Contents

Thank You to Our Corporate Sponsors

A View from Chernihiv

Disrupting Disparities from the Inside Out

Developing Your Brand with Blue Guardrail

A Representative Rebrand

Part of the GSBA Family

Nyhus and DH Merge to Create Statewide Communications Powerhouse

How Can You Spread Your Three Dollars?

By Supporting Queer Storytelling.

Member Directory

Your GSBA member news, from Washington State’s
LGBTQ & allied chamber of commerce.

Executive Board

Carrie Carson, Point B, Chair

Stephanie Dallas, Past Chair

Susan Fuller, Law Office of Susan K. Fuller, PLLC, Secretary

Eve Hwang, Nordstrom, Vice Chair

Tristen Pamphlet-Gardner, King County, DEI Chair

Jay Petterson, Blue Wave Political Partners, LLC, Immediate Past Chair

Masoud Torabi, Scholarship Program Chair

Ashleigh Walker, Sound Physician, Treasurer

Barb Wilson, Microsoft, Public Policy Chair

Board of Directors

Eli Allison, Repair Revolution

David Blandford, State of Washington Tourism

Leda Chahim, Sound Transit

Brandon Chun

Danny Cords

Linda Di Lello-Morton, Terra Plata

Roz Edison, Marination

Jenny Harding, New Chapter Weddings & Events

Andrew Held, JP Morgan Chase

James Hing, Starbucks Coffee Company

Jaimee Marsh, FEEST

Katie Mooney

Mike Novasio

Alex Oh, Aluel Cellars

Dustin O’Quinn, Lane Powell PC

Roby Schapira, Wells Fargo

Dominique Stephens, Ingersoll Gender Center

Lisa Sterritt

Nat Stratton-Clarke, Flora Restaurant Group

Andrew Wilson, Goose Ridge Estate Winery

Staff

Ilona Lohrey, President & CEO

Jeff Boyer, Sr. Development Officer

Amy Burdick, Director of Partnership Development

Joey Chapman, Director of Membership & Programs

Carlos Chavez, Production & Events Manager

Rachel Chernin, VP of Operations & Director of Finance

Levi Coffin, Business Training Specialist & Grant Manager

Bobbi Kindred, Office & Events Coordinator

Ahi Martin-McSweeney, CHBA Program Manager

Toraya Miller, Director of Training & Consulting

Gabriel Neuman, Policy Counsel & Government Relations Manager

River Teslar, Business Training Specialist

Publication

Green Rubino, Editor

MetroMedia, Design & Layout

GSBA’s The Perspective is published by and for members of GSBA, 400 E. Pine St, Suite 322, Seattle, WA 98122. Opinions expressed in The Perspective do not necessarily represent the views of GSBA, the GSBA Scholarship Fund, it’s members, or it’s board of directors. Established in 1981, GSBA is Washington State’s LGBTQ and allied chamber of commerce with the mission to combine business development, leadership, and social action to expand economic opportunities for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community and those who support equality for all. Membership is open to all businesses or individuals who prescribe to the GSBA Member Standards and Ethics. For more information, visit theGSBA.org, or call 206-363-9188.

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A View From Chernihiv

By Maksym Dedushko (he/him), past GSBA Scholar

I was born and raised in Chernihiv, Ukraine where my family has lived for generations. At the age of sixteen, I came to the U.S. to study as an exchange student. With the help of GSBA, I successfully finished a B.S. degree in Chemistry and Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Washington.

From the end of February to April, Chernihiv was under siege as the Russian army attempted to open a direct route to the capital, Kyiv. When Ukrainian armed forces halted the Russian advance, they then resorted to bombing the city. My hometown has suffered unimaginable destruction. Countless residential buildings, our historic cinema, most police stations, gas stations, the stadium, a central hotel, two marketplaces, hospitals, and my kindergarten have been destroyed in the bombardment.

My sister’s apartment building was hit by four rockets in late March. Although the building is now officially condemned, she and the other residents still live there. I have pleaded with my family to leave, and offered assistance for them move to Western Ukraine, but everyone has refused. Chernihiv is their home, and they want to stay to fight for it.

My dad joined a volunteer battalion, which has since been absorbed into the regular Ukrainian army. He is now stationed somewhere by the Belarusian border where they dig trenches, fortify roads, and train daily. He has also received better defensive gear and weapons supplied by the U.S. In their free time they play soccer games to unwind and not dwell over the war constantly.

About 130,000 people were left in Chernihiv (out of 285,000) with no electricity, water, heat, internet, or cellphone connection. My family told me that they have spent most of the time hiding in the cellars, venturing into the city on foot to find bread and water whenever it was possible. My mom and our neighbors cooked food on campfires in front of our home. My mom tells me that in one way, cooking together with neighbors while watching out for any sound of shelling has made them become closer to one another.

The Russian army failed to take any major cities in the north of Ukraine and turned back at the beginning of April (see photo below). The area is being fortified to prevent a repeat of the initial invasion, but Russia continues to shell border villages every few days.

The most important thing for me is my family’s health, safety and survival through this time of conflict in Ukraine. I still wake up each day with very real feelings of terror and fear for their lives and a hope this all will end. The people of Chernihiv do not deserve to be a casualty of war

Disrupting Disparities from the Inside Out

An Interview with ChrisTiana ObeySumner (they/them), Founder of Epiphanies of Equity Consulting

ChrisTiana ObeySumner (they/them) has never shied away from asking the tough, uncomfortable questions that go hand in hand with transformative change. However, after two decades of social service work, they noticed that not many others were willing to do the same. People recognized the existence of disparities among people of the global majority, LGBTQIA+, disabled and other intersectional communities and that they were being perpetuated in systems and organizations, but the work seemed to stop there.

ObeySumner has made it their life’s mission to answer sociological questions about inequity, such as why it exists and why it persists. Through their consulting business, Epiphanies of Equity (EoE), they are also working with organizations to disrupt it from the inside out.

ObeySumner has been doing equity work centered around disability, intersectionality and race all of their professional life. They started as a youth leader, then worked in social services in housing and homelessness. They ran for the interim city council position in 2017 and were co-chair of both the Seattle Disability Commission and the Seattle Renter’s Commission.

During their time in these positions, ObeySumner started to document the upstream barriers to disrupting disparities in organizations and policy. They walked away from those jobs feeling complicit in the perpetuation of inequity and wanting to be in a space where they could make a meaningful change.

Their experiences created a foundation for equity consulting, as ObeySumner had seen the inner workings of how inequity pervades social and political structures, and perpetuates barriers for certain impacted communities. Armed with knowledge and a passion for doing the work, ObeySumner started EoE and has worked tirelessly to build it into a catalyst for change.

EoE works with all types of organizations, from nonprofits to government agencies, with one goal in mind: to initiate transformative and sustainable change from the inside out. When EoE takes on a new client, it puts together a change management and leadership plan that incorporates a holistic picture of the situation and identifies feasible actions that will achieve the outlined goals. These plans include a combination of tangible, practical strategies and a deep dive into the organization’s culture.

ObeySumner notes that people often want solutions to inequity but shy away from the reflective work it takes to achieve transformative change. “It comes down to three main things that the organization has to do,” they said. “They have to change, they have to take risks and they have to be uncomfortable.”

To continue to grow EoE, ObeySumner participated in the GSBA Small Business Incubator program and said it helped create a space for other business owners like ObeySumner to talk about their struggles.

“It was helpful being in a space with folks who are also starting businesses, sometimes even in the same space as EoE,” ObeySumner said. “Being able to have a space to ask, ‘Are you all experiencing this too? Is it just us?’ was helpful.”

ObeySumner also found value in the Incubator program in a more inexplicit way, and their experience helped develop EoE even further.

“When I was in the Incubator program, it was at the advent of the pandemic,” ObeySumner said. “As a disabled person, with one of those disabilities being a host of chronic illnesses, it was really difficult for me to stay engaged at the beginning, because I got COVID three times.

“When people think about disability inclusion, they think about making sure there are ramps or… ASL in place. They don’t think about what happens if someone ends up in the hospital unexpectedly for two weeks. So what has been helpful is seeing the ways GSBA has been proactive in understanding advocacy around some of those things that came up during the pandemic, what it looks like to collaborate with folks and what modeling an inclusive culture can look like.”

As ObeySumner looks to the future of EoE, their goal is to continue to provide a space to innovate new solutions, philosophies and constructs. They also want to expand the business’s scope to work more on policy and legislative change and provide more content to their audience, whether that be through social media, social media-based training or other virtual offerings. They also recognize the far-reaching impact of their work, and want to continue expanding their portfolio of national and international clients.

“We’re going to have to innovate new ways of doing this work and take the risk of falling forward to repair those communities that continue to be harmed and put into harm’s way,” ObeySumner said.

“The most life-threatening issues of inequity… are happening right now, especially climate change and the economic situation of our country. That’s going to require us to expand toward not just working with local legislature and governments but also going much further, to the national and even international level, to reimagine those systems. That’s my dream.”

Learn more at

https://www.christianaobeysumner.com/

Marketing is at the core of so many brands and how they are perceived by consumers or clients. Identity-based management pioneer Larry Ackerman said, “identity is cause; brand is effect.” That is core to any LGBTQ+ business – our identity informs our brands. Jerome Bader, principal designer and founder of Seattle-based Blue Guardrail Marketing Agency strategically advises and guides clients to reach that potential in themselves and their business. He gained his sales and marketing chops at GSBA, assuming leadership positions throughout the organization including Director of Marketing and External Relations. He was part of the team responsible for growing GSBA’s membership to make it the largest LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce in the United States. His attention to the brand and the mission of the organization was paramount to its success, and he shows that same attention to the clients he serves today.

Bader was mentored by former CEO of the GSBA Louise Chernin, “a dear friend and an absolute powerhouse when it comes to business development, no one does it better” he says. One of the extensive programs he spearheaded was the LGBTQ+ inbound travel and tourism initiative Travel Gay Seattle. He worked alongside companies like Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and many tourism-oriented businesses around the region to put Seattle in the top ten US LGBTQ+-friendly travel destinations. Due to his leadership, GSBA received the very first LGBTQ+ tourism grant from the City of Seattle.

In 2014, he founded Blue Guardrail, a creative marketing agency focusing on brand development, graphic design, web, social media, and specializing in LGBTQ+ marketing strategies. With over 20 years of experience, Bader finds the work tremendously rewarding. “Developing the creative narrative that helps other LGBTQ+ owned or allied businesses authentically market themselves is the driving force behind Blue Guardrail. I’ve cultivated long-term relationships with many of my clients and found many new ones through the GSBA. It’s all come full circle.”

When asked what sets Blue Guardrail apart from other marketing agencies, Bader says “I like to characterize us as a problem solver in the marketing sense. Some clients have only a handful of things that need to be solved, while others might want to revamp their entire marketing or social media strategy. Sole proprietor, contractor, business, or non-profit, I focus on you, not the size of your project.”

What can new business owners do to market their brand or company most effectively?

“It’s all about what fits your needs best and promoting what makes your business cut through the noise and stand out from all the others. Visuals, communications, content, design – those are some of the things I am most passionate about because it’s your opportunity to tell your audience who you are, and why they should walk through your door, purchase your product, or use your service,” says Bader.

“In my experience, I’ve found that it’s vital to continuously support businesses within our community because when we support each other, we all win.”

Find more at www.blueguardrail.com

A Representative Rebrand

An Interview with Kai Horton (they/them) from Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center

Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center (formerly Gay City) has provided services and resources to the LGBTQ+ community for more than 27 years. Their mission is to promote self-determination, liberation, and joy in LGBTQ+ communities through their wellness center, youth advocacy programs, resource and referral network, and arts programming. Recently, it has made internal changes that help better represent the organization’s mission, including changing the name it’s had for decades.

We sat down with Kai Horton (they/them), co-executive director of programs, and asked some questions about how the organization has evolved over the last 27 years, and how it plans to continue providing support to the community.

Why did you decide to change the organization’s name from Gay City to Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center?

We’ve had many names over the years, from the Gay Men’s Health Project all the way to most recently, Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center, and of course our iconic Gay City sign on Capitol Hill.

When I arrived at the organization, it was clear that our name was not representative of the entirety of people that we are trying to support or the people that are on our team.

Moving to a new space in April seemed like the perfect time to fully step into our identity as Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center. The name change is a good way for us to look at our work from a more inclusive perspective and to really represent different identities, bodies and genders.

What’s fascinating is that, with our new Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center sign and our new location, we’ve served more trans people of color than we have in years, just because of a simple name change. It has clarified who we are and what we do.

How has the Center evolved to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community?

When I first started at the Center, I was doing a lot of inquiry and relationship building with our internal team. I wanted to try to understand what has been going on for the last two-plus decades and how we can improve the organization.

We did things like exit surveys and looked at data sets to see who we had historically supported and why. We’re really trying to shift the narrative that we only serve cis, white gay men, because that’s not the truth anymore. We advocate for and support all genders and identities.

Part of achieving that goal is hiring people that are representative of the community we are trying to serve. It’s like our brand is sort of evolving as the community evolves.

Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center is now in the same office building as GSBA. How do you plan to utilize it’s resources?

I really, really appreciate the work GSBA is doing, and I think there will be some really natural partnerships that are going to happen between us. I mean, we share a building, so there’s a lot of opportunity for partnership in the future.

For instance, we have a youth advocacy team that works with people between 12 and 25 years old. Then we have our health services team, which serves people from 14 to 100+ years old. But what we don’t have is a holistic community approach. Right now, there isn’t a natural transition between youth programming and adult and elderly programming.

It would be really interesting to work with GSBA on how we can create a smooth transition between the two, so there’s a continuity that feels natural. We’re excited to start doing more groups and programming for adults and elders again, like we did pre-pandemic, and there are so many exciting opportunities to collaborate on that work with GSBA!

What should people know about Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center? What resources do you offer that you find particularly important?

We offer free HIV and STI testing, and we don’t care what your legal name is or what sex you were assigned at birth. We just want you to know that there’s a place for you to get your needs met with no questions asked. You will be met with a queer- and trans-competent and affirming provider, and you can be who you are.

The other thing that’s important to know if you are queer, trans, young or a person of color is that there is a safe space for you here. You can come and be in community with other people that look like you, think like you do and identify similarly to you.

We have a youth drop-in center that is open during the summer from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Fridays so you can come in and get that social interaction that’s so important. We also have a virtual space for young people from 4 to 5 p.m. on Wednesdays if you can’t or don’t want to come in person.

We really want to get it out there that Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center is creating spaces for all identities, genders and ages.

Find more at https://www.gaycity.org/

Part of the GSBA Family

An Interview with Jose Graterol (he/him), a GSBA Donor and Scholarship Interviewer

Jose Graterol was introduced to GSBA when his son Alejandro became a GSBA scholar in 2017. After Alejandro was granted the scholarship, the Graterol family was invited to the annual dinner to meet GSBA board members, staff and other scholarship recipients. The elder Graterol was immediately impressed with how inclusive and welcoming everyone at the event was to his family.

“They were very friendly, but more importantly, it was the way Alejandro was adopted by the group and all the support he received,” he said. “Of course he got a lot of support from us, but it’s nice that there’s a community out there that can also support him besides his family circle.”

Alejandro had told his father stories of other people from his high school who were afraid to come out because of a lack of support from their parents or community. Graterol recognized how lucky they were to be part of an organization like GSBA that provides a safe and supportive space for LGBTQ+ individuals. He felt a sense of responsibility to support those who so willingly accepted his son and decided to get more involved.

The Graterol family became GSBA donors in 2017 and when he received an email asking for help interviewing for the scholarship program in 2019, Mr. Graterol accepted.

“I felt like I was part of the community,” he said. “I wasn’t an LGBTQ+ person, but I was an ally. So I was very excited to be able to help out as much as I could and learn not just from other interviewers but also from listening to potential scholars and their experiences.

“You hear about their stories and you can’t not help. You’re in awe of what they’ve gone through and that they’re still fighting. In fact, the hardest part of the process is not being able to give everyone a scholarship.”

After reading résumés and hearing scholars tell their stories, Graterol realized the need for more accessible mental health resources for the community. Many applicants were open about their experiences and told stories of living in unsupportive communities or with families that wouldn’t accept them. The need for these resources became even more apparent during the pandemic, when personal contact was limited.

Graterol was concerned about how expensive mental health resources can be for those without insurance, and often thought about those suffering from a mental illness who may not have access to affordable treatment.

He brought up his concerns to GSBA leadership and proposed some sort of program to assist scholarship recipients who may be suffering from a mental illness or going through a particularly rough time.

The GSBA team took his suggestions and those from the scholars themselves and implemented a plan to address these growing mental health struggles by partnering with Student Assistance Programs and Training Services (SAP/TS), which partners with organizations to provide mental health care to students, professional counseling, life-balance resources and crisis intervention. It’s collaboration with GSBA now gives scholars 24/7 access to the mental health services SAP/TS provides, including in-person, virtual or phone counseling.

Graterol appreciated that he was not only listened to but given the opportunity to make suggestions to help with this serious problem he was seeing among scholars.

“It’s important to talk about mental illness,” he said. “I know sometimes it’s hard, because you’re living in a situation that you don’t want to talk about, and you’re tired. But there are people that want to help. I want to help; GSBA wants to help. We just have to start the conversation.”

Nyhus and DH Merge

to Create Statewide

Communications Powerhouse

Honest and impactful work is the mission at Nyhus Communications, which helps its clients achieve success through thoughtful and tactical strategy. It is also a longtime GSBA member, delivering exceptional communications strategy and services for nearly 30 years.

In addition, CEO and founder Roger Nyhus has worked as an advisor for former governors and thought leaders, and most notably helped launch the Washington United for Marriage coalition, which was instrumental in the passing of the 2012 marriage-equality bill in Washington State.

So when Nyhus decided to sell the company, he wanted to ensure that its core values wouldn’t be sacrificed.

The first call he made was to DH Communications, a Spokane-based strategic communications, social change and marketing firm that has worked with many LGBTQIA2S+ organizations and leaders in Washington state. Most recently, DH built trusted partnerships with community-based organizations, such as Seattle Gay News and Cascade AIDS Project, to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, connect people to vaccines and health resources and reduce vaccine hesitancy. At the core of its work is a passion for equity-centered communication that makes a positive impact on communities while delivering excellent work to clients.

Impactful social change isn’t possible without employees and leadership that work tirelessly to elevate minority voices. Among this group at DH is a new partner, Nico Archer (he/they). Archer works with many of DH’s most prominent clients to develop their branding and digital and integrated communications strategies. He has led culturally responsive campaigns that seek to reach out to and bridge gaps with underrepresented populations in the areas of health and well-being, including engagement alongside community-based organizations serving LGBTQIA2S+ audiences.

As a communications professional, Archer sees many opportunities for LGBTQIA2S+ business owners to share their brand, mission and values.

“For me, the first opportunity is visibility—leading proudly as LGBTQIA2S+ business owners committed to elevating queer voices and talent and reaffirming their value and contributions,” said Archer. “As workplaces and the workforce continue to evolve, they can pave the way to a more diverse and inclusive future committed to gender and racial justice through the brands they build and the ways in which they put their mission, vision and values in action.”

Nyhus will do business as part of the DH brand starting this September 2022. As the agency works through the merging of staff and clients, it plans to utilize GSBA’s incredible resources.

“GSBA has been a valued partner and champion throughout our firm’s history,” said Marc Berger, Executive Vice President at DH who had worked with GSBA in the past. “We have sought its perspective in how we counsel our clients, partnered to convene community conversations and been inspired by GSBA’s leadership as we fight for equality in all our work. As we plan ahead for this exciting next chapter for our firm, we will continue to look to GSBA as a trustworthy community leader, a credible voice for advocacy and a crucial provider of support to businesses throughout our region.”

Find more at https://wearedh.com/

How Can You Spread Your Three Dollars?

By Supporting Queer Storytelling.

A Conversation with Alanna Francis (she/her) of Three Dollar Bill Cinema

The mission at Three Dollar Bill Cinema (TDBC) is to foster deeper community engagement by showcasing queer film programming, educational experiences and social dialogue. By elevating queer stories, it seeks to create a just and equitable world.

TDBC’s screenings are 100% in-person and virtual, the latter of which allows members of rural communities in Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Idaho, who may not have access to nonprofit systems in their area, to see films that represent LGBTQ+ individuals and their experiences. All screenings are captioned, and it is in the process of incorporating audio descriptors to make them as accessible as possible. TDBC films represent all ages, sexes, genders, races, abilities and professions, as well as every identity that exists under the queer umbrella.

We recently sat down with Alanna Francis (she/her), development and community outreach manager for Three Dollar Bill Cinema (TDBC), to discuss how TDBC supports the LGBTQ+ community and how it’s relationship with GSBA has helped foster the organization’s growth.

How does TDBC currently work with GSBA, and what are the benefits you have found being a part of the latter?

Our relationship is an in-kind-trade type of sponsor membership. GSBA connects us with the corporate relationships it has, which helps bridge barriers and can be the difference between sending someone an email and being able to speak to them in person. A lot of the benefit has come from being able to go to its networking events and be in community with likeminded people in queerness and business. That is the value of GSBA. Just being able to support it and vice versa allows us to expand that net of queer businesses and magnify the impact we can make.

For new business owners in the community that are LGBTQ+, what is your advice on reaching LGBTQ+ communities in the greater Seattle area?

Patronize other queer-owned businesses. Go to their events, go to their restaurants. Be authentic and honest. Don’t wait for someone to come to you. Do what you’re doing and have it be so aligned with who you are that that speaks for itself.

Then, as you engage with more people, you will naturally build relationships. Those relationships go even further than the dollar. Business is personal and professional — so you have to be willing to build relationships outside of where you might expect. Talk to the chef or the bartender or the performer, because everyone knows everyone. The more people you know, the more your name will come up in conversation.

It’s also important to connect with each other through advertising, marketing and social media. If we use the same language, we get closer and closer to breaking through the algorithms that say, “No, you can only be seen by these people or no one at all.” It’s all about being creative and finding other options to reach each other.

The Seattle Queer Film Festival is coming up in October. Why should people go, and why should people support it?

If you think about it, the media decides how people feel about various communities. So being able to support queer and trans film festivals normalizes how different we all are under this vast umbrella. Film and the arts cross language barriers, they create feelings and they make an impact in a big way.

By patronizing the film festival, it allows us to finance our filmmakers and performers more to build their films and put captions in. People can also support us through advertising, along with other ways we partner with people, like meetups, afterparties, panels and virtual screenings. We invest in the intersections of communities via partnerships with other nonprofits, businesses, and members, in order to reach all our audiences. Sponsoring, becoming a member, advertising and long-term partnerships throughout the film festival impact us at an annual level. It allows us to expand and invest in our teams for more queer film programming!

Learn more at https://threedollarbillcinema.org/