Leadership
Queer Youth Advisory Board (QYAB)
Anna Davis, 27
Treasurer
anna@mssafeschools.org
Hello all. My name is Anna C. and I am currently on the Queer Youth Advisory Board for the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition. I am also a council member for the Gay Straight Alliance at The University of Southern Mississippi. I am a graduate student in mass communications at Southern Miss. I received my B.A. in public relations from USM in 2009.
My interest in the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition extends from my own experiences growing up queer in Mississippi. I am originally from Chickasaw County in Northeast Mississippi. Unlike many of the youth that I meet today, I did not come out until I was 20 years old. I am amazed at the work that queer youth in Mississippi are doing, that includes my fellow QYAB members and those young people who touch our lives every day.
Ashley Jackson, 26
Coordinator
ashley@mssafeschools.org
Hello, I’m Ashley J. Joining MSSC was an easy decision for me. I’ve always been an advocate for those that weren’t able to stand up for themselves or didn’t know their rights. I grew up in Rankin County. Growing up in Mississippi has allowed me to meet some amazing people and couldn’t imaging being anywhere else doing what I love in the Magnolia State. I love helping the youth of Mississippi find their voice and confidence.
Audri Ingram, 15
audri@mssafeschools.org
Hello. I am Audri Ingram. I joined the MSSC in December of 09′. Before that I helped form my local PFLAG. I was once a public school student, but I withdrew from public school in 8th grade at the age of 14. I did that because I was harassed at school to such an extent that I felt that I could no longer take it. Now, I thank the people who tormented me. If they wouldn’t have done that, then I wouldn’t be doing what I do now. I help to make schools safer, and keep this from happening to someone else. Thanks to them, I have found my calling. I have a passion for this work, and I believe it is what I will be doing for the rest of my life, or until the problem is fixed.
Corey Faucheux, 20
corey@mssafeschools.org
Shalom, y’all. I’m Corey–a junior psychology major at the University of Southern Mississippi and an active member of the university’s Gay-Straight Alliance. I joined the MSSC to support their efforts to create a more accepting and understanding environment for LGBT youth who grow up in our grand old state. Soon after I joined QYAB and have been doing what I can to make those efforts a reality.
Izzy Pellegrine, 19
izzy@mssafeschools.org
Hey all, my name is Izzy. I joined MSSC because I had been working with queer young people in North Mississippi and knew how badly we needed resources to protect our rights and mobilize our community. I’m currently an undergraduate sociology and social work junior at Mississippi State University and I’m in this state for the long haul. Mississippi is where the work needs to be done!
Jamie Carter, 25
Secretary
jamie@mssafeschools.org
Along with being a very busy member of the Queer Youth Advisory Board of the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition, I am also a Junior Computer Science major at Millsaps College. I have been involved with MSSC since it’s founding. I look forward to watching our work grow and prosper. I graduated from high school as valedictorian, from All Saints’ Episcopal School in Vicksburg, MS. My interests include computers and music. I enjoy time with friends and family. I love warm weather.
Jessi Johnson, 18
jessie@mssafeschools.org
Bio coming soon.
Matthew Sheffield, 22
Communications Director
matthew@mssafeschools.org
Having lived in Mississippi my entire life I know first hand what it is like to be gay in the Magnolia State. I was raised in the Southern Baptist church and was taught from day one that it is wrong to be gay. This type of environment is extremely hard for LGBTQ youth and causes many to feel that there is something wrong with them or that they are bad people. Unfortunately these ideas are often taught in many places other than churches including our schools. It is my passion to ensure LGBTQ youth in these types of situations realize that they are perfectly normal and that it is the people teaching these things that are wrong.
I first became involved with the Mississippi Safe Schools Coalition at it’s second annual conference in October 2009. I was selected to be a member of the Queer Youth Advisory Board shortly after that and I am extremely happy to be involved with this amazing organization!
QYAB Support
Sarah Young, 28
Project Director
sarah@mssafeschools.org
I found myself in Mississippi as a social work intern from the University of Michigan, and fell in love with the people and the potential for social justice. In 2008 I helped co-found the MSSC and it has been one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. As Project Director, my job is easy because I work with some of the brightest, passionate and most creative people I have ever met. The MSSC is truly led by youth, and we have a unique model of leadership and coalition building. I hope you’ll join us in our fight for social justice for all MS students.
John Yu, 28
MSSC Intern
john@mssafeschools.org
Born and raised in Mississippi, I find myself drawn into ever “widening circles,” drawn to voices that help me understand my own experience with being Asian American in the South as congruent with the experiences of all the myriad Americas that marginalized groups occupy–fraught with the same alienation, frustration, and heartbreak. I was intially drawn to the MSSC by a chance conversation with Project Director Sarah Young at a protest in Jackson, Mississippi against Proposition 8. I then began work as an intern for the MSSC, focused on advocating for anti-bullying policy that recognizes the responsibility of adminstrators and teachers to protect LGBT students in Mississippi from the harassment they experience at school. I am constantly renewed by the amazing work of the youth that serve on the MSSC board, the unassumingly courageous students and parents that I meet across the state, and–as a straight ally–the change that I recognize this work makes in myself.