Tim Gill and Lucia Guzman to receive ADL's 2006 Civil Rights Awards

Tim Gill, founder of the Gill Foundation, and Lucia Guzman, Executive Director of the Denver Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations and a member of the Denver Board of Education, will receive the Anti-Defamation League's 2006 Civil Rights Awards for their leadership and achievements in the areas of civil and human rights at a luncheon on Wed, Feb 1, 2006, from 11:45 am - 1:30 pm at the Denver Marriott City Center, 1701 California St.

ADL's Mountain States Regional office's Civil Rights Committee, co-chaired by ADL Board Members Jim Kurtz-Phelan and Scott Levin, selected this year's recipients.
Gill is a successful entrepreneur and active philanthropist. He was recognized as an innovative business leader after founding and serving as Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Quark, Inc., a desktop and internet software company.

In 1994, he founded the Gill Foundation with the mission of ensuring equal opportunity for all people regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression. Through the Gill Foundation, Gill provides financial support to gay and lesbian and HIV/AIDS organizations along with a wide variety of other charitable causes in Colorado and elsewhere.

Gill has always been an advocate for civil rights. In addition to funding the gay and lesbian movement by supporting hundreds of national and state-wide organizations, he is also a strong supporter of community organizations and educational institutions. He was one of the first major contributors to the Colorado AIDS Project and has long supported local public radio and television through program underwriting.

Through the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, established by the Gill Foundation, Gill has provided financial support to numerous organizations which serve the general public, such as $100,000 to the American Red Cross for flood relief in Fort Collins, CO, and more than $200,000 to the Colorado Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The daughter of a Mexican farm worker and railroad laborer, Guzman is a first generation Hispanic and has never forgotten the suffering, and severe acts of injustice endured by her father and mother because of the place of their birth or the language they spoke.

In 1994, Guzman began her five-year tenure as the first woman and the first Mexican-American to serve as the Executive Director of the Colorado Council of Churches, where she was a strong advocate for interfaith relations. In 1999, she won an elected seat on the Denver School Board where she successfully fought for the community's desire to have a dual language Montessori school for Hispanic and Anglo children in Northwest Denver. Today, the school is one of the nation's most unique educational opportunities for monolingual Spanish and English speaking children.

In October 2004, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper appointed Guzman Executive Director of the Agency for Human Rights and Community Relations where she takes the lead in addressing local issues and promotes equal opportunity and rights for all regardless of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability. In every role she has taken on, she has brought a passion for justice and provided a voice for those not heard.

The Anti-Defamation League is the nation's premier civil rights/ human relations agency fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry and hatred, defending democratic ideals and protecting civil rights for all. Through its A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute, ADL provides diversity and anti-bias training and resources for the community, schools and law enforcement officials. For more information about ADL and its services, visit <www.adl.org>

ADL's Civil Rights Award luncheon costs $36 per person, and reservations may be made by calling Judy in the ADL office at 303-830-7177 or emailing her at <jbohlender@ADL.org>

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