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Selisse Berry
Executive Director, Founder

Kevin Lee Shytle
Managing Director

Beatriz Rincón
Director of Finance & Operations

Stephen Gould
Associate Director of NETWORKS!

Susan Willm
Associate Director of Development

Stanley Ellicott
Assistant to the Managing Director

Pat Baillie
Training & Professional Development Manager

Anthony Bannon
Special Events Manager

Julie Beach
Career Development Manager

Pamela Berkowitz
Operations Manager

Dave Bueché
Senior Office Services Manager

Redge Norton
Communications Manager - Media Relations

Morgan Green
Program Associate

Bridget Striker
Technology Intern

Luis Vera
Finance & Operations Intern

 

Out & Equal Staff
Out & Equal in 2005

Out and Equal Staff 2006
Out & Equal in 2006

2007 Out & Equal Staff
Out & Equal in 2007


Selisse Berry Selisse Berry
Executive Director

Selisse Berry is founding executive director of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, the nation's only national nonprofit organization specifically dedicated to creating safe and equitable workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Under her leadership, the organization has grown significantly with 1200 percent expansion in the annual Summit since 1999, and ten regional affiliates across the United States.

During her tenure at Out & Equal, Selisse has regularly met with executives, HR professionals and LGBT employees to expand LGBT equality in workplaces across the country and globally. Under her leadership, the organization has created numerous programs to advance its mission, including the annual Out & Equal Workplace Summit, bimonthly Town Call seminars, the Out & Equal Workplace Institute—which seeks to bring together scholarly research on LGBT equality with business and human resource managers, the nation’s largest registry of LGBT Employee Resource Groups, the soon-to-launch LGBT CareerLink—a website devoted to connecting LGBT job seekers with LGBT-friendly companies, and substantial programming in the growing network of regional affiliates.

Her clear and unwavering vision has been instrumental in creating an internationally recognized organization whose philosophies reflect the importance of treating all colleagues in the workplace with respect and dignity. Since her first job as a guidance counselor, Selisse has continued her commitment to justice as a teacher and as executive director for several social service organizations prior to founding Out & Equal Workplace Advocates. She has master's degrees in education and theology from the University of Texas and San Francisco Theological Seminary respectively. Selisse and her partner, Cynthia Martin, were married in July 2007.

Ms. Berry has worked for the ordination of out LGBT people in various denominations and is co-editor of the book, Called Out: Voices and Gifts of LGBT Presbyterians. Selisse has also worked as a special education teacher, a guidance counselor and has extensive experience as a diversity trainer around LGBT issues and broader diversity issues and often consults on LGBT diversity issues.

Out & Equal is widely known for its annual Workplace Summit, the premier gathering of LGBT employees and human resources professionals from around the globe. The Summit brings together LGBT employees, allies and human resource and diversity professionals to share best practices that address all facets of workplace equality. Held in a different city each year, the Summit blends internationally known keynote speakers with educational workshops and idea-sharing opportunities. The Out & Equal Workplace Summit will take place September 10-13, 2008 in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit our website at www.outandequal.org.


Kevin Shytle Kevin Lee Shytle
Managing Director

Kevin joined Out & Equal as an Executive Assistant in the summer of 2002. In this role he managed daily administrative duties and served as a liaison for several Out & Equal programs. Prior to joining Out & Equal Kevin completed his Masters of Business Administration as a Research Fellow at the University of San Francisco, graduating with honors.

Kevin worked three years at the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center playing a key role in building the Center's education initiatives literally from the ground up. This included managing an arts integration program that has become a regional and national model for arts integration. Other critical successes is his ability to build strong relationships between the Center, school boards, superintendents, principals, teachers, community leaders and artists. Kevin also worked as an Assistant Events Manager providing training and management for Front of House paid staff and volunteers.

Kevin Shytle was a North Carolina Teaching Fellow at Elon University. He earned his BA in Elementary Education and graduated with Honors. He served as a public school teacher in North Carolina for four years.


Beatriz Rincon Beatriz Rincón
Director of Finance & Operations

Beatriz Rincón is Out & Equal's Director of Finance & Operations. In addition to her lifelong commitment to the goals of our organization, Beatriz comes to us with a broad range of experience in both for-profit (20 years) and non-profit environments (11 years), which accounts for her well-honed skills in the areas of Fiscal Management, Budget Development, Financial Analysis, Human Resources, Internal Procedures, and Operations/Project Management.

Prior to joining Out & Equal, Beatriz was the Executive Director of AgeSong Senior Communities, where her responsibilities included directing finance and operations of two assisted living facilities in San Francisco specializing in the care of individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Here she refined, developed, and implemented strategic initiatives to improve organizational performance, and develop organizational capabilities. She set about overcoming financial and staffing challenges by totally redesigning the organizational structure and establishing and implementing procedures, policies, and cost controls in all key areas of the organization. She also spent four years as the Director of Finance and Operations at Social Venture Network, a non-profit that promotes socially responsible businesses. Reporting to SVN’s Co-Directors, Beatriz had the primary responsibility for understanding and anticipating the organization’s needs and providing solutions in all areas relating to finance, accounting, HR, administration and operations. She was consistently commended by board members and SVN Co-Directors alike, for successfully bringing transparency and a solid financial position to the organization.

Beatriz has also worked at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), as the Budget Manager and Special Project Manager, and as the Executive Director for HOLOS XXI, a clinical and educational organization dedicated to counseling, education, and research in the mental health field in Venezuela.
In addition to her expertise in finance and operations, Beatriz has a MA in Health Education, and extensive experience as a Chemical Engineer. From 1975-1995, she worked for Petroleos de Venezuela, managing annual budgets of up to 400 million dollars, supervising large construction projects, and supervising the work of dozens of engineers. Beatriz was recognized by the Venezuelan government with the Jose Antonio Anzoategui Medal in 1983 for excellent work on the construction and start-up of the first cryogenic plant in South America. She has also taught courses in Gas Treatment as an adjunct faculty member at the Universidad Central de Venezuela.


Stephen Gould Stephen Gould
Associate Director of NETWORKS!

Stephen is pleased to continue his work at Out & Equal Workplace Advocates coordinating the efforts of the Out & Equal ERG Registry, Regional Affiliates and other Out & Equal networks. Stephen joined the staff as executive assistant in the summer of 2004 after studying and teaching in Berkeley, CA. Since then, Stephen launched and coordinated the Out & Equal Institute during its first years before moving into his current position.

Stephen gained experience in nonprofit administration working for The Concordia Orchestra and the Little Orchestra Society, both in New York City, as well as various theaters. He earned a master's degree in religion at Yale University, where he got a taste for LBGT activism as the cochair of the Yale Divinity School LGBT coalition. He also holds an A.B. degree in political science from Duke University. Originally from New York State, he is quite happy to be a resident of the incomparably beautiful San Francisco.


Susan Willm Susan Willm
Associate Director of Development

Susan Willm came to work for Out & Equal Workplace Advocates in May, 2005, as a contract worker, and officially became staff six months later. As Associate Director of Development, Susan’s main responsibility is working with corporate sponsors, and assisting Development Director Jed Herman.

Susan has worked in various administrative roles for non-profits, religious and educational institutions all her life including a community/church race relations program in South Central Los Angeles, student services at Pacific School of Religion, and Office Manager at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Just previous to joining Out & Equal she was self-employed as a freelance administrator for other independent contractors and small nonprofit organizations. She has been Lay Pastoral Assistant at Epworth United Methodist Church in Berkeley for six years, and has held a number of positions in the regional church, including Lay Delegate to the Western Jurisdictional Conference of the United Methodist Church 2004-2008.

Susan has lived in her home in Berkeley for over 30 years, and has an adult son living in the Boston area. She enjoys movies, gardening, reading mysteries, and living in Berkeley.


Stanley Ellicott Stanley Ellicott
Assistant to the Managing Director

Stanley joined the staff of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates in June 2008, as the Assistant to the Managing Director.

Before arriving at Out & Equal, Stanley served as a peer mentor at Wheaton College’s Filene Center for Work and Learning in Norton, Massachusetts, and as an account representative at Conrad Imports, San Francisco. He is delighted to be part of the Out & Equal team, providing direct support to the Managing Director, Kevin Shytle, and working toward achieving LGBT workplace equality.

Stanley graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Russian language in 2007. While at Wheaton, he studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, and later in St. Petersburg, Russia as a Fulbright-Hays Scholar. Stanley's undergraduate thesis, a paper that put LGBT issues in conversation with economic analysis, was a careful study of labor market discrimination faced by LGBT people.

Stanley resides in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco with his boyfriend, Steffan. As a self-proclaimed gourmand, Stanley enjoys both fine food and wine, and is an active supporter of the slow food movement. He is a member of The International Association for Feminist Economics, The Union for Radical Political Economics and is a project advocate for BUTT-OUT! Ending Big Tobacco Exploitation of the LGBT Community. Stanley maintains interest in the study of consumer debt, economic inequalities, and Scandinavian design. He is always happy to visit family in Maine or enjoy good company.


Pat Baillie Pat Baillie
Training & Professional Development Manager

Pat Baillie joined Out & Equal in January 2008 after retiring the second time in her career from Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Prior to that, she served in the US Air Force retiring in 1993 as a Major. Her entire career has been involved with training, adult education, and activism and she is ready to pull all those parts of her history together at Out & Equal to make a difference for those in the workplace. 

Pat graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Master’s Degree in Physical Education, Biology and Psychology. After college, she joined the Air Force and worked as a Weapons Controller and Space Operations officer. She was also active in LGBT causes her entire career and decided to retire on the day that President Clinton announced "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." She was then able to publicly come out and was the featured speaker at the Veteran’s Day memorial in Sacramento, California in 1993. She has also worked extensively with sexual freedom issue as a spokesperson and educator and has work on national grass roots organizing. In Albuquerque, Pat worked within Honeywell on their Diversity Council and was asked to present on LGBT issues at the statewide EEOC conferences as well as being the only "out" employee that could be a resource. She also helped to grow the local and statewide LGBT community as the Co-President of Albuquerque Pride for over 10 years. She continued to be involved in community events from political to social until she realized she was ready to return to California. Her goal was to work in a non-profit on LGBT issues. Out & Equal added to that the ability to use her years of training experience so in December 2007, Pat moved back to California.

She is living in San Jose and is excited about being back near family and being a Californian again. Her recreational activities include travel, riding her motorcycle to Santa Cruz, softball, working out and learning soccer. The opportunity to find ways to influence the workplace so LGBT employees can be fully themselves is truly a dream job bringing together her political/activist passion with her love of teaching.


Anthony BannonAnthony Bannon
Special Events Manager

Anthony Bannon joined the Out & Equal team in March of 2008 with more than eight years of experience in non profit management in California.  For six years Anthony supported youth development programs with the YMCA of San Diego County as Project Director. Upon moving to the Bay Area, he continued his dedication to youth development working on the development team of Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco. Working in his family’s catering business from the age of 11 has prepared Anthony for great success as Out & Equal’s Special Events Manager. 

In 2005, Anthony was selected as a Nelson and Winnie Mandela Fellow and began a life-altering marriage with Amnesty, Intl.  For nearly 5 month, Anthony traveled throughout Northern and Eastern Africa promoting universal education for all children. Anthony’s wanderlust has brought him to more than 30 countries on four continents... and counting.  His travels have inspired a collection of historically-based curriculums for middle school youth focused on the global impact of ‘local’ events i.e. ethnic cleansing in the Baltics, Rwandan genocide, end of Apartheid in South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, Mozambique’s land trust distribution, and the Dafar tragedy of Sudan.

Currently, Anthony is on the Board of Advisors for the BOOST Conference and volunteers as a mentor to three high potential, college-bound youth from San Francisco’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Anthony graduated with highest honors from the University of Maryland with degrees in Hearing and Speech Sciences and Special Education.


Julie BeachJulie Beach
Career Development Manager

Julie joined Out & Equal Workplace Advocates in the spring of 2008 as Career Development Manager. Responsible for launching Out & Equal’s web-based LGBT career development program, Julie is a seasoned tech expert with an MA in Industrial Psychology emphasizing employment issues for the LGBT community.

For the past ten years, Julie has helped dozens of organizations develop their technological capabilities. As a technology consultant, she worked with public and nonprofit organizations including San Francisco Unified School District, Girls, Inc., UCSF and various San Francisco city departments. At Goodwill Industries, as a member of the IT team, she helped meet the tech requirements of 15 retail stores and several hundred employees. And for the San Francisco Children’s Council, she launched and managed a program to increase the technological skills and resources of San Francisco’s early childhood education community.

Also a skilled trainer, Julie has introduced a diverse array of people to technology. Working with Marin’s adult education programs, Jewish Vocational Service and other nonprofit organizations, she has enabled seniors, homeless individuals and those with barriers to employment to use computers for the first time and, in many cases, begin a path to sustainable employment.

Previous to her tech career, Julie received an MA in industrial psychology with an emphasis on LGBT career development after a 15-year management career with PG&E. While obtaining her degree, she worked in the human resources department at Autodesk, Inc.

Enabling LGBT individuals to develop successful careers with supportive companies and organizations has been a long-time passion for Julie. She is thrilled to now be able to combine these diverse interests on behalf of Out & Equal.

Julie lives in Marin with her partner of 19 years, a marketing executive for a San Francisco architecture firm, and their German Shepherd, Dover. She enjoys time at their Bolinas cottage, along with biking, home repair and digital photography.


Pamela Berkowitz Pamela Berkowitz
Operations Manager

Pamela joined the Out & Equal Workplace Advocates staff in June 2006, as the new office manager.

Pamela earned her bachelor’s degree in Women’s Studies with a minor in Judaic Studies from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She also spent two semesters as part of a teaching collective within the Women’s Studies Department at SUNY Albany, where she co-taught the course “Introduction to Feminisms.”

Pamela has a long history working with nonprofit organizations dedicated to social change. She was on the board of directors for the Social Justice Center in Albany, NY an umbrella group of nonprofit organizations. She was also was part of the collective at Peace Offerings (a nonprofit fair trade craft store) and worked for five years on the committee for the Women’s Networking Fair in Albany, NY. She is currently active in the Network of Spiritual Progressives, East Bay Tikkun, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

Pamela enjoys biking, movies, science fiction, and vegetarian cooking. She lives with her three cats in Berkeley, CA.


Dave Bueche Dave Bueché
Senior Office Services Manager

Prior to joining the staff, Dave was Communications Manager in the External Relations Department at Stanford University's School of Engineering in Palo Alto, CA. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with a minor in Communications from Central Michigan University. Before moving to California he worked six years as a promotional writer for Oldsmobile Division of General Motors Corporation.

Dave worked five years in resource development and four years as Vice President, Strategic Management and Marketing for United Way of the Bay Area and later with the organization's Alexis de Tocqueville Society. He is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce's Leadership San Francisco program.


Redge NortonRedge Norton
Communications Manager - Media Relations

Redge Norton joined Out & Equal in April 2008, upon completing an around the world adventure. During his travels he volunteered at an elephant reserve in Northern Thailand and taught English in Laos.  Redge brings more than 10 years of nonprofit experience in the areas of media communications, special events and fundraising.  Prior to O&E he was a consultant with the Kidney Trust and for seven years the media relations manager at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  He moved to the Bay Area from Washington, D.C. where he worked for an association management consulting company and happily indulged his love of independent film by helping to organize the Washington, D.C. Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

Redge has a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Utah State University and a master’s degree from Golden Gate University.  When not planning his next adventure, he likes to cook, bike, snow ski, and hang out with his friends and cat, Mr. Tucker. 


Morgan Green
Morgan Green
Program Associate

Morgan Green currently works as a Program Associate at Out & Equal.  Prior to 2008, she was Out & Equal’s NETWORKS! Intern.

As the daughter of a lesbian and a female-to-male transsexual, Morgan has been in contact with members of the LGBT community and exposed to their common issues of interest since birth. While in high school, she decided to publicly become a LGBT ally and joined her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, which she later led as president. She continued her LGBT related activism while in college by joining a club that studied heterosexism and by volunteering for a couple of organizations that promoted dissemination of information on LGBT issues. Having recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Morgan is delighted to begin her professional career and continue her activism as a LGBT ally at Out & Equal.

Morgan resides in Berkeley with Scott, her sweetheart, and a very sweet kitty named Eva.  She spends her free time reading curious pieces of literature, watching films so frequently that she cannot remember the details of any film, and ogling the cheese section at the grocery store.


Bridget StrikerBridget Striker
Technology Intern

Bridget Striker, a Midwest expatriate, has lived in San Francisco for going on four years.  Formerly, she worked at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and previously interned at the Minnesota Fringe Festival and on the feature film Factotum.  She has also worked for the Twin Cities’ own Lavender Magazine.

Bridget is enamored of fantasy fiction in all its shapes and forms, and also reads about metaphysics in her spare time.  She misses having cats, and hopes to be owned by one or two again sometime soon.


Luis VeraLuis Vera
Finance and Operations Intern

Luis has been at Out & Equal as a straight ally since the beginning of April, working alongside Beatriz Rincón as a finance and operations intern.

Prior to his internship, he was a member of the University Economics Association as the Director of IT and began a student-led financial group which spawned into the University Investors Forum. His past internship experience started with Developing Effective Engineering Pathways (DEEP) in association with NASA Ames Research Center in the Flight Systems Research Laboratory. Luis graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management Economics .

In his spare time time he blogs about financial issues and is in training for an undetermined triathlon.