The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee announced Tuesday, October 6 that Amy Andre is its new executive director.

Andre, 34, succeeds Lindsey Jones, who stepped down in July.

In the meantime, Pride has been under the leadership of Joshua Smith, who had left Pride's board of directors to fill the role of interim executive director.

"My reaction to getting the job was just complete delight," Andre, who is bisexual, wrote in an e-mail to the Bay Area Reporter. "It's such an incredible opportunity, and an incredible organization. I've been an LGBT activist for a long time, and to me, Pride is more than just a celebration. It's a mass community action."

Along with an MBA, focusing on nonprofit management, from the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a master's degree in sexuality studies, focusing on LGBT community issues, from San Francisco State University, Andre has over a decade of experience working in various capacities with local and national LGBT nonprofit organizations, according to a statement from the Pride Committee.

Andre's previous positions have included working at Out and Equal Workplace Advocates, educating employees and executives at Fortune 500 companies about LGBT rights. She's also the co-author of Bisexual Health: An Introduction and Model Practices for HIV/ STI Prevention, and, among other accomplishments, she directed the documentary On My Skin/En Mi Piel , about a mixed-race transgender man and his family.

Mikayla Connell, president of the Pride Committee's board, said in a statement, "We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Amy Andre to the Pride team with her wealth of talent, experience, and history of activism as we continue planning and preparing for the 40th anniversary San Francisco Pride Celebration and Parade in June of 2010."

Andre, who has lived in San Francisco since 1997, currently resides in the Castro with her fianc e, filmmaker Kami Chisholm. She will begin her position October 15. A national search to fill the position started in March.

Connell said that Andre's salary is $105,000. Pride's current budget is $1.5 million.

The theme for next year's Pride festivities, which are June 26-27, is "Forty and Fabulous." For more information, visit http://www.sfpride.org.