Alex Adsit

Alexander Adsit is a freshman at San Francisco State University double majoring in Political Science and Communications. Alexander started out with the GSA Network at their Northern California GSA Activist Camp. Then he worked on the Northern California Youth Council for the following school year and ended up being a trainer at the next year’s GSA Activist Camp. He’s also worked with numerous non-profits in the San Francisco Bay Area including the ACLU’s Friedman Project, Hayward’s Project Eden, and Concord’s Rainbow Community Center. Alexander is planning on entering the non-profit sector after graduation. He currently runs a sexuality group on campus at SFSU and networks with many other college campuses.

Barak Ben-Gal, Vice President of Finance at SupportSoft, Inc., has been a member and the Treasurer of the GSA Network Board since 2007. Barak first heard of the GSA Network when he worked at Ashoka and read Carolyn Laub’s Ashoka Fellow profile; subsequently, he met Carolyn as part of his work at Oakland Unified School District, and after a few coffee meetings with Carolyn (and a realization of their shared passion for charts of accounts and making sure that the organization was set up for financial success) it was inevitable that he would agree to join the Board. Prior to his work at SupportSoft, Barak was the Senior Director of Change Management for Yahoo's global Operations Finance organization, where he helped institute new systems, processes, and standards across the company's financial operations in 27 countries and 4 continents. Before joining Yahoo, he served as the Budget Director for Oakland Unified School District, where he helped bring the District back to fiscal solvency and created a new student-based allocation system that is currently being replicated nationwide. Previously, Barak served as the Director of Strategic Planning for Mediaplex, Inc. and was a management consultant with LEK Consulting. In the social venture field, Barak has been awarded the Broad Residency in Urban Education, served as a Board Fellow with Full Circle Fund, and as a Project Entrepreneur at Ashoka. He has a BA in Economics from Harvard University , an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business and an M.Ed from Stanford University 's School of Education.

Ariel Bustamante, Vice Chair

Ariel has grown up all over the Los Angles area from as far south as Whittier to as far north as Tujunga. Her "multi-ethnic, panny womyn" identity has exposed her to many sides of society. Having a Chiricuahua-Apache, Mexican, Swedish, and English background has also provided her with a rich mix of cultural traditions in her upbringing. A daughter of a grassroots anti-nuclear and feminist activist, she has participated in activism since an early age. She's been involved in environmental, animal rights, social justice, education, counter-recruitment, peace, and anti-Bush regime movements aside from her work within the LGBTQ community. Her work with GSAN started her freshman year at Glendale High School, and she is now her club's president. Her goal is to be able to unite the very conservative community through education and promoting universal tolerance. She also wants to work on getting district policies to be inclusive of all those who identify under the LGBTQ umbrella. Outside of GSA Networks, she's also been involved with founding her school's Roots & Shoots club, volunteering at the L.A. Zoo as well as being the official mascot, and leading her school's colorguard team. She's also an amateur photographer and enjoys photographing her dogs and cats as well as botanicals. Many animals have been taken under her wing from time to time, as she has fostered countless strays. She's still unsure of what she wants to do, but hopes to pursue a career in forensic pathology/anthropology, animal husbandry, and/or politics and activism. The least she hopes to do is make a positive difference and contribution to society through her passion for so many causes.

Ray Delgado has worked as the Communications Manager at the James Irvine Foundation since October 2006, helping Irvine's grantees shine the spotlight on the issues they are tackling to provide better opportunities for the people of California. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ray served as Assistant Editor and University Governance Reporter for the Stanford News Service at Stanford University. Prior to working at Stanford, Ray was a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner, where he wrote extensively about education and local and state government issues. A native of the Los Angeles area, Ray graduated from the University of Southern California with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Print Journalism and Political Science. Ray has served as a volunteer for the Shanti Project, helping provide companionship for people living with HIV and AIDS. He also served as president of the Northern California chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for six years, helping the chapter build a steady foundation of funding support and to honor noteworthy Northern California journalists for their work in support of the community. Ray has lived in San Francisco for more than 13 years and his hobbies include softball, tennis, cycling, dancing, and cooking.

Born and raised in the East Bay, Lea Gee-Tong is a high school senior at Marin Academy (MA). At MA, she is the co-leader of the Gay-Straight Alliance club which over the past two years, has hosted many meetings, including a teacher panel for National Coming Out Day and speakers on topics about faith, religion, sexuality, and gender identity and transition. In collaboration with other Identity, Equity, and Leadership groups on campus, Lea helped organize MA's Bay Area wide social justice conference, Uncensored: Conversations We're Not Having. At Uncensored, she has co-facilitated workshops on heterosexism and the gender binary system. She first became involved with the Gay-Straight Alliance Network in the Fall of 2006 after attending her first Youth Empowerment Summit (the YES Conference). Seeing other high school students on stage inspired her to become an intern, Youth Council Member, and YES Conference organizer for GSA Network. In May of 2008, she had the opportunity to attend GAYLA/QYAD, where she had the amazing opportunity to speak at the same microphone as State Senators Mark Leno and Sheila Kuehl. She is super excited to be on the Governing Board! Apart from LGBTQ related activism and activities, Lea loves playing and listening to all types of music, spending time with family and friends, and discovering new and

Feeling marginalized at her Los Angeles high school and seeking a solution to the lack of dialogue regarding LGBT related issues within her community, in her freshman year Lisa found hope for change in the prospect of a GSA club. Lisa's interactions with GSA Network have been hands down some of the most positive and powerful ones she's had in her life so far. Her involvement with GSA Network has also been highly influential, as it greatly helped her to realize her passion for social justice work. Lisa is most sincerely grateful for the opportunity to serve as Vice Chair of the GSA Network board which she has been a part of since 2006. She takes pride in GSA Network's cutting edge youth empowerment model, knowing that without it she, among thousands of others statewide, wouldn't be the organizers and leaders they are. Lisa goes to school in Washington state and is a member of The Evergreen State College class of 2012. In her spare time Lisa likes to keep active by indulging in college life, cafeteria buffet style. She also enjoys jogging.

Karen Jackson

Karen Jackson has been in the bio-pharmaceutical industry for over 18 years and is on her third successful start-up company.  She has worked as a Regional Sales Director, Marketing Director, and is currently a National Account Director.  She received her bachelor's degree at University of California, Riverside where she played on a nationally recognized women's intercollegiate volleyball team.  Karen continued her education and received her Master's Degree in History and Exercise Physiology.  While pursuing her biopharma career, Karen decided to go back to school and received an MBA from St. Mary's College in Moraga, CA.  Over the years, Karen has found time to volunteer for several AIDS Service Organizations and the Humane Society of America.  She is particularly excited about working with the GSA Network and working towards ending homophobia and transphobia in schools.  Karen lives in San Francisco with her beautiful golden retriever, Hailey.  In her spare time, Karen enjoys surfing in Bolinas, mountain climbing, and her electric guitar.

Michael Kyle

Michael Kyle is currently an Investment Consultant for Wells Fargo Investments and AVP in the Premier Banking Group for Wells Fargo Bank. He is also the Co-chair for the Wells Fargo PRIDE Employee Resource Group.  Prior to his current role, Michael has served as a Branch Manager for Wells Fargo and US Bank.  Michael attended Hayward High School in Hayward, CA where he began his work fighting for LGBT rights as a member of his GSA.  Michael was recipient of the PG&E/GLSEN Equality Scholarship in 2001 for his journalistic work chronicling discrimination against LGBT students at his high school.  Michael went on to receive a BA in Political Science and minor in musical performance from UC Berkeley in 2005.  He recently served a three-year term as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of LYRIC (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center) another LGBTQ-youth focused agency.  Michael routinely conducts financial education seminars to young people through such organizations as New Door Ventures and Juma Ventures.  Additionally, Michael is active with the Golden Gate Business Association, the first LGBT chamber of commerce, as President of their Business Exchange Network.  Michael enjoys stimulating his mind by singing and is a Baritone in the semi-professional, San Francisco-based, all-male a cappella group, Musaic.

Bay Nguyen

 Bay Nguyen is a high school student at Garden Grove High School in Garden Grove, Orange County (Southern California). Bay began work in social justice as a youth in hir first year of high school by getting involved in local non-profit organizations that worked with organizing high school youth at a grass-roots level. Ze has been involved with GSA Network as a youth activist for a little over a year primarily in the SoCal Youth Council and is also the Co-President of the GSA at hir school for the second year out of its three-year existence. Along with GSA Network and the GSA Club, Bay plays water polo and is on the swim team. Bay plans to go to college to pursue learning in a variety of areas such as Geography, International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies, Gender Studies, and much more.

Melissa Ong

Melissa Ong works as a management consultant in the banking industry.  She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley's MBA program in 2008, where she was involved in a number of LGBT initiatives.  She was the Vice President of Q@Haas and founded an alumni steering committee.  She also coordinated an inaugural student/alumni event and started the first-ever mixers specifically targeting female LGBT students and evening /weekend LGBT MBA students.  One of her greatest experiences at Berkeley was helping to organize the 2007 Reaching Out Conference, an international LGBT MBA conference which featured Margaret Cho, the CEO's of Levi's and Logo, and many other high-profile speakers.  As Business Development Chair, she helped increase sponsorship monies by 50%, and as the only female on the organizing committee, she made it her mission to increase the historically low numbers of women that attended.  She successfully increased the numbers of women attending by 30% over the prior year.  Prior to Berkeley, Melissa worked for the FDIC for six years as a bank examiner where she had the opportunity to lead bank examinations of multi-billion dollar banks, work in DC as an analyst, and speak at conferences on regulatory issues.  It's no accident that things fell apart when she left the FDIC to get her MBA...  when she's not busy saving banks, Melissa enjoys snowboarding and trying new restaurants.

Brian Richardson-Varona

Brian is a California transplant, moving here in 2007 to earn his MBA at UC Berkeley.  A native of Alabama, Brian waited until college to come out as gay - in part because he did not know any openly LGBTQ people as a teenager and his school had no GSA.  After graduating from the University of Chicago, he joined Teach for America, where he spent two years as a public high school teacher in New Orleans and helped organize the alternative prom, a city-wide event for LGBTQ students.  Brian later moved to Washington, DC, where he directed the Democratic National Committee's Office of Specialty Media, serving as the official party spokesperson for the LGBTQ community, among others.  Later, he served as press secretary for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, where he focused on rebuilding the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.  At Berkeley, Brian was the president of the campus LGBTQ organization and mobilized more than 400 students (out of a graduate school of just over 400) to participate in National Coming Out Day.  During this time, he also organized Reaching Out, an international recruiting and educational conference for LGBTQ MBA students and young professionals.  Since graduating, he has served as a management and communications consultant at a number of non-profits including Equality California and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.  Brian currently serves as Communications and Policy Manger at Google, where he also serves on the company's LGBTQ steering committee.  He lives in San Francisco with his husband Alberto and their dog, Mah Jong.

Trent Rodriguez

Raised in the middle of Southern California's conservative San Diego, Riverside, and Inland Empire region, Trenton Rodriguez has managed to change attitudes on the campus of Murrieta Valley High School after becoming the GSA's president not long after joining during his sophomore year.  As a super rad straight ally, he has organized not one but three of GSA Network's campaigns on his campus, with the Anti-Slur Campaign (aka the "Rite Committee") being the most successful.  Trent has also led a staff workshop on his campus to educate the staff about respect for LGBT students, and has even met with counselors on neighboring campuses to address issues specific to their schools.  Outside of his school, he has also worked extensively with the local PFLAG chapter as a peer mentor, helping youth to simply survive everyday life in the harsh community.  However, his passion and drive to better the community did not actually start with his GSA.  For 3 years, Trent volunteered at his church with other youth, spending 8 months working in depth with youth who had been victims of traumatizing experiences.  Before becoming the lead organizer for the past 2 years of the community wide annual World AIDS Day event, he was but one of many volunteers who helped tie the event together.  Life experiences have made Trent the tremendously compassionate and dedicated individual he is, motivating him to do all he can to create change locally and beyond.  His mixed Mexican, Vietnamese, and Spanish background have also influenced his firm belief in GSA Network's anti-oppression framework.  Outside of GSA, this simple country boy spends his time as an AVID tutor, Model UN delegate, a former member of his robotics team, and playing chess, as the club's founder.  His favorite activity, however, is spending time with his niece.  He plans to follow a career path in political science and/or aerospace engineering once he finishes his hectic but rather enjoyable senior year.

Scott was introduced to GSA Network through participation in GSA Network events with Genentech's Out and Equal group, including serving lunch at GSA Network's annual Youth Empowerment Summit (YES). After direct exposure to youth leadership in action at these GSA events, Scott was convinced that GSA Network was changing the world by developing and empowering youth leaders to create safer schools and foster greater legal protections. Scott was excited, when asked to serve on the Board and as Chair, about the opportunity to help make GSA Network a stronger organization and support youth leadership of this critical group. Scott's favorite parts of being on the GSA Network Board are the opportunities to help young leaders grow their skills and abilities to impact change and learning about new worlds like Facebook, DDR and Tegan & Sara. Scott joined the GSA Network board in 2005 and was elected Board Chair in 2007. Scott previously served on the Board of The Academy of Friends and is a graduate of The Ohio State University. Go Buckeyes! Scott hails from Westerville, Ohio where during his high school days at Westerville South no one was "out." Scott and his partner, Joe, live in Glen Park with their 16 year old Border Collie Faith.

Andrew Uehling

Andrew Uehling, a Director of Human Resources at Charles Schwab, has been a member of the GSA Network Board since 2009. Before joining Schwab, he served as head of HR for SoundView Technology Group. He has a BA in Economics from Georgetown University, an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, and a certification as a professional coach from the Coaches Training Institute.