Help Us To Create Inclusive Classrooms Everywhere!
Teaching While Queer began as a podcast in 2022 and evolved into a not-for-profit organization in 2024 to support queer educators around the world.
Our Values
Teaching While Queer believes that all educators and youth deserve to feel safe and welcome in our schools and communities.
Service
We provide support for all Queer Educators through mentorship, coaching, financial support, crisis mitigation, and referrals to resources we are unable to accommodate.
Advocacy
We create culturally responsive classrooms and communities by elevating the pillars of diversity, inclusion, equity, access, justice, and belong at every level.
Our Mission
Teaching While Queer’s mission is to create safe schools and communities where every educator can teach, every family can belong, and every child can learn regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. For queer educators and allies. Stories, strategy, community.
Education
We provide professional development opportunities which promote collaborate toward innovative solutions to challenges, helping to enhance queer educators’ problem solving skills thus promoting educational independence for their students.
Community
We believe in the power of authentic connection and community by fostering the wellbeing of Queer educators, honoring lived experiences, promoting safety within school communities, offering resources, and a safe space.
Our Board
Bryan Stanton
Chair
Bryan Stanton (he/they) is a dynamic leader and advocate in the intersection of theatre education and LGBTQ+ inclusivity. As Board Chair of Teaching While Queer, Bryan champions the voices of queer educators worldwide, striving to create a safer, more inclusive environment where both teachers and students can thrive authentically and free from discrimination.
Bryan’s professional expertise spans over 15 years in live entertainment with SeaWorld, Disney, Legoland, and regional theatre, coupled with advanced academic credentials, including a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Pedagogy. They have collaborated with prestigious organizations like Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, and the American Alliance for Theatre Education to enhance educational experiences for teachers and students alike.
A sought-after voice in educational theatre and LGBTQ+ advocacy, Bryan has shared their insights on platforms like ThedTalks, Just Do You, and the Character.org Blog. Through their leadership at Teaching While Queer, Bryan fosters a community that supports educators in embracing their identities while navigating the challenges of educational spaces. Their work inspires meaningful change, empowering educators and students to live and learn with confidence, authenticity, and pride.
Smee Wong
Vice Chair
Smee Wong (he/him) is a Doctoral Lecturer at Lehman College (CUNY), and a senator on the CUNY University Faculty Senate. His teaching and service are grounded in a commitment to inclusive, anti-racist, and LGBTQIA+-affirming pedagogy, particularly within music and interdisciplinary humanities classrooms.
A multifaceted musician and scholar, Smee received his early training at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and later emerged as a distinctive compositional voice bridging Eastern and Western musical traditions. His work has been featured at the Beijing Modern Music Festival and performed across China, Europe, Canada, and the United States, spanning chamber, orchestral, and jazz contexts. He holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Jazz Performance from the University of Denver and a Ph.D. in Composition from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Smee’s scholarship has appeared in Art Review and the Journal of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music, and he is the Chinese translator of Norman Lebrecht’s Who Killed Classical Music? His creative works are published by TUX People’s Music and Dulcamara Press. He previously taught at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and Umpqua Community College and is currently completing two book projects focused on music, identity, and intercultural dialogue.
Madi Bourdon
Secretary
Madi Bourdon (she/they) is an openly Queer educator, author, and advocate fostering the well-being of Queer youth and allies through inclusive spaces, mentorship, and empowerment by cultivating a healthy and affirmed sense of belonging.
Madi’s advocacy for Queer youth in education has led her to roles service as a board member within two non-profit organizations, as well as publishing her first book “A Kids Book about Chosen Family”. In 2024, Madi was featured in Education Week discussing the corrosive effect of anti-LGBT policies in schools on LGBTQ+ students’ mental health, following the death of Nex Benedict.
Sean McGill
Treasurer
Sean McGill (he/him) is an educator, facilitator, and doctoral candidate based in Chicago. He
brings over a decade of classroom experience, having taught in Chicago Public Schools and City Colleges of Chicago.
Beyond the classroom, Sean has facilitated hundreds of anti-bias workshops with K–12 students, educators, and administrators, as well as higher education faculty and nonprofit organizations throughout the Midwest. He has also delivered professional development to thousands of law enforcement professionals nationwide on hate crimes and violent extremism. Sean serves as a contract facilitator with the Mobile Museums of Tolerance, delivering digital media literacy workshops that support middle and high school students across the state of Illinois in recognizing and responding to online hate speech.
Sean is completing his Ed.D. in Curriculum, Advocacy, and Policy at National Louis University,
with research focused on inclusive education and queer-informed critical digital media literacy.
He is honored to serve on the Board for Teaching While Queer and is deeply committed to
strengthening support and community for queer educators and students.
Dr Carla R. Stephens
Board Member
Dr. Carla R. Stephens holds a B.A. in Political Science and History as well as a PhD in History from Temple University. Her areas of interest include the transnational nature of the black freedom struggle in the 1950s-1970s, particularly activism by African Americans in the liberation struggles of the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. She also earned her M.S. in Educational Leadership at Montclair State University. Carla became founding faculty at Bard High School Early College in Newark, NJ in 2011. Carla was promoted to the principalship in 2017 and served the youth and Newark community for 6 years. Carla brings leadership training and experience from four years at the United States Naval Academy, leadership training with the National Urban League, a decade as a manager in a Fortune 500 multinational corporation, and 6 years as an educational leader to her new position as Director of the Bard Queer Leadership Project at Bard College at Simon’s Rock.
Craig C. Martin
Board Member
Craig C. Martin (he/him) is an award-winning educator, consultant, and advocate for equity and inclusion in education. As a Board Member of Teaching While Queer, he champions affirming spaces for LGBTQIA+ educators and students.
Craig is the Founder & CEO of CCM Education Group and Founder of Black Boy Joy Summit, dedicated to uplifting Black and Brown male youth. A former teacher, principal, and superintendent, he is an ASCD author and services as President of Massachusetts ASCD. His work focuses on culturally responsive teaching, social-emotional learning, and leadership development.
A proud queer Black educator, Craig is married to Omari Aarons-Martin. His mission is to ensure that queer educators not only survive but thrive, empowering schools to embrace inclusion, belonging, and transformational leadership.
Frances McClain, PHD LCPC, NCC
Board Member
Dr. McClain (Dr. Mac) is an Association Professor/Director of Clinical Training in the Counseling Psychology Department at The Chicago School, Chicago, IL. Throughout her career she has provided both direct clinical work as well as supervision. As an administrator she has done grant writing, program development and implementation, and consultation with mental health centers around program development and accreditation preparation. Dr. McClain has presented at the local, state, and national level on topics related to cultural sensitivity, supervision, professional ethics and values conflict, sexuality and sexual wellness, especially as it relates to sexual minority populations. She is a co-founder of the Association of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness (ACSSW), a division of the American Counseling Association. Dr. McClain is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education (ISSN: 2557 – 1299) and is the editor of the quarterly ACSSW newsletter. She has co-authored an article and book chapter focused on sexuality. She maintains a limited private practice where she provides pro bono psychotherapy services, as well as providing training and consultation for supervisors, community agencies, area hospitals, Cook County probation, and Cook County Judges office staff.
Josef Vice
Board Member
Josef Vice (he/him) is a professor of English and Rhetoric and Faculty Advisor for the Pride Student Affinity Association at Purdue University Global. In addition to coordinating a long-term study of LGBTQIA2S+ students’ lived experience in the online classroom, he is the co-editor of two upcoming books (Queer Identities in Popular Culture and Shifting Gender Identities in Popular Culture) with MacFarland Books. He and his husband were one of the first state-approved foster parents in the state of Georgia and are parents to a son, Mikael.
Lindsay Lowe
Board Member
Lindsay Lowe (she/her) is a professor of English at St. Charles Community College. Throughout her early career, she worked in the K-12 public school system and then transitioned to teaching at a community college in 2013. She serves on the Democracy Days Planning Committee, Service Learning & Civic Engagement Committee, and as a senator in her local AFT.
Lindsay teaches a wide array of composition courses as well as creative writing courses. She has presented at conferences, the most recent being a co-presenter on “Reading Banned Books as an Act of Love: Walker, Morrison, and Baldwin in First-Year College English” at NCTE. This panel focused on many of her academic passions: the importance of story, what does love look like in action, and finally creating a space to facilitate communications within a community of educators on how to push back against the bans, particularly those focusing on books from BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers.
Amy Levin
Board Member
Amy Levin (she/her) is a dynamic and passionate educator, committed to all students.
She has taught and created curriculum for students ranging from pre-kindergarten to
postdocs, and in many countries, including England, Tunisia, Egypt, the Netherlands,
and Myanmar. As a university professor at the University of Central Missouri and
Northern Illinois University, she specialized in gender studies and museum studies while
also teaching courses on literature, health care, and human values. She has served on
the Conflict Resolution and Strategic Planning Committees for the National Women’s
Studies Association; won awards for her mentoring and advocacy for queer students;
and sits on the board of a youth mental health nonprofit, Letters to Strangers. Two of
her books are edited collections on gender, sexuality, and museums. Most recently, she
has served as an editor of the British online journal Museum & Society, compiling
special issues on museums’ first responses to COVID and Ukrainian museums in
wartime.
Dakota Hudelson-Zipper
Board Member
Dakota Hudelson-Zipper (he/him) is professional staff with the Indiana State Teachers Association. Before stepping full time into the labor movement, Dakota taught for over a decade as a middle school English/Language Arts teacher. He is an avid volunteer in his synagogue and neighborhood association.
Throughout his professional career, Dakota has focused on organizing and serving educators. He served as an Officer in his local union, oversaw school board campaigns, organized workplace organizing efforts, bargained contracts, and more. In his professional role with ISTA, Dakota provides representation, bargaining, and organizing services to over a dozen local unions. In addition to presenting at the inaugural Teaching While Queer conference, Dakota has presented at state and local education conferences on topics including racial and social justice, Universal Design of Learning, and social/emotional learning.
Tyshara Lawson
Board Member
Tyshara Lawson is a program manager, nonprofit board leader, and lifelong advocate for equitable education. Her work bridges corporate strategy and community impact, with a focus on mentorship, leadership development, and expanding access to opportunity. As an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, she is deeply committed to creating learning spaces where people feel seen, supported, and empowered.
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