Team
Executive Director
Mark Bowman (he/him, mark@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) has been involved in the development of LGBTQ-RAN since its founding in 2001. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology. He first became active in Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns in the late 1970s. He was instrumental in the formation of the Reconciling Congregation Program (United Methodist) and the magazine Open Hands and headed these programs for fifteen years. He played a key leadership role in initiating several cooperative ventures in the ecumenical "Welcoming Church" Movement, including the historic, massive Witness Our Welcome (WOW) Conference in 2000.
Archivist
Doris Malkmus (she/her, doris@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) served as LGBTQ-RAN catalog collection archivist and oral historian from 2002 until 2005. She earned a Ph.D. in history at the University of Iowa and an M.S. in Archival Science from the University of Michigan. Doris also conducted oral history projects at the Iowa Women's Archives and the Sisters of Loretto in Kentucky. She recently retired as archivist at Penn State and now directs the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Duluth, Minnesota. Returning to LGBTQ-RAN gratifies her passion for helping individuals contribute their personal narratives to a broader social history.
Communications Coordinator
Isaiah Jerome Lewis Poole (he/him, isaiah@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) is a native of Washington, D.C. who has worked for over 40 years as a journalist, editor, and nonprofit communications executive. He is also an experienced church leader, having served as an elder and, for a time, co-pastor of Faith Temple, the first Black LGBTQ congregation in the country, founded by the Rev. Dr. James Tinney. Isaiah is currently a lay leader at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church. He has a journalism degree from Penn State University.
Communications Assistant
Riot Mueller (any pronoun with a positive intention, riot@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) is a M. Div. student studying theology and pastoral ministry at Union Theological Seminary and a candidate for ministry in the United Methodist Church. Before returning to this call, Riot hosted The Moth Story Slam in New Orleans and currently performs with LAVA Brooklyn (a feminist acrobatic dance company), creating images with other queer feminist bodies. Riot’s joy and work centers on site-specific ensemble theater productions and liturgy production.
Research Assistants
Tarchithaa CS (she/they, tarchithaa@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) is a researcher and designer with a B.A. degree in International Studies and Digital Design from Fordham University. By focusing on multi-media explorations, she hopes to bring light to and create spaces for the narratives of LGBTQ+ BIPOC persons.
Nicole Malte Collins (she/her, nicole@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) is a Master of Theological Studies candidate at Harvard Divinity School, where she studies transgender religiosity in the United States, in particular the relationship between gender transition and religious conversion. She is currently working on a project mapping and chronicling the history of queer religion in Boston.
Elizabeth Herrick (elizabeth@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org she/they) received their M.A. in Religion from Syracuse University and B.A. degrees in Religious Studies and History from West Virginia University. Her research investigates "indigenizing" religious movements for Filipino Americans, particularly with the decolonial and queer re-imaginations of the babaylan tradition. They currently teach at Nazareth University and enjoy introducing young students to the study of religion.
Technical Coordinator
A web developer by day and a musician by night, Carl Foote (he/him, carl@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) has been with LGBTQ-RAN since the beginning. Carl has created websites and data-driven software for a wide range of clients, from corporations and national non-profits to neighborhood businesses and independent artists.
Administrative Assistant
Ellen Huffman (she/her, ellen@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) is an ordained Disciples of Christ minister from Northeast Ohio. She has an M.Div. from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and an M.A. in Tibetan Buddhism and Sanskrit from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Ellen has a background in non-profit work and community organizing, with an emphasis on accompaniment work in the Global South. In addition to LGBTQ-RAN, she works as the Administrative Coordinator for the Disciples LGBTQ+ Alliance.
Financial Assistant
Penny Junco (she/her, penny@lgbtqreligiousarchives.org) spent 40-plus years as a degreed accountant in the corporate worlds of the banking, food, gas & oil, and allied packaging industries. Her career success came from being able to work with all levels of a business, from President to CFO to Accounting Clerk, to help develop financial information that they understand and educates and links everyone in the importance of their performance to the financial success of the business. During what spare time she had in her career work and in retirement, she has shared her business and accounting knowledge and business system savvy with non/not-for-profit organizations, helping educate them on their financial structure and reporting to enhance decisions-making that favorably impacts their operations and finances.