Ricardo Martinez (he/him) joined GLAD as Executive Director in the summer of 2024 after serving on the front lines of state and national LGBTQ+ advocacy in Texas and Arizona. A first-generation immigrant from Mexico who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, Ricardo has amassed twenty years of nonprofit fundraising, advocacy, and leadership experience.

Most recently, as CEO of Equality Texas, Ricardo ensured the organization maximized its impact during intense and sustained anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

Ricardo has an undergraduate degree from Stony Brook University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from The New School in New York City. He was honored by the Obama Administration as an emerging LGBTQ Leader in 2012 and awarded Stony Brook University’s 40 Under 40 award for his impact in Civil Service and Activism.

Patience “Polly” Crozier (she/her/hers) is the Director of Family Advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders.  Polly’s work focuses on youth and family issues, including parentage protections, adoption, access to fertility healthcare, transgender family law, juvenile justice, and child welfare, work at the intersection of LGBTQ and reproductive rights, and marriage equality.  Polly serves on the UPA National Enactment Committee and has been a national leader on expanding protections for LGBTQ families and children.  Most recently, she has successfully worked to draft and pass statutory family law reforms in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as health care provider shield laws in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Polly is a graduate of Yale University and Boston College Law School, and she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Irma S. Raker of the Maryland Court of Appeals and to the Justices of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.

Lisa Rodriguez-Ross joined GLAD Law as a Staff Attorney in April 2024 and will focus on GLAD Law’s work in Rhode Island. Lisa is a dedicated legal attorney committed to advocating for her clients’ rights. As the founder of Rodriguez-Ross Law, LLC, she brings a wealth of experience in Criminal Defense and Landlord Tenant Law. With a passion for social justice, Lisa was pivotal in establishing the Volunteers for Justice Program at the Hampden County Housing Court, demonstrating her commitment to serving her community.

Joe Metmowlee Garland, MD AAHIVS (he/him) is the Medical Director of the Infectious Diseases and Immunology Center and the Corliss Street Clinic, both at Brown University Health in Providence, Rhode Island. He also serves as a clinician and a member of the Medical Advisory Board at Clínica Esperanza, also located in Providence. Dr. Garland is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

As a physician, he provides both primary care and infectious diseases specialty care, with a focus on the prevention and treatment of HIV. He is board certified in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine and is a practicing HIV Specialist of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. Dr. Garland received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School and completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Pennsylvania.