Erin Maye Quade is known as someone who will run head-first into a challenge. She is a proven leader with extensive experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors who believes in evidence based-solutions and in our collective ability to come together and solve problems.

Currently, Erin serves as a Minnesota State Senator and as a Special Projects Advisor at Gender Justice. During her run for Senate, Erin went into labor while giving a speech at the DFL caucus in April, sparking a national conversation on misogyny in politics. When she was elected in November 2022, she became one of the first three Black women to be elected to the Minnesota Senate. She is also the first out lesbian in the Minnesota Senate and the first Black mom in the State Senate. She was also the first LGBTQ person—and among the youngest—to be endorsed as the DFL candidate for Lt. Governor when she joined Erin Murphy’s ticket in 2018.

In just one term as a State Senator, Erin has successfully led initiatives to expand reproductive freedom, protect LGBTQ+ rights, safeguard election integrity, and promote literacy. In particular, Erin’s leadership on reproductive freedom inside and outside of the legislature has been critical to making Minnesota a national leader for abortion access. Erin built UnRestrict Minnesota, the biggest reproductive freedom coalition in the state, into a powerful force in state politics. Thanks to her leadership, the coalition won a court victory overturning most of Minnesota’s abortion restrictions, elected the state’s first-ever pro-reproductive freedom legislative majority, and passed historic legislation expanding and strengthening reproductive freedom throughout our state.

As a State Representative from 2017-2019, Erin wrote bills to increase funding for public schools and special education and quickly established herself as a candid and fierce advocate for Minnesotans championing paid family leave; expanding access to affordable child care; ending childhood hunger; eliminating gun violence; and investing in treatment for mental health and substance abuse issues. As a Democrat, she is proud to have successfully passed bills through a Republican controlled House.

Erin previously served as Advocacy Director for Gender Justice, working to advance gender equity through public education, legislative outreach, strategic partnerships and coalition-building. Through her work with Gender Justice and UnRestrict Minnesota, she led the largest reproductive health, rights, and justice coalition in the state of Minnesota from 2019 to 2022. In this role, she laid the groundwork for a statewide movement that successfully expanded access to abortion care in Minnesota in the year after Roe was overturned.

In 2018, Rep. Maye Quade founded the Childhood Hunger Caucus, a coalition of businesses, nonprofits and policymakers dedicated to ending childhood hunger in Minnesota.

Erin doesn’t back down from tough fights, even when others tell her to stand back. After legislation to prevent gun violence was blocked, Erin held a 24-hour sit-in on the House floor to protest inaction on the issue and shared stories of victims and survivors of gun violence.

Monica Meyer has been leading organizing, activism, fundraising and policy advocacy on behalf of issues of equity and justice since 1992. Monica’s most recent job was working for LGBTQ liberation as the Executive Director of OutFront Minnesota. During Monica’s twenty years at OutFront Minnesota, she loved getting to work with thousands of justice-loving people fighting to make Minnesota more loving and equitable.

During this time, OutFront was involved in securing some key victories advancing LGBTQ equity including helping to form and lead Minnesotans United for All Families, the campaign to defeat a constitutional amendment banning same-sex couples from the right to marry and secure marriage equality through the Minnesota legislature. They also worked to pass one of the country’s strongest anti-bullying laws, a policy to secure trans inclusion in sports, and elect pro-equality candidates up and down the ballot.

Some of Monica’s recognition includes the Humphrey Institute’s Public Leadership Award, the Lynx’s Inspiring Women Award, HRC’s Brian Coyle Award, the Charlotte Striebel Award from MN NOW and the MN School Social Work Association’s Friend of Social Work Award.

Monica received her master’s degree in public policy from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, and her undergraduate degree from Hamline University. She lives in NE Minneapolis with her family and loves being close to so much great art and food.

Jess Braverman is the Legal Director at Gender Justice, where she ensures that our litigation strategy not only promotes the dignity of our clients, but also advances our mission of removing barriers to gender equity. She has successfully litigated high impact cases involving sex discrimination in the broadest sense including the constitutional right to abortion, trans rights in schools and prisons, and access to contraception.

Jess came to Gender Justice from the Hennepin County Public Defender’s office. After representing hundreds of clients in felony matters in the Fourth District, she spearheaded the office’s Special Litigation Unit, where she focused on racial profiling in policing. Jess attended NYU Law School, where she was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow with a focus on LGBTQ rights. After graduating, Jess worked at the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Project, representing young people in delinquency and child protection cases in Brooklyn, New York.

Minnesota Lawyer honored Jess Braverman as one of their Attorneys of the Year in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. In August of 2022, Jess was celebrated by the Minnesota Lynx for her work to ensure trans women can participate in sports. Jess has also earned the 2020 Equality & Justice Award from the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association.

Brittany Stewart is a Senior Staff Attorney at Gender Justice. She earned her JD at UC Law San Francisco, before returning home to Oklahoma City to begin her legal career. In 2010, she was the first out transgender Oklahoman to run for political office. While she did not win that race, she helped normalize the participation of trans and non-binary people in Oklahoma politics and was named to Oklahoma magazine’s 40 Under 40 list.

Brittany helped advance equality for LGBT+ Oklahomans in legal cases ranging from free speech to employment discrimination. She was a key member of the legal team in Tudor v. Southeastern Oklahoma State University, the first sex discrimination case with a transgender plaintiff to be tried to a jury in federal court. Her work helped secure a unanimous jury verdict in favor of her client, with the jury awarding over $1 million for the discrimination. The verdict was later upheld by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Outside of law and politics, Brittany is a car and road trip enthusiast. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and their cat. In the last 10 years, she has been on road trips through all 48 contiguous states in the U.S. She is also a big sports fan, mostly of basketball, football, and IndyCar racing. Her favorite teams are the Oklahoma City Thunder, as well as the Vikings, Wolves, Lynx, and Wild.

Sara Jane Baldwin is a Senior Staff Attorney at Gender Justice. Her legal career has run the gamut from Legal Aid and Public Defense to Municipal and Entertainment Law. Prior to becoming an attorney, Sara Jane worked in the Broadway entertainment industry as a general manager where she managed national tours.

Sara Jane was previously an at-large board member of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers (MABL) and a member of the Sixth Judicial District’s Equal Justice Committee (EJC). She is currently a member of the Minnesota Judges’ Criminal Benchbook Committee and Co-Author of the Benchbook’s chapter on Driving While Impaired.

Sara Jane lives in Duluth, MN and is a proud graduate of Macalester College (BA, Music) and Georgetown Law.

McKinna Hodge joined Gender Justice after seven years at a patent law firm, where she supported over twenty attorneys and worked with over one hundred companies to help ensure their intellectual property gained a patent. While there, McKinna also gained experience in recruiting, training, and event planning. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a double major in Psychology and Sociology of Law, Criminology, & Deviance and a minor in Sport Management.

McKinna enjoys going to concerts, crocheting, exploring the city, and hanging out with her dog.

With over 19 years of nonprofit leadership experience, Alissa is an adaptive and heart-connected strategist partnering with change agents in the nonprofit sector. Alissa loves advancing justice and equity and has deep experience in board governance, organizational development, coaching, strategy development, fundraising, and relationship-building. She is a geek about role clarity and distributed decision-making.

From 2010-2022, Alissa served as the Executive Director of Family Tree Clinic, a nationally recognized sexual health center in the Twin Cities. During her time at Family Tree she led growth and transformation culminating in an $8 million capital campaign establishing an innovative, trauma-informed, healing-focused LGBTQIA+ and sexual health center in the heart of Minneapolis.

From 2022-2024, Alissa served as President & CEO of The Bakken Museum, an internationally recognized Museum and change agent sparking inquiry-based mindsets and supporting inclusive participation in STEM. In 2024 Alissa was thrilled to join the team at Gender Justice Action as a Senior Advisor, Minnesotans for Equal Rights Campaign. In this contract role Alissa is supporting efforts to pass the Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which would offer everyone the strongest possible protections against discrimination based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, or sex — including pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation — no matter who’s in power in state government.

Alissa received the Distinguished Citizen Award from Macalester College in 2023, was named TCB top 100 Minnesotans to Know in 2021 and received the Business of Pride award from Mpls/St. Paul Magazine in 2019 for her LGBTQIA+ health equity leadership. Alissa served as Board President of the Reproductive Health Alliance leading legislative strategy and partnering with government relations to advance a statewide reproductive health coalition agenda, and currently serves as Treasurer and member of the board of directors of The PFund Foundation, the only LGBTQ+ community foundation in the Upper Midwest. Alissa lives in Minneapolis, with her partner Crystal, two kids Ada & Perrin, and dogs Cookie & Ru.

Samantha Nagler is an Equal Justice Works Fellow at Gender Justice, sponsored by Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. Her project focuses on promoting access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare by combating predatory Crisis Pregnancy Centers. Prior to joining Gender Justice, she served as a law clerk for Justice Peter J. Rubin at the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

Samantha attended Harvard Law School, where she graduated cum laude. She was an active member of the Alliance for Reproductive Justice and the Mississippi Delta Project’s Reproductive Justice Initiative. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Theatre from Northwestern University, graduating magna cum laude. In her free time, Samantha enjoys dancing, crocheting, and reading novels.

Anne joins Gender Justice with 10 years of development experience. Throughout her career she has focused on funding reproductive healthcare access and the LGBTQIA/gender equity movement.

Anne has previously worked at Planned Parenthood North Central States (PPNCS) and the PPNCS Foundation, OutFront Minnesota, and Girl Scouts River Valleys. She has experience in major gifts fundraising, events planning, corporate sponsorship, and organizational leadership, as well as 501(c)4 and PAC fundraising.

Anne spends her time outside of work with her family going on long walks around their neighborhood, eating great food, and seeing live music (when she can find a babysitter).

Noah Parrish brings 15 years of experience in strategic communications, policy and electoral organizing to his role as Communications Director of Gender Justice. Prior to Gender Justice, he worked as a communications consultant, working with nonprofits to gain headlines and use ethical storytelling to inspire action.

He has held communications leadership roles at McKnight Foundation, Public Citizen, American Bridge PAC, and the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. Across these positions, Noah utilized creative and innovative media and digital strategies to shape narratives, influence policy and win campaigns.

Iman Hassan is the Advocacy Director at Gender Justice. Before joining Gender Justice in 2024, Iman worked at Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) as the legal director of the Stop the School to Prison Pipeline Project in Boston.

As a specialist in disability law, Iman worked to prevent improper suspension and expulsion of children with disabilities during manifestation hearings. She has worked as a public policy advocate in legislative campaigns focused on addressing disparities in public education faced by Black children with disabilities. Iman combined her strategic litigation and agency work with her community-informed and ground-up advocacy work in Boston to undo barriers in public education.

Iman works in social justice movements and has experience advocating on behalf of low-income persons to improve access to quality legal services. Before joining MAC as a director, she worked as a staff attorney at the Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services as an education attorney.

Iman is a member of Lawyers for Black Lives and actively organizes with the Black Lives Matter movement on racial justice issues such as police violence. In the past she worked with Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence to support families in Minnesota who have been directly impacted by state violence.

Lisa Gulya joins Gender Justice through the ACLS Leading Edge Fellowship to apply her skills as a social scientist to advancing gender equity, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ youth well-being.

Lisa previously taught sociology and public affairs at Macalester College and the University of Minnesota, including courses on childhood, sexuality, and qualitative research methods. In addition to teaching, her experience includes applied research with the Minnesota Justice Research Center and the American Academy of Neurology.

Lisa has a PhD in sociology from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in English and Russian with a concentration in women’s studies from St. Olaf College. Before graduate school, Lisa worked as a reporter at the Grand Forks Herald covering education and the courts and spent a year in Russia on a Fulbright grant, researching women’s experiences as young mothers and their responses to federal pronatalist policy.

Board Chair

Ann Tobin is a retired executive, business attorney, and compliance officer with deep expertise in the healthcare industry. She has substantial experience with boards of directors, including governance, committee leadership, and development. Ann is strongly committed to serving non-profit boards where she brings her passion, leadership skills and legal knowledge to support progress in critical issues of gender equity and social, economic, and reproductive justice.

Previously, Ann was on the boards of OutFront Minnesota and Headwaters Foundation for Justice. She served as a chairperson in both organizations and as chair of their fundraising committees. Both organizations are focused on advancing equity and justice in Minnesota. In 2012-2013, when Ann was on the OutFront board, the organization co-led the successful campaigns to defeat a Minnesota constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and to legalize same-sex marriage in the state. Throughout Ann’s career, she has mentored women in formal and informal settings, including through Menttium, Medtronic, UnitedHealth Group, and Prime Therapeutics.

Ann is passionate about creating an equitable society that works for everyone and enhancing people’s lives through fighting discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Board Vice Chair

Prairie Rose Seminole is an enrolled member of the MHA Nation of North Dakota and a dedicated advocate for Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, and storytelling. With extensive experience building relationships in Indigenous communities, Prairie Rose works at the intersection of advocacy, arts, and healing. They serve on the boards of Humanities ND, Gender Justice U.S., Olamina Fund, ND Human Rights Coalition, and the Midwest Innocence Project. Their latest project, Riders of the Dawn, a feature-length documentary on missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, builds on deep, trusted relationships with Indigenous motorcyclists to shed light on the crisis through their lived experiences. Prairie Rose is also developing a 40-day Lenten devotional centered on Indigenous liberation theology.

Board Treasurer

Michael Anderson leads a consulting practice that works with nonprofit organizations across the country in the areas of strategy development, business planning, financial strategy and planning, and partnership and merger exploration. He believes in the potential for nonprofit organizations to create meaningful social change and is excited when organizations address the underlying conditions and systemic forces that are at the root of social inequities. He also serves on the board of Family Tree Clinic. He lives in South Minneapolis with his wife and two school-age children and enjoys coaching youth baseball and traversing the hiking trails of Northern Minnesota.

Board Secretary

Joy is an Indigenous Abenaki granddaughter, niece, mother, auntie, midwife, and lawyer. She was born in South Minneapolis and has lived and worked most of her years in Minnesota. Joy understands the big responsibility she has been called into as one of the very few midwife-lawyers in the country. Walking in her great grandmother’s footsteps, Joy has worked hard to bridge Indigenous and western midwifery teachings and schooling to more effectively serve and advocate for birthing people and families. Joy worked for years alongside amazing colleagues to develop, lobby for, and pass one of the first direct entry midwifery license laws in the country. She has provided legislative testimony at both the state and national level addressing healthcare disparities, served by Governor appointment on a statewide maternity healthcare reform taskforce, worked as a legal fellow with the National Council of Urban Indian Health in Washington, D.C., and served in multiple leadership roles on the executive boards of both professional and community organizations. As an attorney, Joy focuses on serving Tribal governments and Native organizations with a focus on Tribal sovereignty, healthcare, and reproductive justice issues. In her spare time, Joy enjoys anything outside and especially in the north woods—winter camping/skiing/running/snowshoeing surrounded by trees cracking with the cold is her favorite.

CB Baga is Public Interest and DEI Counsel at Maslon, LLP. In that role, CB’s work focuses on justice inside and out. They represent clients on pro bono legal matters and support the firm’s pro bono program. As DEI Counsel, CB supports the firm’s work on justice, equity, belonging, and inclusion internally to help every lawyer achieve their highest potential. CB’s pro bono practice focuses on trans law; CB founded the Pro Bono Volunteer Lawyers Network Queer/Trans Community Clinic.

Amanda Bartschenfeld is a senior communications manager at Medtronic. She partners with executives and employees globally to tell inspiring stories about life-changing healthcare technology and the extraordinary people behind them. She is driven by connecting people to their passion and power.

She previously served on the advocacy and community impact committee of the American Heart Association in Minnesota and the board of directors for Everybody Works!, a consortium in Western Wisconsin providing employment support to individuals with disabilities.

She earned an MBA with an integrated marketing communications concentration from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of Minnesota.

Amanda and her wife Megan enjoy traveling, exploring breweries, live theater (mostly musicals), and nightly crossword puzzles.

Elina Castillo Jiménez is a dynamic feminist lawyer and human rights advocate, renowned for her exceptional leadership and expertise in gender justice. As an esteemed attorney from the Dominican Republic with an LL.M in public international law and human rights from the University of Nottingham, UK, as a Chevening Scholar, Elina has spent over a decade spearheading transformative initiatives worldwide. She has led groundbreaking projects, collaborated with diverse stakeholders, and advised government bodies, businesses, and nonprofits, leaving a mark on the global fight for equality. Elina’s unwavering commitment to creating a fairer, more inclusive world is evident in her proactive approach to problem-solving and her ability to foster meaningful partnerships across cultures and sectors. As a proud daughter of the Caribbean and an Afrolatina, she infuses her work with vibrancy, reflected in her love for learning, travel, photography, and dance.

Sarah was previously the executive director for Domestic Abuse Project (DAP), where she helped establish an innovative and transformational birth-to-3 therapy program, re-instated adolescent male programming and engaged in projects with Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis to end gender-based violence. In addition, Sarah served as executive director of Joyce Preschool, which was awarded the Nonprofit Excellence award in 2013.

Additionally, Sarah also serves on the board of directors for Propel Nonprofits as Vice-Chair. She also served on Mayor Hodges’ Cradle-to-K Cabinet and the Governor’s Council on Law Enforcement and Community Relations. She is a founding local advisory board member for Educators for Excellence-Minnesota.

Sarah is passionate about education, social justice, ending gender-based violence, and building cross-sector relationships to dismantle disparities in our communities. Sarah received a master’s degree in education and a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and Spanish, both from the University of Minnesota.

Hetal Dalal is an assistant professor at Mitchell Hamline and has wide-ranging expertise in non-profit, tax, labor and employment, campaign finance, corporate governance, public interest law, as well as associated litigation and transactional skills. She has a longstanding interest in the link between rhetorical skills and the preservation of democratic values and a well-informed citizenry.

Hetal has served as in-house counsel for The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and its predecessor organization, which she co-founded, from 2010-2020. This organization—which has 100 staff members, a $30 million budget, and affiliated community organizations with 600,000 members in 35 states—is one of the country’s leading organizations advocating for racial equality and economic justice. During her time at CPD, Hetal worked with founding organizers to help launch at least two dozen new community organizing endeavors.

Prior to 2010, Hetal worked in-house at ACORN, developed an independent immigration practice representing businesses and employees, and served as an Associate Attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright. Hetal graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School, where she was a board member of the Minnesota Justice Foundation and participated in the Immigration Law Clinic and the Criminal Defense Clinic, as well as the student-run Asylum Law Project. She clerked for the Honorable Kathleen A. Blatz, then Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Before law school Hetal worked as a community organizer with the National Organizers Alliance and a union organizer (short-term) with UNITE-HERE.

Thomas Fiebiger has grown a legal career that centers advocacy for those without a voice.  Through litigation, holding public office, and leading grassroots campaigns, he has spent the past 25 years defending and promoting the civil rights of working people in North Dakota and Minnesota.

He has sued the University of North Dakota, its President and Provost, the United States, the state of North Dakota (multiple times), the Catholic Church, landlords, and many employers, large and small, on a variety of discrimination theories.

Thomas’ legislative and advocacy efforts includes his sponsoring a bill to amend the North Dakota Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation, a successful effort to block an attempt to amend the ND Constitution to make religion an excuse to discriminate. In this effort, Thomas helped convince the six major newspapers to all come out against the Measure.

Thomas has spent the past five years in private practice at Fiebiger Law, focusing on labor and employment/civil rights law with his son—and law partner—Rolf. He is an ACLU member, and the father of a gay man who is an artist/entrepreneur and living in New York. Thomas’ wife of 44 years, Siri, is an OB/GYN, active in reproductive rights work, a  former Planned Parent Board member, and active in lobbying issues with ACOG and the Minnesota Medical Association. He has two granddaughters who inspire him and keep him in the moment.

Melissa Harl recently retired from the University of Minnesota after a 38-year teaching career, as Professor Emerita of Classical and Near Eastern Studies. While at the ‘U’ she served in leadership roles for the Transgender Commission and on many other committees, most recently as a member of the Social Concerns committee of the University Senate.

Melissa has a lifelong interest in social justice, particularly as it relates to race, gender, violence, and education. As a college student she opposed the war in Viet Nam as a conscientious objector, with some personal consequences. In the 1980s she headed a committee of churches in aid of refugees from CIA-funded violence in Central America. More recently she served on the board of the Twenty Percent Theatre Company, a small but fierce organization centering the lives and art of women, especially queer and trans people of color. The murder of Philando Castile in her Falcon Heights neighborhood in July 2016 drove her into deeper engagement with efforts to oppose state-sanctioned violence. Currently she is active in work supporting families seeking asylum and other relief from religiously and racially based over-enforcement of immigration law, and serves on the board of her church, First Congregational Church of Minnesota, in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Wintana Melekin brings more than a decade of expertise in spearheading impactful campaigns and leading diverse organizations. With an impressive track record, she has played a pivotal role in the electing over a dozen progressive candidates in Minnesota. Her contributions have been instrumental in historic achievements, including the election of the first openly Queer Black woman school board member, the first Black woman senator and the first Black immigrant to congress in the country. Moreover, she has been at the forefront of various policy initiatives, championing causes such as the $15 minimum wage and paid sick time in Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as successfully advocating for the restoration of voting rights for the 55,000 Minnesotans with felony convictions. She now leads World To Win, an organization solely focused on advancing justice in Minnesota.

Wintana’s journey as a community organizer began in 2012 when she helped to coordinate a protest for Trayvon Martin which became at the time the largest protest in Minnesota history. Her commitment to the principles of a representative democracy, where every voice is valued irrespective of race, religion, or sexual orientation, forms the foundation of her work. She is dedicated to infusing joy into the lives of others while tirelessly advocating for justice. Wintana leverages her skills as an organizer and entrepreneur as powerful tools for enhancing the well-being of her community and beyond.

Nicole Moen has been litigating for over 20 years in a wide variety of complicated business disputes. She graduated from Harvard Law School in 2003, clerked for a federal judge, and has been a litigator at the largest law firm in Minnesota – Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. – ever since. Nicole is currently the Co-Chair of the Business Litigation Department at Fredrikson. She has served as Board Chair for the ACLU of Minnesota and Board President of the Harvard Club of Minnesota (alumni organization). As a result of Nicole’s passion for justice, she has spent thousands of hours on pro bono matters over the years ranging from consumer debt to family/juvenile, to representing a Guantanamo detainee. Nicole has earned many high-recognition awards for her work, including Minnesota Lawyer Attorney of the Year, Minnesota Super Lawyers, and other awards for pro bono representation. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends and riding bicycles.

Kori was born and raised in Minnesota and began her career through service as an AmeriCorps member with Peace First in Boston. Since then, her passion for and commitment to connecting communities to break barriers and achieve positive change has transformed her into a leader in the nonprofit and public sectors. Kori holds an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from Northeastern University and served as a Policy Fellow at the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs in 2015-2016. Additionally, she was a 2019 participant in the American Express social sector leadership cohort through the Center for Creative Leadership. Kori has dedicated her career to youth development and lifting up youth voices and currently works as the CEO of Camp Fire Minnesota. She is proud to lead the way in a number of important gender equity initiatives, including creating all-gender cabins for overnight camp programs in 2022, and expanding that program in 2023. Kori and her wife live happily in Minnesota with their two young sons and loves experiencing the outdoors with her family. Kori is an avid runner and fully embraces all seasons of Minnesota!

Dee Senaratna is a public relations and communications executive with more than 25 years of experience in helping companies protect and advance their reputation. She currently leads communications at Plume Clinic, one of the largest virtual providers of gender affirming care and transition support services for the transgender community in the U.S. Previously, she spent more than two decades working in the health care sector, serving in a variety of corporate communications, public affairs and crisis management leadership roles. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Drake University. Dee is actively engaged in her community and currently serves on the boards of QUEERSPACE Collective and the Minnesota (Methodist) Congress Board of Pensions. In her downtime she enjoys spending time at her local yoga studio and traveling with her children.

Joni Thome has been recognized locally and nationally for her work for employees and for others adversely affected by discrimination and hostility due to their protected status. Joni has worked for employees and students for over 30 years with unwavering commitment. She is a founder of the MN Lavender Bar Association and board member emeritus. She has also served on boards or worked otherwise as a volunteer for several organizations over the years including the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, OutFront MN, Minnesota Aids Project, Cancer Legal Care, Seward Childcare Center and the MN Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association. Joni has been named as SuperLawyer each year since 2005 and consistently received recognition as a Top 50 Woman Lawyer and Top 100 Lawyer in Minnesota. Joni co-taught Sexual Orientation in the Law at HUSL for several years. She is the recipient of community service awards from the MN Lavender Bar Association, MN NELA’s Karla Wahl Dedicated Advocacy Award, Cancer Legal Care’s service award, and most recently, the prestigious 2025 Margaret H. Chutich Equality & Justice Award. Most of all, Joni is known for her passion in the pursuit of justice for her clients and the greater good. Joni is a founding partner of Wanta Thome PLC and is a practicing MSBA Certified Employment Law Specialist.

Jill Gaulding began her career at MIT, obtaining undergraduate and graduate degrees in Cognitive Science. She then pursued public interest law and has focused her legal career on understanding and eliminating gender barriers. She has done international research on gender stereotypes and family leave policies, as well as taught law at the University of Iowa with a focus on global feminist strategy.

Both as a professor and as a practicing lawyer, Jill has worked to modernize the legal system to better reflect what cognitive science has taught us about implicit bias. Seven years after co-founding Gender Justice, Jill accepted a call to pursue a Masters of Divinity at Harvard. She transitioned out of her role at Gender Justice in June of 2017.

Established in 2017, the Jill Gaulding Law Student Fellowship offers a second- or third-year LGBTQ (lesbian / gay / bisexual / transgender / non-binary / queer) and/or BIPOC (black / indigenous / native / person of color) law student the invaluable opportunity to work in a social justice, public interest legal and policy advocacy nonprofit dedicated to fighting gender inequality.

As an attorney, Lisa Stratton specializes in gender discrimination cases. She began her career at the University of Minnesota Law School, where she later joined the faculty as a professor and director of the Workers’ Rights Clinic. She has won noteworthy federal cases on behalf of undocumented immigrant workers and women trailblazing in male-dominated industries, such as paper mills and processing plants.

In 2014, she was a key advocate at the Minnesota legislature. As part of her work leading Gender Justice’s policy program, she lobbied for the progressive public policy changes in Minnesota’s groundbreaking Women’s Economic Security Act.

In June 2018, Lisa transitioned out of her role at Gender Justice and is now in private practice.