Dr. Jen Self:
Director, Jen Self’s secret identity is that of renaissance queer with a kick ass jump shot. A therapist and anti-oppression educator since 1996, Jen re-invented her queer activism through scholarship, program leadership, and teaching at the university of washington, completing an msw and a phd in social welfare. she lives in west seattle with her awesome partner meg (www.growandresist.com) and equally fabulous daughter lucy. jen believes that bell hooks, cornell west, martin luther king jr., andrea smith, patricia hill collins, cathy cohen, ramona beltran, and john denver (yes seriously) knew/know that social and economic justice was/is rooted in resistance of domination and a love ethic. jen, moment to moment, works to align her life with those principles and grounds the q center in a similar praxis. because jen can easily lose herself in big thoughts and feelings, she thinks that we should all look at pictures of space more often to contextualize our existence. jen believes that love and light are not only the center of the universe but also the core concepts of sociopolitical justice, not to mention a winning combination for the Q Center.
EG Sekins:
EG Sekins is a disability and queer activist and educator, as well as an abc’s “the bachelor” enthusiast. EG is currently a master’s student at the daniel j. evans school of public administration, focusing on disability policy. as the graduate student assistant at the q center, EG is deeply invested in maintaining the social justice vision/mission of the q center. EG works to coordinate policy advocacy efforts, particularly as they are relevant to transgender and gender variant communities. specifically, EG has focused on advocacy work to expand the number of gender neutral bathrooms on uw’s campus, as well as advocacy to create transgender inclusive health insurance plans offered by uw. if you want to get involved with policy advocacy or have any questions, send me an email! qcent2@uw.edu
Mickey:
Mickey is a senior studying Finnish and Jewish Studies. This is his first year at the Q Center, though he had a short stint as GBLTC director a while back. As part of his internship at the Q Center, he facilitates Transformers and programs with the rest of Team Q. Mickey is also President of the Psi chapter of Delta Lambda Phi, International Social Fraternity. Mickey enjoys baking bread, kayaking, flower arranging, going to musicals and playing Pokémon but he pretty much spends all of his spare time just doing laundry. He likes that a lot too. When he’s not doing any of that stuff, Mickey can be found donating blood or praying/learning/eating at Congregation Beth Shalom. Mickey wants to be a translator when he grows up and will probably teach before, during and after that.
Jessica:
Jessica is a senior in the School of Social Work and has a Diversity minor. She is the coordinator for the Queer Mentoring Program, facilitates Queer 101, and holds peer advising hours. In her spare time, she likes to listen to loud punk music, visit thrift stores, and watch horror movies. She is available to meet one on one with students in order to talk about anything and everything. If you would like to meet to talk about Queer Mentoring Program, Queer 101, or peer advising, email Jessica at jessicawarmbo@gmail.com.
Rukie:
Rukie dreams about running around the Austrailan desert and taking naps in the sand. She started wearing steel-toe boots for a field school, and now can’t seem to function without them. When not busy pursuing her Anthropology degree, Rukie enjoys baking cookies, making macramé jewelry, people watching, pretending she can draw, discovering new music, playing Star Wars Racing on N64, smiling, and drinking chai tea. She also enjoys having conversations about creating utopian spaces, and using fancy words like “praxis” and “pedagogy”.
Shelby Handler:
Shelby Handler is a poet, organizer and connoisseur of puns. majoring in gender, women and sexuality studies and creative writing, shelby believes in the power of art as a form of activism. in addition to working as a q center staff member, shelby runs the UW community arts collective, manic mouth congress. shelby enjoys cooking, crafting, biking, reading, laughing uncontrollably and having impromptu dance parties. if you are interested in writing poems, having a dance party or crafternoon in the Q, please contact shelby at nakedpasta at gmail dot com.
Kyle Rapiñan:
Leoule
Leoule Goshu loves the University of Washington Q Center. Leoule is ready to assist anyone. He’s ready to listen, reflect, and present ideas to your interests. He loves working on resumes, personal statements, scholarships or graduate school applications. He finds joy in paying it forward – helping people articulate their passions and live it! Leoule has some good connections around the world. Plus, Leoule co-founded a new University of Washington Summer Internship Program. Leoule wants you to have the best knowledge, social networks and resources possible. He’s a good person to know. Right now, he is excited to build a team of at least 15 University of Washington students to engage with the Puget Sound community. Plus, he is working on a comprehensive handbook for public use regarding developing students’ academic and career identities in a recession. He is starting to appreciate the gifts in his present life: He is happy to have a thoughtful boyfriend and a great godmother. He is trying to
learn and apply nonviolent communication methods of Marshall Rosenburg. Simply put, nonviolent communication is a method where we
take responsibility for our past, present and future actions by avoid judgements of “right or wrong” that can separate people. He is a person with invisible disabilities and has a life of challenges and persistence. Leoule would love to meet you. He can be reached at: leoule@uw.edu
JEAN
Jean is a senior in the English department who also happens to be a huge faggot and the librarian for the Marsha P. Johnson Memorial Library located in the Q Center. Jean’s academic interests include public sex culture, post-structuralism, late 19th and early 20th century fiction, and queer theory. When not working or attending class, Jean is reading, gardening, or riding the bus in between the U-District and their home in West Seattle that they share with two partners and three dogs. Jean is also active in the queer Country-Western dancing and the Leather/BDSM scenes of Seattle. You can reach Jean at leather@uw.edu
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Other Staff Members:
Kyle
Helen
Fausto
