsel for Viacom Media Networks. In his current role, he manages business and legal affairs staff for MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, TV Land, Spike and LOGO-branded cable programming services and related entertainment businesses within Viacom Media Networks. He is also on the Global Inclusion Advisory Committee for Viacom. Previously, he was an entertainment associate at Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren & Richman. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and is a graduate of Yale University with a B.A. in Political Science and History.