GARY BAILEY (Moderator) DHL,MSW, ACSW is the Assistant Dean of Community Engagement and Social Justice and Professor of Practice at Simmons School of Social Work and at the Simmons School of Nursing and Health Sciences. He currently serves as a member of the Mass. LGBTQ Youth Commission , the board of Fenway High School, and as a Trustee of the Union United Methodist Church. Among his numerous awards and honors, Professor Bailey has been named Social Worker of the Year by both the National and Massachusetts NASW. He was made a Social Work Pioneer by NASW in 2005, making him the youngest individual to receive this honor and joining individuals such as Jane Addams and Whitney M. Young. In May 2013 Professor Bailey received the degree Doctor of Humane letters, honoris causa, from the University of Connecticut.

REVEREND IRENE MONROE (Panelist) An African-American lesbian feminist public theologian, an activist, and a sought-after speaker and preacher, Rev. Irene Monroe does the weekly Monday segment ALL REV’D UP on WGBH of Boston Public Radio, that’s also a podcast. Monroe is a Visiting Scholar in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University School of Theology, and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail. Monroe’s syndicated religion columns appear in Bay Windows, Cambridge Chronicle, Dig Boston, and in several cities across the country and in the U.K, and Canada. You can find out more about Monroe at www.irenemonroe.com.

REVEREND GERALD “JAY” WILLIAMS, Ph.D. (Panelist) Lead Pastor at Union Methodist Church in Boston, Rev. Williams is an ordained Elder in The Union United Methodist Church, and has served congregations in New York City, Boston, and San Francisco. He holds a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and and the Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Harvard College. In May 2017, Jay received the Ph.D. in the Study of Religion from the Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Williams’s work explores the meaning of “Spirit” in black cultural discourse at the intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality: particularly how spirit-talk has been a marginalizing language of power.

COREY YARBROUGH (Panelist) is the Founding Director of Operations at Brooke High School & 8th Grade Academy. He founded and served as Executive Director of Hispanic Black Gay Coalition, which works to inspire and empower Latin@, Hispanic and Black LGBTQ individuals to improve their livelihood through activism, education, community outreach, and counseling. Before that, Corey managed college prep programs for first generation college-bound students in the New England region