Equality NC announced interim executive director Eliazar Posada is now serving as the permanent director, according to a release sent by the organization. Posada has served as the interim since former director Kendra Johnson left ENC in 2023.
“I am honored and excited to take on the role of Executive Director at Equality NC,” Posada said in the statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with our dedicated team, partners and supporters to advance our mission and make a meaningful impact in the lives of those we serve.”
Posada has worked with Equality NC since May 2022 as its organizing director, and he serves as a council member for the city of Carrboro. He won reelection last year for his Carrboro seat and along with other candidates, helped to encourage voters to hit the ballot box by having a drag queen hand out voting information during the early voting period.
“As we embark on this new chapter in our 45th year of proudly serving North Carolina, we are confident that under Eliazar’s leadership, Equality NC will continue to thrive and make significant strides in defending and advancing the rights of queer and trans people across our state,” announced in an official statement.
ENC has faced hardship in recent months — facing financial challenges and laying off a number of key employees. A group of current and former employees got together and put their thoughts down and then anonymously posted a document with their words to the internet and shared the link with Q-Notes. You can read what they had to say here:
In their defense, Equality NC released their own statement. It’s available to read online here:
Last month, the organization fired its last Black, trans employee Celeste Jones, who worked for ENC for three-and-a-half years.
When Jones asked why she was being terminated after almost three-and-a-half years with ENC, she claims she was told it was partially due to her “unresponsiveness.” However, Jones has said she had to return her work equipment almost three months ago for repairs and since then, had to rely on using a friend’s equipment to work because ENC didn’t provide her with a replacement.
“Equity means that you even the playing field for folks who would otherwise not have the resources or privileges they need to succeed … I was given none,” Jones said.
Former employee Artie Hartsell — who was also terminated — said he believed ENC wouldn’t have a role in this year’s election cycle.
“It’s unfortunate, but I can’t say I believe that Equality NC is capable of operating effectively during this election year for the LGBTQ+ community, in their current state,” Hartsell said.
Xzavier Boston, another former employee of ENC, has been vocal about their concerns regarding the organization and Posada’s ability to lead the organization.
“We weren’t showing up in our community, and we were lying about our money problems,” Boston claimed. “They were not giving us any information, and so I submitted my resignation in April.”
Posada told Qnotes in April ENC was in the middle of reorganizing after Johnson left in December 2023. Because of that, layoffs and position rearranging would be inevitable.
“[We knew] Kendra was leaving at the end of the year and when I came into this role, to our knowledge, we expected there would be someone installed when Kendra left, but then the search got extended,” Posada explained. “So an interim position wasn’t something that the organization wanted [or] something I was … expecting.”
“Now having to deal with the entire organizational budget and then some of the restructuring that has been happening over the last couple of months [was] … also something that I wasn’t kind of like, in [on] the conversation.”
While the promotion to ED is a positive development for Posada, concerns about the organization remain unaddressed.