Board Members
JAC Stringer
Director
JAC Stringer is the founder of The GenderQueer Coalition of Cincinnati and the Ohio Gender-Identity-Variance Research Project. He is currently employed as the LGBTQAIP Coordinator at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
A Cincinnati, Ohio native, he has dedicated his activist career to bettering the Midwest for trans, genderqueer, and queer populations. He is a Walnut Hills High School Alumni (2002) and has a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Sexuality Studies from the University of Cincinnati. In 2003 he was a founding member of the Peace Village Project and a co-organizer of the GLOBAL Social Injustice Conference from 2004-2006. In 2006, JAC founded GenderBloc, a genderqueer radical activist group focused on gender variant activism and inclusion on campus and throughout the city of Cincinnati. While working in GenderBloc, Gender Identity and Expression was successfully added to the University Non-Discrimination Policy (2008) and the UC registrar created a preferred name policy (2009-10). Also in 2006, he started a student movement for a university-funded Queer Student Resource Center which still carries on today. In 2008, he founded the University’s first queer publication, The Queer Canon Zine, where he served as an editor and writer. In addition to GenderBloc, JAC founded the Queer Peer Education Program, a campus focused series of lectures, workshops, and discussions on queer and genderqueer topics. As an extension of this program JAC has made presentations at conferences and symposiums across the country.
JAC also volunteered with the UC RECLAIM Sexual Assault Response program as a Peer Advocate for Sexual Assault and Partner Violence and a Peer Educator for Healthy Relationships. He was as a longstanding member of the University Women’s Center Student Advisory Board and served as a Queer Inclusion Advisor to the University Funding Board. He worked as a Volunteer Organizer and Session Trainer in the 2004 and 2006 Public Allies Repeal Article 12 campaign and acted as the Queer Community Representative in the 2008 student government presidential race. He is a lobbyist on the Advocates for Youth Ohio Council for Sex Education Reform and the GLSEN mentor for the Walnut Hills High School Gay-Straight Alliance. JAC writes on several blogs including MidwestGenderQueer.com, QueerCincinnati.com, The Queerist, and Amplify Your Voice. He is also a co-manager and performer for the internationally recognized professional drag troupe The Black Mondays. In addition to his work at Oberlin and with the GenderQueer Coalition, JAC is pursuing independent research in sexology and gender studies focusing on non-pathologized gender variance, GID reform, and queer sexualities.
Andrew Dittes
Technology Consultant - Board Member
Andrew Dittes was born and raised in rural northwest Ohio. After graduating from a small public high school near Toledo in 2001 he attended Wright State University, graduating with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering in 2005. Andrew moved to Cincinnati to pursue a Master's in Computer Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. While at UC, Andrew joined and later assumed a leadership role in the UC Alliance. Andrew was also involved with the student group GenderBloc where he served as an activist and also web developer. Andrew graduated from UC in the summer of 2008. Andrew currently works as a web developer for a small Cincinnati business.
Jackie Willer
Treasurer - Board Member
Jackie Willer was born and raised in Cincinnati as the oldest of five children. She is a Purcell Marian Alumni (2003) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Kent State University on a four year full academic scholarship. While at Kent State, Jackie played on the club lacrosse team and served as team manager, treasurer, and coach. Her additional organizing experience includes treasurer of the National Honor Society, membership in the Student Athletic Association at Purcell Marian High School, student club presidencies, and student athletics. Since 2000, she has been a trained lifeguard as a part of the Cincinnati Recreation Commission (CRC) Aquatics Division, including managing the largest CRC pool. In 2007, Jackie did her student teaching in a bilingual school in Mexico City teaching English to Mexican students. She currently loves being a preschool teacher for the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency in a Head Start program in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Julia Gardiner
Board Member
Julia Gardiner is a costume designer and artist by trade, advocate for understanding and equality by nature. Though ze has lived in Cincinnati most of hir life, ze has strong roots all along the East Coast and in the cultures of the international au pairs who raised hir. A 2004 graduate of Clark Montessori, ze went on to earn an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College in 2008. While at Wellesley, Julia developed an interest in theatre. Wellesley’s all-female theatre environment enabled Julia to play roles of both king and femme, a practice usually reserved for the realm of drag. Ze headed several theatre crews and also designed and built sets and costumes. Taking classes in art, history, and women’s studies, Julia gained insight into the vast array of gender expressions and sexualities that exist in the human element and an understanding of society’s limit on these expressions. Since graduating from Wellesley, Julia has worked with GenderBloc and been on staff of the Queer Canon. Ze is currently working with the ever-controversial theatre company in downtown Cincinnati, New Stage Collective.
K.D. Miller
Board Member
K.D. Miller was born and raised in Kenton, Ohio where they are the older of two children. K.D. is a Kenton Senior High School Alumni (2006) and is currently working towards a bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a Certificate in Deaf Studies at the University of Cincinnati. K.D. has been part of the UC Bands where they served as treasurer and instrument manager. Additionally, they have been a member of UC Choruses, Tau Beta Sigma (National Honorary Band Sorority), UC Alliance, and GenderBloc. K.D. has been active in many different volunteer activities including camp counseling, adopt-a-bloc, special education aiding, and various mission trips. K.D currently works for Ruffalo Cody were they serve as a philanthropist for the University of Cincinnati.
Board Advisors
Shane Morgan
Shane is the founder & Chair of TransOhio and currently serves as a member of the Stonewall Columbus Board of Trustees. Shane is a member of FTM-International, Stonewall Columbus, Equality Ohio and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE). He has been an Ohio resident for 12 years and frequently facilitates transgender support groups in Central Ohio and speaks at conferences around the nation. Topics of Shane’s presentations include transgender homelessness & shelters, trans & queer community organizing, creating gender-safe & neutral spaces, and domestic violence & safety.
Dan Coleman
Dan Coleman is a GLBT activist, musician, campaign manager and organizer, community leader and entrepreneur. Dan is a graduate of Capital University with a Bachelor degree in Music Performance where he won the 2006 Concerto Competition. His time at Capital was the beginning of his advocacy in the GLBT community as President of PRIDE (the undergraduate GLBT organization) and his volunteering with Equality Ohio, Stonewall Columbus, and HRC. He is also a graduate of Indiana University with a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the renowned Jacob's School of Music. In addition to performing at IU, he was a Program Coordinator for the GLBT Student Support Services where he founded an award-winning event First Fridays and dramatically increased the programming efforts of the office. He also held an adjunct faculty trumpet position at Indiana State University in 2006-2007. In 2008-2009, he was the Community Organizer for Equality Ohio, state-wide GLBT advocacy and activist organization. He became actively engaged in the Student Movement at the University of Cincinnati in 2008 and has continued to be involved with Cincinnati activism since. He is published in the 2007 Princeton Review Book "The Gay and Lesbian Guide to College Life," serves on the Board of Directors for the Indiana University GLBT Alumni Association, and is a member of MCGSA where he advised the founding of the organization. When not serving as an activist, Dan continues to be an avid professional trumpet performer and teacher and is a proud Ohio native. Dan is currently a campaign manager for a gay candidate and campaign committee member and adviser to a lesbian candidate in Northwest Ohio.