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March 2, 2005
The appointment of Roger C. Vann of New Haven as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut was announced today.
"Roger Vann brings to this task a wealth of experience that made him the unanimous choice of a search committee," said Barbara Hager, chairperson of the ACLU-CT, "and the board was unanimous in confirming that choice.
"He's a very effective communicator, grass-roots organizer and fund-raiser," she added, "and his knowledge of state government is an incomparable asset."
Currently senior director of operations of New Haven-based Amistad America, whose replica of an historic schooner made a dozen port stops under his direction last year, Vann earlier served more than three years as director of membership and later chief development officer of the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in Baltimore before returning to Connecticut for family reasons.
He has also directed an elected officials network for Northeast Action in Hartford, and has been a talk show host and assistant program director for WELI Radio, news and public affairs director for WNHC Radio, community relations counselor for Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven and director of a pioneering manhood mentoring program for Planned Parenthood of Connecticut.
He has been volunteer president of the Greater New Haven branch of the NAACP and of the Connecticut State Conference of NAACP branches, and currently serves on the boards of the AIDS Interfaith Network, the Ulysses S. Grant Foundation and the AFL-CIO Union Community Fund, among others.
A 1987 Brown University graduate, Vann has served as a volunteer in several state roles, including the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Affordable Housing, the State Treasurer's Task Force on Individual Development Accounts and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
"In a national search, we considered more than 70 candidates, including men and women from California, Florida, New York and one from Australia," Hager said, "and Roger Vann stood out in that crowded field."
Vann succeeds Teresa Younger of Shelton, who left at year-end to become senior organizational development manager in the affiliate support department of the national ACLU."
"In her three and a half years," Hager said, "Teresa Younger made major improvements in our outreach and effectiveness. Roger Vann is going to take us to another level of excellence."
The ACLU of Connecticut, until recently known as the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, has 9,000 members in the state, an increase of 4,000 in the last four years. It works to enhance public and legislative support for the individual liberties enumerated in the state and national Bills of Rights, and has a legal director and staff attorney who work with volunteer lawyers to represent in court those whose civil liberties are threatened.
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