New Hope Celebrates announces its new executive team
New Hope Celebrates, a nonprofit organization focused on the town’s history and culture and its place in the LGBTQ community, announced its new executive board of directors after elections this week.
The new board will include Melissa Patterson, Ryan Segura, Eva Guasconi and Marjorie Forbes.
Dan Brooks, NHC founder, said in a press release, “I am so pleased to learn about the election of Melissa Patterson as president and of the entire super-skilled executive team. This year will mark NHC’s 20th anniversary as an organization, and as NHC’s founder, I couldn’t be happier to see this group lead the organization into its third decade.”
Patterson will serve as president of NHC, having served as director and vice president of finance. She is an associate director in clinical finance at Gilead Sciences, and said she was “excited and honored to be elected to lead this organization and can’t wait to get to work.”
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Segura, real estate agent at Weichert Realtors, will now serve as the vice president of events and previously served as the vice president of communications since September 2020 and director since February 2020.
With several years of experience working with nonprofits, Forbes, a naturopathic doctor and chief operating officer for Union Chill Cannabis, will serve as the vice president of governance.
She joined the board in 2021 and served as co-chair for the Pride Fair in May 2022.
Guasconi, the first transgendered woman on the NHC board, and will serve as vice president of communications.
She joined the board in 2021 and is a part of the concierge team and a bartender at ROOF in New Hope.
NHC has organized events recognizing the strong LGBTQ presence in the area since 2003 and all funding generated from the organization's events are given back to the community, its neighbors, businesses and cultural initiatives, according to the release.
"I have worked with this team through Pride 2022 and I have every confidence that the new executive board, under the leadership of Melissa Patterson, will continue to evolve the NHC organization and make a meaningful impact on the LGBTQ+ community,” said former president and special advisor to the NHC board Sharon Fronabarger.
During the elections, the role of vice president of finance was not filled and the board will continue its recruitment efforts for the role.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: New Hope Celebrates announces new leadership
