Dan Furmansky possesses thirteen years of professional experience in non-profit and progressive advocacy organizations focused on issues related to civil rights, the environment, church/state separation, animal welfare, hunger and poverty, and economic justice. Mr. Furmansky is a lobbyist, strategist, organizer, educator, spokesperson, lecturer and writer with a record of producing significant organizational growth, building strong coalitions, and generating quantifiable social change.
For five years, Mr. Furmansky served as Executive Director of Equality Maryland (EQMD), an advocacy organization devoted to making life better for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Marylanders (LGBT). From 2003-2008, the organization grew from a staff of one with a budget under $100K into an entity with a $1 million plus budget; housing several staff, consultants and lobbyists; and creating a strong statewide political presence. During his tenure, EQMD launched a marriage equality campaign that reverberated nationally.
Mr. Furmansky facilitated passage of state and local laws to combat hate crimes, address discrimination on the basis of gender identity, extend healthcare benefits to domestic partners, and grant medical decision-making and real estate transfer rights for same-sex couples. He formed The Religious Coalition for Marriage Equality and The Marylanders of Color Collective. Mr. Furmansky generated hundreds of media hits nationally, appearing on programs such as the “Bill O’Reilly Show,” on CNN, and facilitating the public coming out of Maya Marcel-Keyes, daughter of ultra-conservative Alan Keyes, which was recognized in PR Weekly.
“There's no doubt that Furmansky was sort of like a superhero working to protect the rights of GLBT Marylanders since he took the helm in 2003.”
– Baltimore City Paper (6/18/2008)
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“Dan Furmansky took over a small organization on a shoestring and helped it grow into a professionally staffed, influential force whose budget increased tenfold. Along the way he has reached out to a broad range of LGBT and other civil rights organizations-statewide and national-to build a strong coalition, and he has worked effectively with elected officials on both sides of the aisle that has garnered deserving respect and admiration.”
– Baltimore Out Loud (10/10/2008)
In Washington D.C., Mr. Furmansky served for two years as Senior Field Organizer at the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT civil rights organization, where he was promoted to provide training and support to 14 state-level advocacy organizations, and to further the organization’s federal legislative and electoral agenda. He spent a year as Deputy Director of Communications for RESULTS, a grassroots citizens’ lobby in Capitol Hill devoted to eradicating hunger and poverty, where he generated dozens of editorials on issues such as microcredit loans and tuberculosis funding.
Mr. Furmansky honed his skills working in the consumer foods division of a public relations firm in New York City and for an animal shelter in Madison, Wisconsin, where he pioneered a groundbreaking animal assisted therapy program and appeared on television weekly with an adoptable “pet of the week.”
In 2000, Mr. Furmansky participated in Hazon’s Cross-Country Jewish Environmental Charity Bike Ride, personally riding from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and educating riders and communities across the country about factory farming's impact on the environment and animal welfare issues. He raised thousands of dollars in donations for environmental charities, and received an award from the EPA for his efforts.
Mr. Furmansky has served on the board of directors of Progressive Maryland, a grassroots organization seeking to improve the lives of working families, and the Public Justice Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a legal voice to people who have been shut out of or ignored by society. In addition to his many local awards, Mr. Furmansky was recently honored for his social justice work with the national 2008 Cornerstone Award from the Jewish Funds for Justice.
He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland where he works as a consultant to progressive non-profit organizations; as a writer; and as a wedding celebrant for couples seeking personalized, meaningful ceremonies.
“Dan Furmansky is an effective, visionary, and inspiring progressive leader. He built one of the state's strongest grassroots movements and seriously advanced societal acceptance and civil rights protections for LGBT Marylanders."
- Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler
