She/Her

Emily is a longtime nonprofit leader and advocate with over 20 years of experience supporting LGBTQ+ youth, families, and communities. She brings to The Center a strong commitment to equity, community

engagement, and thoughtful organizational growth. Before coming to The Center, Emily held senior roles at JASMYN, a Florida-based LGBTQ+ youth center. She also founded the LGBTQ+ Resource Center at the University of North Florida and later led the center at UCLA.

She holds a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling, and her advocacy work has spanned healthcare, education, corporate, and nonprofit spaces—always with a focus on connecting systems more deeply to the communities they serve. At the heart of her work is a love for building community.

With deep family roots in Montana, Emily is excited to get to know Missoula and spend more time with her twin sister, who lives just outside of Bozeman. And if all goes well—she just might become the better fisherman of the two.

They/Them

Kera is the Operations Administrator for The Center and Site Ops Manager for Missoula Pride. They are passionate about creating a comfortable and safe space for their community while focusing on accessibility, safety and inclusivity. Kera has been a part of the Missoula community for over 10 years, moving to Missoula from Chicago in 2012. Kera came out in their mid 20s and has worked hard to create a fulfilling life with a chosen family and amazing friends, while wishing the same for everyone in this community.

Accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusivity are major focuses that they try to include in everything they do at The Center as well as throughout Missoula. In their free time, they can be found napping on water vessels, training their cat to walk on a leash or doing theater in the local scene from MCT to Rocky at The Wilma. Kera loves Missoula and can't imagine a better place to let their freak flag fly.

They/She

 Jo is a Master of Clinical Mental Health Counseling student at the University of Montana, currently working on their clinical internship. Jo is grateful for and cares about the queer community, and is committed to improving affirming mental health service access in Montana. Jo incorporates a blend of humanistic and behavioral approaches to mental health treatment into their practice, and aims to provide a warm, supportive space for their clients.
Her original background is in education, and a significant part of her professional experience has been grounded in working as a field instructor for NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). Jo loves to be outside, play soccer, spend time with those near
and dear, make muffins,
and ride her bike. 

She/Her

Working alongside local non-profits the past 5 years, Laura’s professional experience is tailored to use marketing and community engagement as powerful tools to connect individuals to community resources. She believes community holds immense power and advocates for welcoming, accessible, and inclusive spaces around Missoula. Using her degree in Marketing from the University of Montana to keep the Missoula community informed and connected to The Center’s work, Laura is proud to be a part of a growing network of lgbtq+ advocates and leaders in Missoula.

 

Laura loves her Missoula community and spends much of her time connecting through square dancing, playing and teaching folk music, basking in Montana sunsets, and swimming all sorts of bodies of water (no matter how cold or treacherous!)