Planning Committee
Co-chairs for OUTstanding 2013
Brandin-Lea Stevens will receive her Bachelor’s of Social Work in May 2013 and will begin her graduate program in pursuit of her MSSW a month later. Because of her social work education, Brandin-Lea focuses on the pursuit of social justice and values each person as an 
individual. Brandin-Lea is the 2012-2013 President of the Bachelor of Social Work Organization and has been involved as a volunteer and participant in both OUTstanding 2011 and OUTstanding 2012. She hopes that this OUTstanding Seminar will add to the campus’ knowledge of the diversity of individuals in terms of not just sexuality and gender but also in terms of our cultural identities and things that shape our life experiences. Human relationships are the intersections of our society, and examining how we interact and view one another is important to the furtherance of the University of Tennessee. Brandin-Lea is so excited to be a part of this event and is looking forward to co-chairing and working alongside this amazing group of individuals. (brandin.stevens@icloud.com)
Cat Miller is an undergraduate senior in Kinesiology and plans on getting a dual Masters in Social Work and Public Health. Cat is the current Lambda Student Union President and serves on UT’s Chancellor’s LGBT Commission. Social justice issues and the way intersections of diversity can create change are 
what motivate Cat to never give up striving for equality. Ze believes in the power of people and the power of voice and wishes to bring people together to fight for equality for all people, using those intersections of diversity– sex, gender, sexuality, race, politics, disability, religion– to better our campus and our nation. Cat is very excited about co-chairing OUTstanding 2013 and hopes to make it the best one yet! (crmiller90@gmail.com)
2013 Planning Committee
Leah McConoughey is an extended study student in the Master’s of Social Work (MSSW) program. While taking classes part time, she works full time at a local community mental health clinic. Leah is an advocate for many social justice and equality issues, especially in the LGBTQ community. After earning her MSSW, Leah hopes to continue her work in the mental health field as a therapist, with a focus on youth and LGBTQ individuals. She has attended and volunteered in the previous two OUTstanding seminars and is very excited to be a part of this year’s OUTstanding seminar planning committee!!
Emma Russell is an undergraduate sophomore majoring in Women’s Studies. They are currently a member of UT’s Progressive Student Alliance and a photographer for the Daily Beacon. Emma strives to make LGBTQIA issues more visible on campus as well as making the university a more open and welcoming place for LGBTQIA students. They hope that they will have a lasting and positive influence over the queer community at the University of Tennessee. (erusse12@utk.edu)
Co-chairs for OUTstanding 2012
Joseph Goeltz is a graduate student of Social Work at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science at UTK in 2008 and returned to school in order to pursue a career that promotes social justice. Although the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution provides equal protection under the law, discrimination against LGBTIQ individuals is often used as a political tool. Tennessee’s recent “Don’t Say Gay” bill (SB49), which passed the House and Senate but died in the General Assembly, brings two important things to light: The desire to stigmatize and discriminate against minorities is ever present, and public outcry by an informed constituency is an effective tool to combat injustice. As a Knoxville native, Joseph hopes that OUTstanding will continue to grow and raise regional awareness of LGBTIQ issues. jgoeltz@gmail.com
Lindsay Harper is currently attending the University of Tennessee for her Masters in Social Work; this is her second and final year. She received her bachelor’s degree in Family and Child Sciences from Florida State University in 2010. Lindsay was born and raised in central Florida (Bradenton, FL for those of you who know their way around Florida) and happily made the move to Knoxville, TN last year to further her education. Lindsay is an M.S.S.W. intern at Community Shares and her goal is to eventually work in a non-profit and help any and all people in need. She has very positive opinions on LGBT issues and hopes this conference will serve to extend the knowledge out to people who don’t yet have them. Lindsay is very excited about OUTstanding and is so glad she was able to work with such awesome people to get this conference up and off the ground. lindsayleeharper@gmail.com
Christina Perkins is a 2nd year Master’s in Social Work student at the University of TN- Knoxville and is currently a Graduate Research Assistant with the College of Social Work as well as an intern at Knox County Public Defender’s Community Law Office. Christina is originally from Mountain City Tennessee (see Google Maps for details), she majored in Psychology at Brown University. Afterward she spent a few years working for Victim’s rights as an advocate for Safe Haven Sexual Assault Crisis & Recovery Center of East Tennessee and championing women’s issues with Women Advocating for Change in Johnson City, TN. She lived and worked in San Francisco, CA before deciding to reenter the world of academia. In S.F., Christina worked for the Department of Public Health in HIV research. After much deliberation, her professional course veered from the world of psychoanalytic theory to social work because of the importance of social justice activism and person-in-environment theories when considering family dynamics and personal behaviors. Christina believes everyone matters and no experience is without important consequence. Christina is honored and humbled to be a part of such an amazing group of individuals committed to LGBTIQ equality and inclusion. You can email her here: christinarperkins@gmail.com
2012 Support Committee
Coleman Garner is a senior at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville studying Psychology and Political Science. A state native from Memphis, he began college at UT Martin and transferred to UT Knoxville in 2010. Throughout his undergraduate studies, Coleman has been involved in multiple collegiate diversity associations, including the UT Martin Student Government and Multicultural Affairs Committee, as well as participating as a presenter at the initial OUTstanding seminar in 2011. Driven by a passion for research, education, social justice, and personal experience as a member of the LGBTIQ community, Coleman strives to increase social equality by helping others understand and celebrate their differences.
Cat Miller is a senior, majoring in Kinesiology and Philosophy and plans on pursing an M.D. and a Master’s in Public Health. Ze is the current Lambda Student Union president and serves on UT’s Chancellor’s LGBT Commission. Ze’s also involved in other organizations on campus, including Women’s Coordinating Council and Clinic Vols. In zir work with Lambda Student Union and with collaborative organizations in Knoxville, Cat’s goal is to increase not only the quantity but also the quality of educational and social programming at UT in order to reach a more diverse population of LGBTIQ students and allies. With this goal in mind, ze will continue to strive for diversity in all aspects of campus life (while, of course, not forgetting to have a good time!). There is heat in freezing; be a testament. crmiller90@gmail.com
Phyllis Shey works for UT for First-Year Studies. She has an MS in Education. Phyllis believes in equality and justice for all.
Amy Williams is a third-year law student at the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville. She is Editor-in-Chief of the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy, is a recent graduate of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Diversity Leadership Institute, is on the board of the East Tennessee Gay-Straight Alliance, and is an officer in the College of Law’s Lambda Law Society. In February 2012, in response to the disturbing legislation being proposed in Tennessee, Amy organized a panel entitled “Does Religion Provide a ‘License to Bully’?”, which was attended by over 100 people and was the largest student club event in the College of Law that semester. Prior to attending law school, Amy worked as a program director for the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) program for abused and neglected children in Sullivan County, TN for eight years. She also holds a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Wyoming, where she graduated magna cum laude.
2011 Planners Extraordinaire (where it all began)…
Eva Krug is a graduate assistant in the College of Social Work at UT in Knoxville, working towards her Masters degree while also working at the CAC Office on Aging as a case manager for low-income senior citizens. Originally from Los Angeles, Eva majored in Fine Arts at Rhodes College in Memphis, where she got the opportunity to do lots of awesome things, like create art programming for teenagers during a Summer Service Fellowship and write for publication about the depiction of Civil Rights activists in journalistic photography as a Regional Studies Fellow. After graduating, Eva worked for Teach For America in Memphis and Nashville, first running logistics for the regions and then in a development capacity, writing grants and organizing the alumni community. In her spare time, she also worked as a Patient Advocate at the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health and as an ESL teacher at the Memphis Literacy Council. She deeply believes in equal rights for all people and is honored to be part of an amazing team here in Knoxville that is working towards those beliefs. Simply put, she is super-duper excited to bring awesome people to speak about important matters to Knoxville! – ekrug@utk.edu
Lauren Hill currently works in the Office of Research at The University of Tennessee as a Sponsored Programs Administrator and serves on the UTK LGBT Commission. She is also on the Board of Directors for Three Rivers Market, a locally-owned natural food cooperative grocery store in Knoxville. Originally from Tennessee, Lauren recently moved back after 7 years in Portland, Oregon as an environmental and social justice activist and 4 years on the Big Island of Hawai`i. Lauren and her partner, Shannon, were awarded a grant from The University of Hawai`i at Hilo to put on an event similar to OUTstanding called Unity Through Diversity. Returning to the south was a bit of a culture shock. The amount of acceptance and quality of life tends to be much greater for LGBTIQ identified individuals in other parts of the US. Lauren wanted to bring an event to the Knoxville community to educate, inspire, and bring people together to show support and understanding of sexuality and gender identity. Life is precious; there is no room for hatred. lhill28@utk.edu
Steven Stothard is a graduate student in the College of Social Work at UTK after taking a six year hiatus receiving a BA at The Ohio State University in Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality Studies. He has worked with the LGBTIQ community most recently as an independent bookstore executive director and events coordinator that hosted many LGBTIQ authors, activists, and performances. He has worked as a publisher of indie books, a recreational therapist for adults with mental illness, and a frustrated but successful campus activist organizing around economic justice, animal rights, and international labor issues. He now works at UT as a Graduate Assistant and for three research projects including gang prevention through targeted mentoring, economic trends and labor issues in the US, and people experiencing homelessness in Knoxville and Knox County. He believes that all oppression and exploitation should be dismantled and that silence equals complicity, so speak out and act up! He’s pushing 30 but is still punk on purpose yet loves bad pop music. The world is complicated. Get in touch: sstothar@utk.edu or be his facebook buddy.
