“As one half of a two-mom family, I could not be more excited to join Family Equality Council. I’m so proud to be able to stand with Family Equality Council today and turn that fear and dread into actionable efforts to support and empower LGBTQ families like my own.”
December 4, 2017 — For Immediate Release
NEW YORK, N.Y. — Today the Family Equality Council team and Board of Directors are delighted to welcome Amanda Hopping-Winn in her position as Chief Program Officer. Family Equality Council is the nation’s leading advocate for LGBTQ families and those who wish to form them. Hopping-Winn joins the organization’s leadership team following the promotion of longtime Program department head Brent Wright to the position of Chief Operating Officer in September. Hopping-Winn and her staff will continue to build on Family Equality Council’s record as a support and resource for those building LGBTQ families, coordinating Family Week, the world’s largest annual gathering of LGBTQ families, providing resources to community-based LGBTQ family networks across the country, and building LGBTQ competency training resources for agencies providing family formation services to the LGBTQ community.
Amanda Hopping-Winn has dedicated her career to serving marginalized families, and brings over ten years of experience in program development and evaluation. The thread connecting her varied professional experience is a focus on building systems of support for youth and families, whether the context is outpatient substance use treatment, family preservation for state child welfare services, or preventative services for families affected by substance use and/or HIV. Most recently, Hopping-Winn served as Executive Director at the UC Berkeley-based National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center.
“With her wealth of social welfare program development experience, Amanda will be a tremendous asset to the Family Equality Council team,” said CEO Stan J. Sloan. “As our organization enters a new phase of growth, we are working to meet the needs not only of existing LGBTQ-headed families, but also of LGBTQ adults who wish to form families. We must ensure that LGBTQ-affirming systems of support are in place across the country to support our parents and children as they form, grow, and mature.”
Speaking out on her first day as part of the team, Amanda Hopping-Winn said: “As one half of a two-mom family, I could not be more excited to join Family Equality Council. I spent the last year feeling overwhelmed and sickened by what is happening to our country in this political climate. I’m so proud to be able to stand with Family Equality Council today and turn that fear and dread into actionable efforts to support and empower LGBTQ families like my own.”
Hopping-Winn received her B.S in Behavior and Addictions Counseling from Drexel University, and her Master of Social Welfare degree from UC Berkeley. Originally from South Jersey, Amanda now lives with her partner and their two young children in Portland, OR.
About Family Equality Council
Family Equality Council advances legal and lived equality for LGBTQ families, and for those who wish to form them, through building community, changing hearts and minds, and driving policy change. Family Equality Council believes every LGBTQ person should have the right and opportunity to form and sustain a loving family, regardless of who they are or where they live.