Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith. (Photo via Equality Florida)
ST. PETERSBURG | Equality Florida announced Nov. 17 Executive Director Nadine Smith will step down in January 2026 after 28 years of leading the LGBTQ+ nonprofit.
Smith will become president and CEO of Color of Change, billed as the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. Stratton Pollitzer, Equality Florida’s co-founder, has been named incoming CEO and executive director.
“We are profoundly grateful for her decades of courage, innovation and unwavering commitment to building a better future for all LGBTQ Floridians,” Equality Florida shared with supporters.
“We’re also proud to announce that our Board of Directors has named Stratton Pollitzer, Equality Florida’s co-founder and co-leader since day one, as our incoming CEO and Executive Director,” they continued. “Stratton has helped shape every chapter of this organization, and his leadership will guide us through a strong and determined new era.”
Equality Florida also released a farewell message from Smith.
“I’ll be honest with you, I’m as shocked to be saying these words as you might be hearing them,” she begins in a video. “After 28 years at the helm of Equality Florida, I’m stepping into my next big challenge: to lead Color of Change …. at this time of enormous peril in our country.
“But before I say anything else, let me say this: Equality Florida has never been stronger,” she continues. “My commitment to this organization and its mission is forever. This is family. This is home. And I’m brimming with confidence because the team we’ve built here without question among the most talented and dedicated in the nation.”
Smith also reflected on Pollitzer’s new position, calling him a dear friend, co-founder “and co-leader for all of those 28 years.”
“There is no one more ready to carry this movement forward,” she notes. Smith adds that she will remain a Floridian and “a part of frontline Florida and I will always wear my Equality Florida uniform with pride.”
“It has been the honor of my lifetime to build this movement alongside Stratton and our amazing team,” she notes. “To turn what began as a vision for a better Florida into one of the most impactful statewide LGBTQ organizations in the nation.”
The LGBTQ+ advocate subsequently reflected on Equality Florida’s decades of work across the state. She highlighted the fight for marriage equality, against Florida’s ban on LGBTQ+ adoption and more.
“This organization has changed lives and changed history, and I have no doubt with your support, Equality Florida’s brightest days are still ahead,” Smith concludes. “Thank you for standing with me, with Stratton and with all of us on the frontlines. Equality Florida is and always will be home.”
View her video below:
Color of Change also welcomed Smith with a video of their own.
They called Smith a “grassroots organizer [who] has spent her career taking on corporate interests and forces of extremism, demonstrating the tenacity and courage that we need at this moment to win the fights ahead.” Read more here view Smith’s introduction to the organization below:
For more information about Equality Florida or Color of Change, visit EQFL.org and ColorOfChange.org.
