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THE ORGANIZATION. |
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The North American Coalition of Lighting Industry Queers is the national hub of *LIQ chapters. NACLIQ (pronounced NAY-click) and its local sibling organizations welcomes all LGBTQIA+ people and their allies to join this safe space to discuss important issues such as workplace and hiring discrimination, income parity, harassment, etc, and to look at more lighting-centered topics from a queer perspective. NACLIQ was born out of glaring need for queer community and advocacy within the lighting world, particularly as it relates to transgender and nonbinary people. Until now, no structures existed for non-cishet lighting professionals to provide mentorship, share experiences, and support one another. Right now, NACLIQ is a very small, but with any luck it will grow quickly. If you're interested in getting involved, please contact us. Want to start your own chapter? Let's talk! NYCLIQ does not profess or seek to be a monolithic voice or the final authority on all things queer in the lighting world. It is one resource-- a place for sharing and dialogue. |
THE BOARD. |
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Alana Shepherd (she/her) - Founder and Executive Co-Chair. Alana has strong ties to both the theatrical and architectural lighting worlds. She is a professor of lighting design at The University of Idaho, and is the resident lighting designer for Stage Left Theater. She is also the founding principal of Intangible Light in Spokane, Washington. She has 15 years under her belt as an NYC lighting veteran, working in design, sales, and project management. She came out as a trans woman in 2020, and sought to build this organization to provide the advocacy, community, and support that she herself sought as she tried to navigate finding a job-- and then starting a business-- while in transition. She serves on several boards related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and is a regular speaker at lighting conferences. It is her hope that together we can find a way to thrive. Sara Schonour (she/her) - Executive Co-Chair. Sara owns Luxsi, a lighting/strategy/ideas-based consulting practice. Before starting Luxsi, Sara founded and led the award-winning CannonDesign Lighting Studio. Sara is highly engaged in the design community and serves on the executive board of directors for the Boston IES chapter, is past president of the DLF-NE, and is co-chair of the WILD Mentorship Committee in addition to her role on the executive board of NACLIQ. Sara has taught as adjunct faculty and guest lecturer for several New England lighting programs and speaks regularly at local and national conferences on various topics surrounding light and life. Sara lives with her wife in Boston, MA. Terry Jewell (he/him) - Director of Finance. Terry lives in Portland, Maine, and has been in specification sales in the New England area for over 10 years. In his own words: "I'm Mainer sales rep who happens to be transgender. The funny thing is that I don't often think about gender. As a kid I was in the Boy Scouts (Venturing Crew), played goalie for both girls and boys lacrosse; and have always walked between gender roles without giving it much thought. After decades of hormone issues it medically made sense to transition, my brain simply doesn't work when on estrogen!" Robby Lindstrom (he/him) - Secretary. Robby graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2016 with a BS in Architecture. Since graduation he has been employed at Boston Light Source as the in-house applications engineer. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Robby has an unconditional drive to provide quality service to the local design community. Now being a part of the NACLIQ he wants to make strides in the Boston market, bringing visibility and platforms to those whose voices need to be heard. |
THE SITE. |
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This website is 100% handcrafted using skills mostly forgotten over 25 years of disuse. The lo-fi vibe is partly a choice to do something that stood out from all the Squarespace templates, and partly honest-to-goodness ineptitude. If you think you can do a better job and want to be a part of the organization, let us know. |
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