Distinguished Service Award to Diana Bruce
Presented by GLAA Vice President for Political Affairs Charles Butler
GLAA 42nd Anniversary ReceptionWashington Plaza Hotel
Thursday, April 25, 2013
It's with great pleasure that I introduce our first award recipient this evening -- Diana Bruce from DC Public Schools. Diana has been the school system since 2008, and has been chosen to receive our Distinguished Service Award because of her pioneering work in establishing the LGBTQ Liaison Program here in Washington and her leadership with our city's anti-bullying efforts.
A native of El Paso, Texas, Diana and her husband Bart made their way to Washington, DC in 2001, starting a family shortly thereafter. By 2004, Diana began her relationship with DCPS first as a parent advocate, lobbying the school system for needed changes, particularly in health policy. Much like the rest of us in GLAA and other advocacy groups in the city, she donated a great deal of her time working to make the city government better. In 2008, she made the change from outside agitator to a change agent within the system by accepting a position with DCPS. Now she has the title "Director of Health and Wellness" in the Office of Youth Engagement.
As part of her position, she is in charge of a wide range of issues. Her job description includes such varied activities as setting up the system by which students get the medications they need throughout the school day, implementing STI screening programs and creating school-based health centers getting students access to primary care they otherwise might not be able to get. As you can imagine, her regular duties are more than sufficient to fill a regular full-time position and then some. However, Diana has still found the time to pioneer a groundbreaking LGBTQ Liaison program for the DC Public Schools. To do this she pulled together a listening group from a variety of stakeholders back in October of 2010 and later that school year a steering committee that would make the recommendations to the city to create the program.
I feel particularly lucky to introduce Diana tonight because as a DC Public School Teacher and parent, I have had the opportunity to directly benefit from this program. As one of the liaisons from our school, I have received suicide prevention training, cultural competency training, materials to train fellow staff members and tips on how to recruit and run a gay-straight alliance at my school. Her efforts have brought funds into the city for us to have books in our schools that address LGBTQ issues, and has gotten us professional development time to devise ways to introduce LGBTQ issues into the curriculum. The amount of services that are now tailored to LGBTQ students, parents and staff has increased greatly in such a short amount of time.
I'm sure that I'm not alone in thinking back to my days as a student and wishing that I had had someone like Diana working for LGBTQ kids like myself. Diana has been an asset to the LGBTQ students, parents and teachers of the city, and with that, I would like to call her up here to receive her Distinguished Service Award.
