Oliver Webb (he/him), Executive Director
Area of Focus: Accessibility Advocacy, Housing Advocacy, Security, Mental Health
Oliver joined the Board of Gender Alliance of the South Sound in August of 2020 and helped restructure and rebuild it into what is now Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound. He also sits on the Board of Gender Justice League.
He was born in Washington and spent most of his life here, with the exception of a few years spent in other West Coast States as a child during the school years (summers spent in Washington). He worked with at-risk youth and adults, as well as, formerly houseless individuals in residential counseling before sustaining a permanent workplace injury that ended his career. He has spent nearly three decades in activism and volunteering, much of that spent in Seattle’s Queer community. He is the Operations Director of Trans Pride Seattle; overseeing security, medical, and accessibility, and is head of security for various other prides and events throughout the region. He advocates for gender, accessibility, and housing needs for individuals regularly for the community.
Oliver recently moved to be with his soon-to-be-husband and their “kids” (the ones with paws and leaves).
Awards: SGN Reader’s Choice Awards 2021 Best Community Organizer, Tacoma Pride Awards 2022 Pearl Award, ST. Oliver The Pineapple Papa (The Sister’s of Perpetual Indulgence Mother House of Washington), Karina Samala Trans America Award (International Court Council U.S.A, Canada, Mexico)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
AJ Frohne (they/he), Chairperson
AJ was raised in rural southeast Washington, where they were homeschooled up through part of high school. Disabled since age 15, AJ has become a passionate advocate for disability accommodations and accessibility, and loves educating folks about service dog training and access rights alongside Quin, their third service dog. Since coming out as transmasc nonbinary in 2020, they have added queer and trans advocacy to their list of passions. AJ graduated from Bates Technical College as an occupational therapy assistant in March 2023. They were a club officer for their cohort’s student OTA club throughout their time at Bates, initially as co-president and then in a social and educational role. They will receive a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Walla Walla University in August 2023. In their free time, AJ enjoys spending time with their service dog and their people, researching obscure topics (recent rabbit holes include the efficacy of various toothpaste compositions and flea wingspans by continent), and playing Dungeons & Dragons. They have fallen in love with the DAPS community and enjoyed their role as a voting member and the community support and volunteer opportunities it has provided. They are excited to serve as an interim co-chair on the board
Fran Rourke (they/she), Vice Chair
Areas of Focus: Health Care, Harm Reduction
As trans non-binary person, Fran was born in Chicago and grew up in Detroit. She has also lived for a time in Boston and Los Angeles. They worked for over thirty-five years as a Registered Nurse, ending her career at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. They earned a Master of Arts degree from Arizona State University in English Studies, where her study of concentration was gender theory. She currently works as an Emergency Medical Technician for a Seattle area ambulance company and coordinates first aid and medical backup for Pride events. They have also volunteered at Ingersoll Gender Center and still volunteer at Peoples Harm Reduction Alliance. She has done presentations on gender theory and transgender health care for Health Care for All – Washington and for the staff and faculty at Shoreline Community College. They also worked for four years as a writing tutor at Shoreline CC. DAPS is an important part of her life, and they look forward to serving on the board.
Briar Gandy (they/them), Treasurer
Beginning with membership in their high school’s GSA as a “straight ally”, through involvement with the Seattle bisexual organizations, they have always had a desire for creating community.
An early after voting member of DAPS, they found needed community and support through the Zoom meetings early in the COVID-19 pandemic. An enjoyer of recreational math, they are excited to turn their skills and passions towards creating a stable financial future for DAPS.
They also enjoy speculative fiction and more fiber crafts than strictly necessary. Briar lives in Bellevue with their husband and two strange cats.
Jenna McMichael (she/her), Secretary
Jenna grew up in southern California, always believing that the state was too hot to sustain human life. She moved to Washington in 1998 to go to college, and fell in love with this place. Since 2003 she has worked for the University of Puget Sound as a web content manager. She has also worked as a writer, producer, and occasional actor for the geek film companies Dead Gentlemen Productions and Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, and co-authored several role-playing games for Dead Gentlemen Productions and Margaret Weis Productions.
Jenna and her wife live in Tacoma with two weird cats and a fetch-obsessed black lab. She enjoys video games, so-bad-it’s-good sci-fi, and inflicting the Star Wars Holiday Special on unsuspecting friends. Joining DAPS has helped Jenna discover a sense of community that was missing from her life. She is excited to join the DAPS board, and looks forward to helping the organization grow, and helping other trans folks find their missing community.
Astro Pittman (they/them), Member-At-Large
Area of Focus: Harm Reduction, Mental Health
They were born in Italy, raised in Texas, and has called Seattle home for over 13 years. Astro is completing their senior year at Seattle Central College in the Applied Behavioral Science baccalaureate program and has applied to the 2021 Master of Social Work program at University of Washington. Astro works with at-risk youth as a drug and alcohol counselor, focusing on Queer, homeless, and POC youth. Astro is the President of Seattle Central’s LGBTQ+ student club, Queer Cooperative; a fully professed Guard with the Sisters of the Mother House of Washington (Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence); an award-winning journalist and editor-in-chief of Seattle Central’s newspaper, The Seattle Collegian; an advocate for the transgender sex worker and Queer recovery communities; Board Member at Large with Diversity Alliance of the Puget Sound (DAPS); and the founder of Transgender Day of Remembrance Seattle (TDORSeattle), the Cis Ally Trio (Cissy), and SeattleTransVisibility.org. They are also a regular guest panelist and speaker for various workshops and events spotlighting LGBTQ+ topics. Astro’s mission is to blend these spheres of service and activism into a collective vehicle for social welfare, anti-oppression, equity, and justice in their communities. Developing research, training, and curriculum specifically tailored to the needs of the LGBTQ+ recovery community is their passion and calling, and they have especially focused on the specific needs and challenges of transgender individuals in their research. Their most closely held dream is to create and run a treatment and recovery center for Queer individuals from all walks of the rainbow; where they receive targeted, trauma-informed, identity-affirming, and community-focused support from excellent clinicians who identify with their struggles through lived experience.
Inga Siegrist (she/they), Member-At-Large
Inga was born and raised in California. In 2012 she left to join the Army. She was in the Army for 8 years and including a few years as a Sergeant. She separated from the Army in 2020 while in Japan. She decided at that time to move to Washington to further their education. She came out as a nonbinary woman in 2022 and joined DAPS later that year. In 2023 she became an intern at DAPS then shortly was voted to the board. She is an outspoken voice for transgender people within the VA health system.
She lives in Tacoma with her two cats: Livonia and Teuton.
Julie Paschal (she/her), Member-At-Large
BIO COMING SOON
FUNDING BOARD
Jesse Bohlin (they/them)
Areas of Focus: Grant Writing
For the past two years, they have served as the Fund Development Manager at the YWCA Pierce County, a domestic violence agency located in Tacoma, Washington. In the past, they have worked as a Volunteer Coordinator for the YWCA and served as a Community-Based Research Liaison through AmeriCorps VISTA at the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. With four years of experience in the non-profit sector, Jesse is a strong advocate for the power of community in fundraising and including those most impacted in the conversation. Currently in their second year pursuing a Master of Social Work at University of Washington Tacoma, they hope to use the skills gained through this program to further community centric fundraising ideals and advance equitable, liberation-centered practices within the nonprofit sector.
Jillian Whitton (she/her)
Jillian was born and grew up in Yorkshire, England, and has been living in the Seattle area since the mid-1990s. She has worked for many years as a biostatistician and data analyst.
Jillian came out to herself, and to the world a few months later, in 2019. Finding her feet in the community was interrupted by the pandemic, but she’s now proudly and joyously trans and queer, and living her life fiercely.
She lives in South Seattle with her wife, who she married in a big queer Vegas ceremony in 2021. Her passions include cooking well, playing guitar badly, listening to music, science, and speculative fiction.
Current Openings
Board of Directors
Treasurer: The Treasurer is a voting member of the Executive Board of Directors, as well as, the Executive Funding Board Member. The Treasurer is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the organization’s financial records, budget, and Funding Board.
- Oversee the Organization’s Financial Administration.
- Review and Enforce Financial Policies and Procedures
- Generate Financial Reports
- Create a Budget with the Executive Director and Board of Directors Chair(s)
- Advise the Board of Directors on Financial Strategy and Fundraising based on the Funding Board’s progress and/or advice
- File all taxes, reports, and renewals
- Oversee the Funding Board
- Keep all monthly financial reports up to date
- Track donations, grants, inkinds, payments, and expenditures
- Audit the organization’s receipts and financial records at least twice a year with the Executive Director and Board of Director Chair(s) (and/or outside assistance)
We are actively recruiting permanent, co-executive board members.
To apply click HERE or email our Board Secretary for accessibility assistance or questions at secretary@diversityallianceofthepugetsound.org
Funding Board
Board Member: This is a non-voting position that does not govern the organization. This position is responsible for finding and procuring grants, donations, and in-kinds for programming, events, and the organization as a whole. Individuals with grant writing, fundraising, and in-kinding experience are encouraged to apply. To apply click HERE or email our Treasurer for accessibility assistance or questions at treasurer@diversityallianceofthepugetsound.org
