Madison365 is proud to partner with Our Lives, Dane County’s LGBTQ magazine, to highlight more than 40 QPOC leaders in business, education, government and community. Each day this week, we’ll bring you more #QPOCPRIDE. The opening feature on Vaunce Ashby of the Wisconsin Historical Society is available here, and Part 1 of the full list is available here.
Initially, Yvette Pino planned to join the United States Army Reserves to supplement her income as a stagehand, but the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks caused her to reevaluate her decision. “I had a ‘what if’ moment,” she said. “Could I live with myself for the rest of my life if I failed to follow through?”
After completing two tours of duty in Iraq, Pino eventually moved to Madison with her wife and enrolled as an undergraduate in the Art department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On top of being a veteran, at 27, she was older than most of her classmates. “I saw students appropriating military subject matter (in their art), but they had no connection to the Army, despite years of (United States) warfare,” she said. “The only way people were going to understand one another was to open up these conversations.”
Pino created the Veteran Print Project to facilitate conversations between artists and military veterans. She saw the project as a way to allow civilians to better understand the veteran experience, but also provide an outlet for veterans to find support in their communities.
“I wanted to help vets who were isolating themselves communicate and learn to tell their stories,” Pino said. “We can sometimes put things visually that we can’t put into words. I like to use art to tell stories, and every person has a story.”
Pino recently partnered with veterans from around the country to launch the Veteran Art Movement. The collective of veterans use art for healing and to challenge society to think about the effects of militarism. CONNECT: veteran-art-movement.net
Todd Raymond Avellar is a Fresno, California native and earned his Ph.D. in counseling, clinical, and school psychology from the University of California-Santa Barbara. Avellar came to Madison last year as a post-doctoral resident at the University of Wisconsin.
Avellar emphasizes diversity and social justice in his work, using an approach called Multicultural Feminist Therapy to inform his practice. This focus prioritizes figuring out how to help clients based on their needs and values. “It challenges healthcare providers to think about their inherent power, privilege, and biases,” Avellar said. “This style of therapy is inherent to social justice work.”
As a first-generation college student, Avellar said he wants to serve as a model for his younger family members to pursue their passions. “I encourage them to follow their dreams and go where they need to go,” he said. Avellar enjoys mentoring students and will start a job as an assistant professor at a university in Pennsylvania this fall.
Elijah Holmes is a recent graduate of Madison East High School. Holmes began cultivating his standpoint as a leader when his sixth-grade teacher nominated him for the Pre-College Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence (PEOPLE,) a program to help ambitious students of color enroll at University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I thought it was a good way to meet new people and prepare for college,” Holmes said.
Six years later, Holmes is excited to start his freshman year at U.W.-Madison on a full-tuition scholarship. “I plan to study psychology and education. I hope to get my medical degree.”
During his time at East, Holmes was the co-chair of the Gay Straight Alliance. In that role, he aimed to make his school more inclusive for LGBTQ students. The GSA successfully campaigned for gender-neutral bathrooms and altering the school’s health curriculum to better serve the needs of LGBTQ students. He also encouraged GSA participants to learn more about the contributions of LGBTQ people, using some of their meeting time to study history. “I found pride in who I was,” Holmes said. “I saw other people who were Black and gay, like me, doing great things.”
While in high school, Holmes was involved with GSAFE, a statewide non-profit for LGBTQ students. He participated in GSAFE’s Foundations of Leadership class, and was one of four seniors to receive a college scholarship from the organization. CONNECT: linkedin.com/in/elijah-holmes-3b4243141
Ali Muldrow is the director of youth programming at GSAFE, a statewide organization with a mission to create inclusive school communities where LGBTQ+ youth can thrive. At GSAFE, Muldrow created and facilitated the New Narrative Project, a program focused on amplifying the voices of incarcerated youth.
Muldrow’s commitment to young people compelled her to run for the Madison School Board in 2017. As a product of Madison’s public schools, Muldrow sought to take down barriers to success for students of color and LGBTQ+ students. Muldrow won a three-candidate primary election with over 40 percent of the vote. Although Muldrow did not win the general election, her campaign sparked conversation in the Madison community around creating nurturing environments for all of Madison’s students.
Muldrow is a founding member of Black Girls are Magic. The group is committed to making sure Black women and children in Madison have places where they feel welcomed through organizing family-friendly gatherings across the city. Last year, the group walked in the Juneteenth parade, organized a trip to the Dane County Farmers’ Market on Madison’s Capitol Square, and a series of brunches. Muldrow was the inaugural recipient of the Carola Gaines Collaborator of Year award at Heymiss Progress Black Women’s Leadership Conference in 2016. Connect: [email protected]
Ronnie Grace is a Milwaukee-based HIV/AIDS prevention activist and advocate. After contracting the virus over 30 years ago, Grace was compelled to act because he wanted to put a face to people living with HIV. “It is not a death sentence. We can have healthy, full lives,” Grace said.
It is particularly important for Grace to foster support networks for people in Milwaukee affected by HIV/AIDS. Through his work with Diverse & Resilient, a non-profit focused on LGBTQ+ issues, Grace facilitates Sisters Helping Each Other Battle AIDS (SHEBA), a bi-weekly support group for African-American transwomen.
Grace said 70 percent of people living with HIV will be over 50 by 2020. He wants to draw attention to the needs of older adults living with HIV/AIDS and do more to support and engage them as they age. “I was 28 when I found out. I never thought I would reach 30, and now I’m 59,” Grace said. “I think [getting older] is going to be a new and exciting chapter of my life. I am looking forward to another 30 years of living and thriving.” CONNECT: rgrace@
diverseandresilient.org
Dana Pellebon is the director of Housing at Porchlight Inc., the largest provider of low-cost housing for homeless men, women, and children in Dane County. She’s been dedicated to community service her entire life, and has a particular interest in issues that impact women. Pellebon was on the Board of Directors for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services and partnered with the YWCA and the Salvation Army to develop Second Chance, a program that helps low-income families transition from homelessness into stable housing.
In addition to her community work, Pellebon is passionate about the arts. She’s produced more than 60 plays since 2000. She is also a director, actor, and former “caburlesque” performer. “My drive is to make sure that stories (of marginalized people) are told and represented,” she said. “It’s huge, in Madison, to be able to have representation.”
Pellebon is also a mother to a 12-year-old son with autism; he has followed his mother and cultivated a passion for theater and social justice. “I am a pretty busy lady. My son comes with me to a lot of things,” she said. “He should be involved in social justice issues, know how to be in meetings, and protest.”
As a bisexual woman, Pellebon is committed to not letting the opinion of others steal her joy. “My whole stance for all of it has been living openly and honestly and going from there. If people have issues with it, they have issues with it. That’s yours, not mine,” she said. “It’s my journey, my body, my liberation.” CONNECT: @ragingjourney on Twitter
Keith Borden – As a classically trained opera singer, one of the most devastating moments in Keith Borden’s life was losing his long-time voice teacher to a heart attack in 1999. “I physically couldn’t sing,” he said. “I was able to find my voice again through moving my body.”
Borden was already a yogi but became more disciplined in his practice as a form of healing. A few years later, in 2002, he completed his first yoga teacher training, and marketed his yoga offerings under the name reUnion yoga. “Yoga means union. It helped me find a needed reunion with myself,” he said. “Yoga is a way to get back to who you are and who you are meant to be, to do the work you need to do.”
Borden approaches his yoga practice from a spiritual perspective by “providing space for people to get close to their best and better selves.” He teaches classes in Madison and all over the world. Borden has led workshops in the San Francisco Bay area, New York City, Germany, Canada, Spain, and Portugal.
One of his most meaningful teaching experiences was with the Madison East High School basketball team after the officer-involved shooting death of student-athlete Tony Robinson. “I took it as an opportunity to not only share yoga with them, but to share an example of other ways that Black men can present themselves,” Borden said. “Representation is key—if you don’t see people that look like you, you don’t see yourself reflected.”
Borden and his husband are also marriage equality activists. They were plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state of Wisconsin that made it to the United States Supreme Court. In his free time, Borden enjoys reading, biking, traveling, and spending time with his young daughter. CONNECT: reunionyoga.com
Ariel Lebron is a Madison-based burlesque and drag performer. As a gender-fluid person, Lebron doesn’t allow genres to confine or define their work. “There are overlaps in burlesque and drag. So many burlesque performers identify as LGBTQ,” Lebron said. “Performers would benefit from collaboration to showcase everyone’s ability.”
Lebron’s burlesque stage name, Melani Khandroma, represents their personality as a fluid sprite, a practical joker who is neither here nor there. Their drag persona, Anthony Savage, commands the stage as one of Madison’s only drag kings. Savage recently earned a top-ten spot in the online drag competition, King Me.
As a Puerto Rican person, Lebron wants to increase visibility among Latinx performers in burlesque and drag. “My only goal is to inspire other Latinx performers who are interested or not sure if they can do it because of cultural boundaries, to show them it’s possible,” they said. CONNECT: facebook.com/MelaniKMadison
JoCasta Zamarripa – Politics has always been a passion for JoCasta Zamarripa. As a volunteer for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in Milwaukee, Zamarripa discovered that her district had the lowest voter turnout in the Wisconsin. It is also home to the largest Latino population in the state.
Zamarripa decided to run for the 8th district assembly seat to increase civic engagement in her community. “That was the catalyst. I knew this would end up being my life’s work,” Zamarripa said. “I knew it would help to push back against anti-Latino and anti-immigrant sentiment, and also grow our influence and power so we would be a productive, successful constituency.” In 2010, she became the first Latina ever elected to the Wisconsin State Legislature.
When Zamarripa ran for her second term, she decided to come out as bisexual. Although she was afraid she would lose some support, it was more important for her to bring her entire self to her work as a legislator. “It was really painful spending my whole first term in the closet,” she said. “I wanted to be a leader so during my first re-election I decided to run out and open.”
Despite an uphill battle as a Democratic representative in a Republican-controlled state legislature, Zamarripa remains steadfast in advocating for policies that impact people of color and LGBTQ+ people. She wants to make sure undocumented people can access driver’s licenses and alter antiquated language in state statutes to reflect the rights of same-sex couples.
Zamarripa said she loves interacting with her constituents and is humbled to serve the people of Wisconsin. “The (Wisconsin) Assembly is ‘the people’s house.’ I’m honored to represent the people on Milwaukee’s near south side.” CONNECT: facebook.com/Rep.Zamarripa
Written by Amber Walker for Our Lives Magazine. Part three coming Wednesday!
