One Iowa, an organization advocating for LGBTQIA+ rights, announced on Aug. 26 that after a national search it has named Dan Royer as its new executive director.

Royer began leading the organization Sunday.

“The board is delighted that Dan is taking the helm at One Iowa,” said Jenny Smith, chair of the One Iowa Board of Directors. “His extensive nonprofit and business leadership, managerial experience and deep knowledge of our state’s healthcare landscape are the right combination to take One Iowa to the next level in our mission to advance, empower and improve the lives of LGBTQ Iowans statewide.”

An Iowa native and Iowa State Alumni, Royer has more than 14 years of experience leading nonprofit organizations, most recently as executive director of the Iowa Alliance in Home Care. Prior to that, he held several leadership roles at the Iowa Hospital Association. Royer has also served on the Capital City Pride Board and the One Iowa Action Board.

“One Iowa is an incredibly important organization to me personally and has made incredible progress for Iowa’s LGBTQ community,” Royer said. “There is more work to be done, and I’m looking forward to leading the organization and it’s dedicated team to further promote diversity, inclusion and empowerment across the state of Iowa.”

Smith said that close to 20 candidates applied for the position, which a hiring committee, formed from members of the board of directors, looked at. The committee narrowed down the search to six individuals with which they then performed phone interviews. From there they only did two in-person interviews with the last two candidates, one of which was Royer.

“Dan brings in a new level of experience with healthcare, he’s been in every hospital in Iowa,” Smith said. “He has experience with the legislature and has sat in on some key non-profit boards across Iowa. He really envelopes everything we were looking for.”

One Iowa also announced it is expanding its leadership team with a new assistant executive director role. Courtney Reyes, currently serving as interim executive director, will be promoted to this position.

“Courtney has the experience, passion and leadership skills to complement Dan’s strengths,” Smith said. “This leadership structure will help us expand our services and reach more LGBTQ Iowans. While we’ve made tremendous progress, the fight for full equality is far from over.”

Royer replaces Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel, who resigned Aug. 7 to pursue another career opportunity.

“This is really exciting for One Iowa,” said Terri Hale, a member of the One Iowa Board of Directors. “Daniel Hoffman-Zinnel really elevated the organization in a lot of ways but Dan and Courtney will be taking what Hoffman-Zinnel did and take it to the next level.”