New Director of Community Engagement and Advocacy

June 6, 2023 

Dear friends, 

I am very excited to announce Dianne Hardy-Garcia as our director of Community Engagement and Advocacy at St. David's. The vestry approved the creation of this new full-time staff position to coordinate our direct service outreach opportunities as well as our ongoing advocacy efforts. Dianne is a longtime community organizer, advocate, and strategist with more than three decades of experience working for social justice and equality on local, state, and national levels.

We’re delighted to have Dianne join our staff. Her first day at St. David’s will be July 5 and her first Sunday will be July 9, when she will be introduced to the parish at the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services.

Peace,

The Rev. Dr. Chuck Treadwell

Dianne Hardy-Garcia is excited to join the St. David’s staff. She brings with her more than 30 years of experience, including organizing events on the local, state, and national levels. Her deep understanding of mission-driven organizations and social justice campaigns as well as her collaborative spirit will be invaluable to build our Community Engagement and Advocacy areas.

As a social worker, Hardy-Garcia has worked on key issues including LGBTQ+ equal rights, homelessness, domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, women's rights, mental health, criminal justice reform, and the abolishment of the death penalty.

Hardy-Garcia served as the executive director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas (LGRL, now Equality Texas) from 1993 to 2002 and helped spearhead an anti-hate crime campaign that led to the passage of the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in Texas. This effort was a model of intersectional organizing that strengthen coalitions between racial, religious, LGBTQ+, ethnic, and gender-led groups, and served as a precursor to the passage of the federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

While at LGRL, she also served as the executive director of the Millennium March on Washington and co-chair of the Federation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered State Organizations. She previously served as co-chair of the Austin Lesbian/Gay Political Caucus, where she led the effort that established domestic partnership benefits for City of Austin employees and established the first statewide domestic partnership registry in the state of Texas.

For her leadership and extensive organizing efforts, Hardy-Garcia was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni from The University of Texas School of Social Work and honored by the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Metropolitan Community Church, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the Human Rights Campaign and PFLAG, among others.

Her work has been covered by such media outlets as “Prime Time Live,” The New York Times, Out Magazine, The Washington Post, Texas Monthly, and Vanity Fair. She was named by The Advocate as one of the gay and lesbian community's best and brightest activists. She is also featured in several books, including “Perfect Enemies” by Chris Bull and John Gallagher; “American Women Against Violence” by Joyce Goldenstern; and “Brave Journeys: Profiles in Gay and Lesbian Courage” by David Mixner and Dennis Bailey. She has also been featured in works by Texas legend Molly Ivins.

Hardy-Garcia earned her master's degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology and English from University of Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas.

Hardy-Garcia was born and raised in a devoutly Catholic family in San Antonio, Texas. She lives with her partner of 20 years, Corri Planck, and their two daughters, Raquel and Kristina. In addition to enjoying spending time with family and friends, she is a passionate ceramic artist and gardener who loves to travel.