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Hudson Pride Connections Center executive director Nancy Caamaño will be leaving her post at the end of October, the organization announced today.

Caamaño, who has served Hudson Pride since 2006 and been executive director since 2009, will be replaced on an interim basis by board treasurer Jonathan Lucas, who has been serving as Director of Operations since July. He will oversee the LGBT community center and group as it searches for a leader to replace Caamaño.

“Leaving Hudson Pride after five years was not an easy decision to make,” she says in a statement. “However, I am confident our board leadership will provide a bright future for the Center.”

During Caamaño’s tenure, there have been plenty of changes at Hudson Pride. The group renovated the 100 year-old three-story Victorian house near Journal Square that serves as its headquarters, and launched the first New Jersey chapter of SAGE, a program which serves the needs of LGBT individuals over 50. Hudson Pride also took over the role of lead organizer of the annual Pride Festival when
Jersey City Lesbian + Gay Outreach disbanded last year.

“Nancy Caamaño is a visionary leader who has been the driving force of the Center for the past 5 years,” board member Liz Edman says in a statement. “Her vision, perseverance and dedication to Hudson Pride have been extraordinary and has put us in exactly the right place to move into even higher levels of service to the LGBT and HIV-affected communities. We will miss her, and we will build on the foundation she helped establish at Hudson Pride.”

Hudson Pride Connections Center will host a farewell party for Caamaño on October 29 at 7 pm at 32 Jones Street.