Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, Wednesday announced the selection of Tony Hoang, a USC graduate and the son of Vietnam War refugees, to lead the Los Angeles-based organization as executive director when Rick Chavez Zbur steps down at the end of this year.
The boards of directors of Equality California and the Equality California Institute unanimously selected Hoang, who currently holds the title of managing director, after a year-long succession process.
Hoang will serve as executive director-designate through the end of 2021 and will continue to lead Equality California’s day-to-day operations. Zbur will continue to provide strategic guidance and leadership at the organization during the transition period.
“We cannot think of a more qualified, dynamic and visionary leader to succeed Rick and carry Equality California into its next chapter than Tony Hoang,” Equality California Board President Joe Gregorich and Equality California Institute Board President Jackie Thomas said in a joint statement.
“The son of Vietnam War refugees and the first person in his family to attend college, Tony is a proud first-generation immigrant who grew up understanding the marginalized intersections of sexual orientation, gender, race, immigration status and class,” they said. “Tony is the perfect leader to take the helm at this critical time for our community and the nation, and we look forward to working with him as he takes on this new endeavor.”
Hoang, who lives in downtown Los Angeles, said he is “honored and humbled to have the opportunity to lead such a diverse, dynamic organization that has been at the vanguard of the LGBTQ+ movement for the last two decades.”
“Our community is at an inflection point — recovering from a global pandemic and economic crisis, facing a reckoning with centuries of structural racism and fighting back against a coordinated assault on transgender children,” he said. “Equality California has both an opportunity and a responsibility to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people, and I’m ready to get to work.”
Born and raised outside of Houston, Hoang moved to Los Angeles to attend USC. During college, he served as a field intern at Equality California in 2009, beginning his 12-year career at the organization.
“Over the last 12 years, Hoang has played a pivotal role in the passage of groundbreaking civil rights legislation in California, Nevada and Washington, D.C., implementation of statewide public education campaigns and the election of hundreds of openly LGBTQ+ and pro-equality candidates up and down the ballot,” according to an Equality California statement.
In a statement released by the organization, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Hoang’s “life reflects the California spirit: a son of refugees, the first in his family to graduate from college and a tireless advocate for equality and justice. I am confident that the LGBTQ community will be well-served by his leadership, and I look forward to working with him to advance our collective vision of a California for all.”
As executive director, “Hoang hopes to expand the organization’s physical presence across California, with a particular focus on the Central Valley, Orange County and the Inland Empire,” according to Equality California. “He also plans to focus on advancing racial justice and reforming the nation’s immigration system as key priorities critical to achieving full, lived equality for all LGBTQ+ people. And building on key victories in recent elections, he plans to deepen Equality California — and the LGBTQ+ community’s — political power across the state.”
Civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, who serves on Equality California’s Executive Director’s Council, said “Hoang is the right person at the right time as our country is awakening to the many `wrongs’ that people of color, women and our LGBTQ community have suffered. He has the experience, intelligence, charisma and ‘`people skills’ to take Equality California to new heights. He is also a very hard worker. Tony has proven his dedication to Equality California and social justice issues with his life’s work. We are so lucky to have him direct this great organization.”
In addition to his work at Equality California, Hoang serves on the city of Los Angeles’ Innovation and Performance Commission and on the boards of the Equality Federation and DTLA Proud, a nonprofit that works to empower the local LGBTQ+ community in downtown Los Angeles.