Joe Solmonese is a political strategist and activist who served as president of the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and its affiliate the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. He was appointed to this position on March 9, 2005, replacing

Cheryl Jacques Cheryl Ann Jacques (born February 17, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who served six terms in the Massachusetts Senate, was the president of the Human Rights Campaign for 11 months, and served as an administrative judge in the Massa ...

. A native of

Attleboro, Massachusetts Attleboro is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It was once known as "The Jewelry Capital of the World" for its many jewelry manufacturers. According to the 2020 census, Attleboro had a population of 46,461. Attleboro is ...

, Solmonese lives in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in communications. Solmonese is the former Chief Executive Officer of

EMILY's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

, where he oversaw one of the nation's prominent

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

Democratic political action committees, including its Political Opportunity Program. Solmonese has worked for numerous campaigns and in government positions. He held top fundraising positions at the 1992

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

campaign of

Les AuCoin Walter Leslie AuCoin ( ; born October 21, 1942) is an American politician. In 1974 he became the first person from the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from , since it was forme ...

and

Barney Frank Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee ...

's 1990 Congressional campaign. Solmonese began his career as an aide in the office of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

governor

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

. Solmonese hosted ''The Agenda with Joe Solmonese'' on

XM Satellite Radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...

. In February 2008, Solmonese appeared on two episodes of ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focuse ...

''. On August 27, 2011, the Human Rights Campaign announced that Solomonese would step down as president of HRC on March 31, 2012. On February 22, 2012, the Obama 2012 campaign announced the appointment of Solmonese as one of 35 national co-chairs of the campaign.

Chad Griffin Chad Hunter Griffin (born July 16, 1973) is an American political strategist best known for his work advocating for LGBT rights in the United States. Griffin got his start in politics volunteering for the Bill Clinton presidential campaign, which ...

succeeded Solmonese as president on June 11, 2012. On April 17, 2012, Solmonese helped establish the corporate consulting firm Gavin/Solmonese as a managing director and founding partner, leading the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Joe leads the firm's Corporate Strategy, Public Affairs and Policy practice, where he advises corporations on organizational effectiveness strategies and policy development and implementation. Solmonese is the CEO of the

2020 Democratic National Convention The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...

References

External links

Joe Solmonese HRC ProfileMetro Weekly interview series
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solmonese, Joe American chief executives Boston University College of Communication alumni American LGBT people American LGBT rights activists Living people People from Attleboro, Massachusetts Year of birth missing (living people)