Award recipient Kathleen Sullivan, human right activist from Richmond, speaks to the CAHRO conference.
Kathleen Sullivan has been a resident of the City of Richmond for the last 15 years, but connected to the community for more than 20. Her union with her husband, who was born and raised in Richmond, united her with one of the African-American pioneer families of the Richmond community. Ms. Sullivan has been active in the local and national politics for more than three decades. During the last 15 years, she has operated primarily in her own community in Richmond, while raising her five children. She has been a successful consultant to the foster care system in both San Francisco and Contra Costa County. Ms. Sullivan fostered more than 42 children in her own home and provided leadership in the West County in the redesign of the foster care system. She has herself adopted two girls and become the legal guardian of another. She has two sons; one who is 22 years old and another who is 19. She has two daughters who are 18 and 20.
Award recipient Carol Turpen, chair of th Orange County Human Relations Commission, (right) with CAHRO President Dannell Scarborough
Carol Turpen is chair of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, where she has served for the last six years. On the commission, Ms.Turpen is passionate about issues of fairness and justice. She rose to a leadership position after two years on the commission, serving the last two years as chair and the previous two years as the vice chair. as a single parent of a 21-year-old, Ms. Turpen has done an awesome job supporting her daughter through her professional and educational endeavors. She is a civil rights activist with tireless energy that she gives freely of, even as she holds a very demanding position at Ingram Micro, when she is a senior manager of corporate communications, a position that finds her working long hours under intense pressure.
From left, winner Rick Eaton, with the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, receives the award from Assemblymember Ammiano, CAHRO President Dannell Scarborough and CAHRO Board Member Rusty Kennedy.
Rick Eaton has served as a researcher at the Simon Wisenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles for 28 years where he has uncovered Nazi war criminals in South America, infiltrated hate groups, made one of the first comprehensive data bases of online hate groups (15 annual volumes), trained law enforcement through California POST and testified before Congress. Mr. Eaton graduated from Chapman College in 1974 with a degree in history and has studied international relations at UCLA Extension. Mr. Eaton is a behind-the-scenes kind of fellow who rarely takes or seeks credit for what he does, either on or off the clock due to a combination of humility and real safety concerns. While he does work internationally, he has made a real impact here in California with respect to students of all ages, law enforcement training and his desire to help those who have sought to leave hate groups.
From left, winner William Ambrunn, LGBT activist, received the award from Assemblyman Ammiano and CAHRO President Dannell Scarborough and CAHRO board member Rusty Kennedy
William Ambrunn is an attorney, donor relations director for the Northern California ACLU, and a dedicated activist working tirelessly on issues affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in San Francisco, especially its aging members. His activism has served a a model and inspiration for others on how to advocate for a position and get things done. Between 2011 and 2012, Mr. Ambrunn founded and co-chaired the LGBT Seniors Work Group of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s LGBT Advisory Committee. The Seniors Works Group successfully advocated for the city to develop an LGBT Aging Policy which would serve the needs of its aging LGBT citizens. In autumn 2012, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors created a San Francisco LGBT Aging Policy Task Force. Mr. Ambrnn chaired this task force, serving on it until its sunset in March 2014. The task force was established to identify issues facing the aging LGBT community in San Francisco, and to develop actionable recommendations that the Board of Supervisors and mayor could consider to address those issues.
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