Board Member BIOs

(in alphabetical order by Last Name)

Sonja Furiya

Sonja FuriyaHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

I have been an active member of our same-sex ballroom class, St Louis Equality Dance, since 2005, and in the last 18 months I have taken a leadership role in the following changes: 

With my partner, Ann Taylor, I have competed (both Standard & Latin) all over the U.S. (Sacramento, Bay Area, NY, and Florida) and in other countries (Canada - OutGames and Netherlands - World Championships).

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

I dance because I am a dancer and have been from childhood. Imagine my delight to find a dance form which provides an intersection between two important spheres of my life: dancing and being gay.  Consequently I am passionate about same-sex ballroom dancing: I have more fun dancing than anything else I do. I enjoy the camaraderie that I have seen in many of the competitions I have attended – the welcoming attitude, the sharing, the genuine exchange, and the sense of community; I have been inspired by folks I have met on and around the dance floor.

As a native of New York, now settled in the Midwest after 12 years in Europe, I believe I could provide a broad perspective and voice. I am aware of the challenges groups face as they try to organize themselves and if elected, I will work hard to shape the organization into one that embraces newcomers and members, encourages participation on all levels, and works openly to share its processes with integrity.  I offer to the board a sense of joy and passion, and as well as the practical and necessary organizational and team skills to help realize our dream: a thriving North American Same Sex Ballroom community.

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Winter Held

Winter HeldHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

I joyfully compete and perform in same-sex International Standard Ballroom.  My partner and I took two gold medals at the 2006 Gay Games, and 2nd Place in A Level Int'l Standard in the 2007 US Championships in Florida.  I am one of 4 members of Rainbow Ballroom, whose mission is to strengthen and grow the same-sex ballroom community, to support the values of inclusion, cooperation, mutual support, transparency and open communication in our community, and to demonstrate the value of same-sex ballroom dance both within the LGBT community and at large.  We produce ballroom tea-dances for same-sex dancers, and host and organize community meetings in support of those values.  We also were hosts and producers for the 10/07/07 meeting which resulted in this election.  I am a founding member of QueerTango, an organization dedicated to creating a lively, inclusive same-sex Argentine Tango community in the Bay Area.  I also served as script writer and grantwriter on "OutBallroom", a film about the Bay Area same-sex ballroom community and its participation in the Gay Games in 2006, and as transcriber and writer for "Tango Con*Fusion", a film about a Bay Area all-women Argentine Tango dance company.

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

I have worked for most of my adult life in non-profits, usually as staff working directly with boards. As executive secretary for the VP of Continuing Education at the American Academy of Ophthalmology I had direct responsibility for assisting the 28 physician member Continuing Education Board of Directors for 7 years. I founded a non-profit charity, Stone Soup, to provide an emergency bridge fund for those working in little theatre in the Bay Area.  I worked as assistant to the Development Director at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church and St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco, managing their donor databases. I have experience in most aspects of starting and running a non-profit, including grantwriting, project management, fundraising, HR and licensing, and managing membership.  I currently work as an administrator for NIAD Art Center, a non-profit art studio and gallery for adults with disabilities.  I manage the office, the volunteers, and the supporting membership list, among other things.  I am one of 4 directors of  Rainbow Ballroom and one of 3 directors of QueerTango, both of which are run as non-profit organizations. 

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Pat Hogan

Pat HoganHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

Coordinate Not so Strictly Ballroom's classes, send out announcements, answer inquiries, work with other volunteers.  Initiator and co-organizer of Vancouver and Western Canada's 1st Same-Sex Dance Competition "Vancouver Queer Dance Classic" on November 17 this year (2007).  Competed in dancesports in Gay Games 1998 (Amsterdam and 2002 (Sydney Australia), Outgames in Montreal 2006 and April Follies 2004 (?) in Oakland CA. 

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

I am very active in the LGBT Community in Vancouver.   Board member of Team Vancouver and Representative for the Federation of Gay Games, past board member of Pride, Initiator and now co-organizer of BOLD, a conference for older lesbians drawing together 175+ older and younger lesbians througohout Canada and the US (4 years in 2008),  raise funds for many organizations, in the midst of putting on Vancouver's 14th Annual Women's Winter Faire which I initiated and organize and have raised over an accumulated $52,000 over the past 13 years for community organizations.  member of Sisters in Sync, Vancouver's 1st lesbian dragonboat team. visit my website at http://www.soundsandfuries.com for more information.

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Richard Lamberty

Richard LambertyHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

I am currently a competitor, teacher, and competition organizer. I am three time U.S. Men's Standard Champion, three time Men's Standard World Silver Medalist, and winner of the gold medal in Men's Standard at the 2006 Gay Games. I teach individuals and couples from several areas of the U.S. and from various parts of Europe. I am the organizer of April Follies, a same-sex ballroom competion held each year in the Bay Area of CA, as well as the organizer of the 2007 U.S. Same-sex Championships.

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

I am the past Vice President of the USADSF. I have served on the Board of the Universal Round Dance Council, the Northern California Round Dance Teacher's Association, and the Florida Round Dancer Teacher's Association. I am a member of URDC, RoundALab (the professional Round Dance Teacher's Association), the National Dance Council of America, the U.S. Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, and DVIDA. I have been involoved in same-sex ballroom dancing since 1996, offering classes in both the Bay Area, as well as in Florida, teaching and coaching couples from across the U.S. and Europe, and organizing a variety of same-sex ballroom competitions over the past five years. I have owned and operated a small software consulting firm, as well as worked in the field of software development leading teams of up to 35 people on diverse projects ranging from the banking system of the Dutch Government, to a satellite control system for NASA, to a robotics system for the Avon Corporation.

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Citabria Phillips

Citabria PhillipsHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

I am a social and competitive dancer, teacher and organizer.

Recent competitions include the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago, the 2006 OutGames in Montreal, the U.S. Same-Sex Championship in Orlando, Florida June 2007, the EuroGames in Antwerp July 2007 and California Dreaming in Emeryville CA October 2007.

In order to promote awareness, create alliances and raise our level of dancing, my dance partner and I perform and compete at numerous varied events ranging from the City Lights Ball in San Francisco to the Metronome Dance Center's annual showcase to Transgender San Francisco's yearly coalition gala.

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

For three years in San Francisco in the mid 1990s I participated in a non-profit group called Empty the Shelters which had centers in Philadelphia and San Francisco.  The last year I was on the organizing committee for the San Francisco chapter.  It was a grass-roots organization that networked with other organizations as well as facilitated and produced direct actions.

In 2000, having completed with Honors the Bronze and Silver Levels of Diane Jarmolow's Teacher Training College in the American Style Smooth, Latin and Night Club sections, I earned High Honors on the DVIDA American Style Basic Teacher Test and Honors on the DVIDA Bronze International Foxtrot and Waltz tests.

I was a founding member and on the board of Queer Jitterbugs and Queer Ballroom. 

More recently, I was a member of the organizing committee of the 2007 California Dreaming Same-sex Dancesport Classic competition and show.  

For the last two years I have been co-organizing and co-teaching the Sunday same-sex International Style program in Oakland California.  Through this program Zoe Balfour and I organized and taught many couples who participated in the 2006 Gay Games. 

As the director of the same-sex community development for Karen Lile Dance I've also helped to develop the same-sex dance program at Just Dance Ballroom in Oakland, California.

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Benjamin Soencksen

Benjamin SoencksenHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

Coaching same-sex couples; Judging at same-sex competitions in the US and Europe (Eurogames in Munich 2004, Pink Jukebox in London 2005, Philly in 2006, NYC in 2007) ; Competed in same-sex competitions since Gay Games in Amsterdam 1998 culminating in 4th Place of 10-Dance at the Gay Games in Sydney 2002; As the Business Manager of Stepping Out Studios for 16 years, the only Studio in NYC to have a program called OUTdancing for 15 years (see attached bio)

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

Established and managed costume business for 4 years; Managed several different dance studios, for the past 16 years Stepping Out Studios (www.steppingoutstudios.com); Organized several small same-sex competition from within Stepping Out Studios, at studio and OUTdancing weekends; Served 5 years on a NYC Co-Op Board of Directors as Vice-President and then President until break-up of 12 year partnership; Currently involved in building DAGE (Dancesport Alliance for Gender Equality, encouriging social and competitive dancesport in the tri-state area) since early summer of this year (see attached bio)

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Barbara Zoloth

Barbara ZolothHow are you actively and currently involved in same sex ballroom dance?

While I began same-sex partner dancing socially in the mid 1990's, my same-sex ballroom dancing started in 2002 when I prepared for and competed at the Gay Games in Sydney.  I have been an active competitor in same-sex international standard ballroom ever since. Recent competitions include the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago, the U.S. Same-Sex Championship in Orlando Jun 07, and California Dreaming in Emeryville CA Oct 07.  

I served on the organizing committee for the California Dreaming 2007 competition and have committed to being on the organizing committees for the 2008 April Follies and California Dreaming competitions. 

In 2005, two other dancers and I co-founded Rainbow Ballroom, an organization dedicated to producing same-sex ballroom social dance events in the Bay Area.  Rainbow Ballroom has also convened three community meetings which I helped facilitate, including the meeting out of which came the intention to form this organization.

I am firmly committed to the creation of a transparent and inclusive membership organization dedicated to growing and supporting the same-sex ballroom communities of North America.

What relevant leadership experience, such as serving on a board of a membership driven or non-profit organization and/or experience in helping to create such an organization, do you have?

I have considerable experience applying my skills to various non-profit organizations.  Those skills include wide-ranging computer applications (spreadsheet analysis, financial reporting, database development, website maintenance and support), extensive financial skills (PhD in Economics, MBA in Finance, and 24 years working for a major commercial bank), and effective facilitation skills.  Several of the Boards on which I've served were actively engaged in issues of social justice and equity which helped me form my commitment to working for greater inclusion.  My board experiences have included facilitating meetings, drafting documents, maintaining and enhancing websites, creating databases, improving financial systems, and writing publications for the organization.  In 1995, I served as a fulltime Interim Executive Director for Spectrum for 4 months.

The non-profit organizations which I have served include the following:

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