ANNIE GREGORY
28, GRANT AND CONTRACT MANAGER
Annie Gregory, 28, currently is the manager of grant and contract compliance at Howard Brown Health Center. In this role, she helps ensure Howard Brown's compliance with fiscal, legal and programmatic requirements. In addition, she improves the lives of LGBT people by developing and maintaining grants and programs for vital health and wellness services. She has a particular interest in the development of programs addressing the health disparities experienced by lesbians, racial/ethnic minorities and transgender persons.
A 2005 graduate of Depaul University College of Law, she was a board member of DePaul's Public Interest Law Association and the DePaul Outlaws. She was also a member of the DePaul Journal of Sports Law and Contemporary Problems, an academic journal in which she published an article about homophobia and discrimination based on sexual orientation in athletics.
DID YOU KNOW? Annie's first job was detassling corn in rural Illinois when she was 14.
LIESEL S. FISCHER
28, ARTIST
Liesel S. Fischer, 28, has been advocating for LGBT rights for over a decade. Born prematurely on a bus while her parents were vacationing in Italy, Fischer was already fighting as she entered into the world. She feels that it is only natural for her to continue advocating for the issues she believes in.
Originally from Iowa, she has lived and traveled abroad extensively, and became proficient in German while studying at the University of Lüneburg in German.
Fischer is now a Chicago artist who has donated dozens of pieces to various charitable organizations, including the Center on Halsted, Howard Brown Health Center, Heartland Alliance's annual Art Against AIDS event and the Tri-State AIDS Christmas Project.
She has been a Junior Board member with Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights since 2005, and was recently elected to serve as the Board's Benefits Chair/Vice President. She acted as Art Chair for Heartland Alliance's 2008 Art Against AIDS event, which became the most successful event in the event's history. She has been an active volunteer with several local and national LGBT supportive political campaigns, and is currently a member of Human Rights Campaign and Stonewall Democrats.
Fischer also participated with her softball team in the 2006 Chicago Gay Games. Currently, she is working on her doctorate in clinical psychology, with an emphasis on diversity, gender and LGBT issues.
DID YOU KNOW? Fischer also volunteers as an events coordinator for www.Tellofilms.com , which is a lesbian entertainment Web company based in Chicago.
WILL WHITE
27, SINGER
Will White, 27, was born in Punta Gorda, Fla., on the Gulf—south of Tampa and Sarasota.
After his partner Matt and his wonderful family, his number-one passion is singing, although he does enjoy good friends and great wine whenever possible! He has been truly blessed to work with the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus over the past five years. Interestingly enough, he has been featured in leading female roles with CGMC so much that audience members still have a hard time believing he's actually a man! What we endure for our love of the theater. Let's face it, roles are tough to find when you're an upper tenor who looks good in a dress!
White actually has been out and proud since the age of 14. As the only out gay student in his high school, Will fought for the first LGBT student organization, which was founded upon his graduation. Since moving to Chicago, Will has also broken barriers in the workplace. While working as the faculty coordinator at Northwestern University's law school, he urged his department to become 'safe-space certified'; those spaces let gay students know where they can turn for support.
White would like to thank Windy City Times for this honor and thanks Lee Neubecker for his support and nomination. Most importantly, he gratefully acknowledges the work of the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus and his friend Patrick Sinozich, CGMC's artistic director.
DID YOU KNOW? White moved to Chicago in 2002 when the heat of the South became too much to bear.
LIZ MARR
26, ROCKINPRIDE CO-FOUNDER
R.J. SARNA
26, ROCKINPRIDE CO-FOUNDER
At age 20, Liz Marr and her friend R.J. Sarna started a group called Pride Gathering, which threw picnics in the suburbs. At age 26, Marr decided to reform the group and make it bigger with more of a purpose. With the help of her friends, lead photographer Nick Miller, lead promoter Brad Stone, co-founder R.J. Sarna and the newest member, her fiancé, photographer Brittany Whittemore, they started making a Myspace site that provided info on youth groups, gay friendly businesses, gay friendly groups and events. RockinPride also helps with clubs and groups starting out in the suburbs that are open to the LGBT community and want to spread the word. R.J. Sarna, 26, has always felt a desire to promote LGBT equality and awareness. At Loyola University Chicago, his interest piqued in the campus LGBT organization, where he remained active in as an undergraduate and co-chaired as a senior. During his tenure, he organized fundraisers and events, helped bring the AIDS Quilt to campus, participated in the Day of Silence and invited high-profile speakers like Danny Roberts from 'Real World: New Orleans' and Kyan Douglas from 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' to speak about their experiences. In addition to his work with RockinPride and preparing for the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), Sarna co-hosted a podcast, the Daily4Play, that combined his two passions—health care and the LGBT community.
DID YOU KNOW? Sarna hopes to enter dental school in the fall of 2009, and eventually do research and cater his practice to a largely LGBT clientele.
ERNETTA PROCTER
23, PERFORMANCE ARTIST
Every day is a prosperous day for artist and author Ernetta Procter, 23. Better known as 'Phenomenon' by the performance arts community, she has stunned many onlookers with her persistence and progression. In 2007, her performance pieces of poetry were released on audio entitled 'Hood Politics,' causing a riotous reaction from suburbia due to the urban reality depicted in her work.
This revolutionary continues to use her poised persona and anointed gift for poetry as a spoken-word artist to educate and mentor at risk youth. Along with pursuing a career in English and communications, the youthful powerhouse has dedicated her time and talent to many nonprofit agencies for positive causes. From the Forces of Nature Dance Company and 21Brothers Organization of Masons and Eastern Stars, to the Department Of Children and Family Services Transitional Homes, Procter is on a mission.
The 2007 Truth award for best poet was issued to the Verbal Balance Poetry Ensemble, in which Procter is a neophyte and active member. This touring artist and slam champion also finds time in her schedule to teach performance poetry for the Art Music Poetry Program.
Today, she continues to work toward her personal goals, such as the release of her first book, The Lesbian Chronicles, which exposes the urban lesbian lifestyle of African-American women. She also continues to work toward being a positive role model for LGBT and African-American youth.
DID YOU KNOW? She will stampede children and helpless pets, just to catch an ice cream truck. She's not proud of it but, hey, it's life. Ice cream ROCKS!
JULIEN JACQUET
30, GAY GAMES VOLUNTEER
Julien Jacquet, 30 (29 at the time he was nominated), is a French citizen permanently living in Chicago since 2004. He was the co-chief information officer of the Chicago Gay Games. Thanks to a network of some of the best LGBTA professionals and volunteers in Chicago and around the world, he successfully led the delivery of the technology that supported the event.
Jacquet credits the great spirit of participation, inclusion and personal best found in all the partners and volunteers of the Gay Games for the success of the event. He hopes to reconnect with these amazing LGBT key players in a similar context as he aspires to work for the Chicago 2016 Olympics once done with his master's.
He is a graduate from Sorbonne University, the Ecole Superieure d'Informatique-Electronique-Automatique and the Illinois Institute of Technology, and is a current student at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Jacquet is also the co-chair and co-founder of the LGBT network of his company, the world's fifth-largest investment bank, where he is currently employed in the Chicago financial market section as the ranking technology officer. With his group, he participated in diversity events in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has encouraged senior management to tap into their diverse workforce with the help of organizations such as Stonewall UK.
He has lived and worked in London, Sydney, Hong-Kong, Tokyo and Paris.
He participated in programs run by the AIDS Council of New South Wales (ACON) in Australia and worked as a volunteer for the Sydney 2002 Gay Games.
DID YOU KNOW? A fun, unexpected thing happened to Jacquet at the closing ceremony of the Gay Games. After a rehearsal with Mayor Daley and other staff and volunteers, he enjoyed a dance with one of his friends to the music of Cyndi Lauper, who was doing her own rehearsal in the empty stadium.
MYRL BEAM
25, TRANS-YOUTH WORKER
Myrl Beam, 25, is a self-described 'transfaggot' youth worker in the struggle. He currently works as the transgender care coordinator at Howard Brown Health Center, working primarily as a case manager in the daily drop-in program with trans and gender non-conforming youth experiencing homelessness.
Beam is also very involved in anti-violence and social-justice activism, currently working with the Chicago Queer Transformative Justice Working Group and providing trainings and workshops throughout Chicago.
DID YOU KNOW? A graduate of Oberlin College, Beam enjoys Bravo reality television, gardening on his back porch and being the godparent of a chihuahua named Chanel.
More honorees at : www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/30-under-30-Honorees-ABBAS-TC-MINOR-MINAX-THURMOND-BROWN-VELAZQUEZ-BECHTEL/18733.html .
