SpeakOUT's 2020 Board of Directors

SpeakOUT's Board of Directors has brought on three new members in the last six months. We are always interested in hearing from prospective board members who want to contribute time and energy to the LGBTQ+ community. The board meets once a month (currently virtually) and has opportunities for board members to support the organization's fundraising, events planning, organizational development, and more. If you are interested, please email Executive Director Ellyn Ruthstrom at ellyn@speakoutboston.org to find out how you can get involved. We especially encourage people of color, and transgender and nonbinary individuals to apply for a seat on the board.

Meg Duberek joined the board of SpeakOUT in March 2017 and after a year as Vice Chair, she is now the Board Chair. Meg previously volunteered with Horizons for Homeless Children and REACH Beyond Domestic Violence. After the November 2016 election, she was reinvigorated to spend her free time focusing on social change. Meg values the focus of SpeakOUT on breaking down interpersonal barriers and changing hearts and minds, and knows that this vital work must go hand in hand with policy change within our political climate. During the work day, Meg is a member of the Communications team at an education consulting nonprofit. She analyzes reporting, tracks data, and assists with website development. In her spare time, she is usually found outside hiking, kayaking, or in a hammock with her kindle. 

Andrew Chou joined SpeakOUT’s Board of Directors in September 2018. After serving as Treasurer for a year and a half, he is now in the Vice Chair role. Andrew’s affinity to SpeakOUT stems from his belief that sharing personal experiences and building community are critical to helping LGBTQ individuals better understand their identities and allies better support their LGBTQ peers. Outside of his involvement with SpeakOUT, Andrew enjoys his day job in finance and is a spin class regular, an avid squash player, and an aspiring pastry chef.

Jenn Guneratne joined SpeakOUT’s board in July 2014, having initially signed on as a volunteer in late 2013 to assist with the organization's social media presence. Since then, she has watched the board grow with a number of highly talented and enthusiastic members. Jenn is excited to be involved with the Board during this time of growth and she is serving in the role of Board Clerk. Professionally, Jenn has worked in both arts organizations and educational institutions, and is currently working for the Undergraduate Affairs department at Boston University College of Communication. Jenn's background and interests span the gamut of drama, music and musicology, photography, deaf studies, involvement with the LGBTQ community, and commuting around the city on her trusty bike.

Sherry Jones Maspons joined SpeakOUT’s board in February 2019 and has recently taken on the role of Treasurer. She’s been an advocate for LGBTQ organizations in the North Shore and Greater Boston areas for many years. She acted as marshall for the Ova4D Lesbian Group in 2018 for the Boston Pride parade. As a Financial Systems Analyst and Consultant she chased large financial institution mergers and acquisitions from MA, FL, NC, OH. She then returned to her hometown of Marblehead in 2014 and currently sits on the Board of Directors for her Rowing Club, RocknRow. Sherry enjoys cooking and hosting dinner parties, cycling, gardening, traveling and sailing. 

George Grattan’s career and volunteer history wind through the woods of both academia and non-profits, including editing, writing, marketing, program management, public speaking, board service, environmental activism, and general "doing of stuff." George joined the board of SpeakOUT in the fall of 2014, and served as Board Chair for three years. He has worked at Ceres, Bentley University, Earthwatch, and the Urban Ecology Institute and has taught American literature, writing, and environmental studies courses at Boston College, and the College of the Holy Cross, his alma mater. A proud bisexual/queer, cisgender man, he lives with his wife, Mary, in Waltham, MA and can be found every third Wednesday of the month hosting the Bisexual Resource Center's "Bi/Pan+ Guyz Social Night."

Catherine (Cat) Tepoz joined SpeakOUT’s board in December 2019. She previously volunteered with DBSA Boston, a mental health support group. Cat is excited to be a part of the LGBTQ community and to share her personal experiences with others. Professionally, Cat works for Bank of America Private Bank in the financial district. Outside of her involvement with SpeakOUT, Cat is a part-time MBA student at Boston College’ Carroll School of Management. In her free time, Cat can be found going on small hikes. 

Chessy Whalen joined the board of SpeakOUT in January 2020, having moved to Boston from the UK in late 2019. In London, Chessy worked with a UK-based LGBTQ charity, Just Like Us, an organization that also uses storytelling and personal connection to increase awareness of LGBTQ issues and acceptance of LGBTQ people. Seeing the similarities with SpeakOUT, she was really keen to get involved. Chessy's day job is as a Strategy Consultant and in her spare time she enjoys reading, British TV, and trying new food either in her kitchen or out to eat.

Supporting SpeakOUT Builds Safer Spaces for LGBTQ+ People

For over 45 years, SpeakOUT has been helpingto build safer spaces for LGBTQ+ people through our personal style ofstorytelling and community education.

Each year, our trained speakers conduct over100 engagements within local middle and high schools, colleges, businesses,faith communities and many other venues while sharing our diverse experiencesand perspectives in order to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ identities. Our long history and the richness of our membershipof over 100 speakers illustrates that our style of community engagement worksto change the way our audiences see LGBTQ+ people. Sharing our stories in avariety of settings opens up a dialogue that enhances understanding and trulyaffects the climate of the places where we speak.

Our work also reaches other LGBTQ+youth and adults who feel supported in their schools, workplaces, places ofworship, and other community spaces when they hear our stories reflect some oftheir own experience. One of the leaders of an Employee Resource Group thathosted SpeakOUT at their Pride event shared their feelings:

“It’s been not even an hour since our event ended and I amalready getting incredible feedback from so many colleagues here. I think thework that you are doing is beyond valuable, especially to an organization likeours. My goal for the year was to move the needle for our LGBT staff, and thethree of you more than achieved that in only an hour. I personally cannotexpress my feelings toward you for how much your stories meant to me.”

SpeakOUT is one of the many LGBTQ+organizations that educated the community about protecting transgender rightsduring the #YesOn3 campaign in 2018 and we continue to raise awareness abouttransgender experience beyond the ballot box. Societal acceptance takeseducation, and personal connection is often key to making that final step tounderstanding and empathizing with someone else.

SpeakOUT members led a panel at Suffolk University recently to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance.

In addition, SpeakOUT conductsprivate speaker trainings to help other organizations and activists enhancetheir public outreach skills, including LGBTQ+ youth groups and transgenderactivists in New Hampshire who successfully advocated for the passage of theirown state’s transgender rights bill in 2018.

SpeakOUT also initiated an annual scholarship competition for LGBTQ+ undergraduates who live or study in the New England region to assist them with expenses for their studies. We’re committed to awarding at least two scholarships per year and hope through our fundraising we’ll be able to expand to additional scholarships. This end-of-year campaign is one way for our supporters to help ensure that happens in 2020!

Our bi-annual speaker trainings attractinterested volunteers from throughout the Greater Boston region and beyond. Ourfall training included folks from Vermont and New Hampshire who are deeplyinvolved in their own LGBTQ+ activism and will be using their enhanced publicspeaking skills to advocate within their own communities. We love theopportunity to disseminate our storytelling techniques to help our communitySPEAK OUT—no matter where they are doing it!

Our speakers also benefit from the act ofsharing their stories and connecting with our audiences. Many of them find it ahealing and confidence-building process to talk about the challenges andtriumphs they have encountered throughout their lives.

“Being given theopportunity to talk about what makes me who I am is a gift. It is lettingme revisit and work through issues that I had buried and it is letting me dealwith the emotions that bubble up from that in a new and constructive way.”  

Some of our speakers have volunteered for SpeakOUT for ten, fifteen, and even twenty years! Whether they are speaking to high school students or within a corporate setting, they know that their stories can help create safer environments for LGBTQ+ people.

To keep us thriving we need your support. Please consider making a gift today to keep our training program strong and to help us provide a wide range of speakers to those spaces that still need LGBTQ+ awareness building—even in Massachusetts! On our Network for Good page you’ll have the choice of making a one-time gift or becoming a monthly or a quarterly donor, which is easy to set up and allows you to spread out your donation throughout the year in smaller increments.

Regardless of how you choose to give, thank you in advance for your generoussupport. Your support goes directly backinto boosting awareness of the LGBTQ+ community as we share our #ProudStories!

We wish you the best in this holiday season as we all look forward to 2020 with strong hope of positive change and peace.

Michael Bookman, Board Chair & Meg Duberek, Vice Chair