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Meet the Commissioners
NaaSira Adeeba is a native form the great midwestern state of Ohio. NaaSira has resided in Seattle, Washington since July of 1979. As an active community member and parent, NaaSira has contributed time, leadership abilities and talents in the arts of social work. From:1981-1987 as an LRC peer counselor, an organizor and facilitator for the Women Of Color support group, as well as being an employer for Rainier National Bank. Additionally in the areas of Social Work, and, graduate Of Seattle Antioch University, NaaSira has worked with various Seattle nonprofit agencies as a counselor, counselling the homeless, abused youth, mothers, and women leaving abusive partner/relationships. As an original and active member of the 1993 organization, Sistah 2 Sistah, a coalition of POCAAN, NaaSira has served S2S as Co-Chair:1997-2004, and currently enjoys performing and playing the Djemba, with the group, Sista Drums. 
Aurea Astro is a graduate student in Public Administration and International Studies at the University of Washington, and a graduate intern for Seattle Public Utilities' Asset Management group. She holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Puget Sound and spent a year in Japan teaching English before moving to Seattle. Aurea has 2 years of outside sales experience for a global logistics firm and 6 years of experience in media and marketing both formally and informally. She began with the Commission as a "Get Engaged" participant and has served formally as a commissioner since 2007. Aurea is inspired by creativity and energy, which she likewise brings to the Commission. Her desire is for greater job equity and access for the LGBT community.
David Scott Beard, MSW, has been involved with the Commission since 2006. Due to the increase in hate crimes against the LGBT community in Seattle, David became involved in community awareness and action efforts around safety. David works with the Seattle Police Department LGBT Advisory Council and the Capitol Hill Safety Collaboration in order to ensure that the community is secure for all its citizens and is working on various avenues to increase community response to hate crimes. In his day job, David is the Director of Policy and Practice for the Council for Children and Families, a statewide agency tasked with supporting families and preventing child abuse and neglect. Along with being a commissioner, he is also currently a board member with the Children's Campaign Fund and is a Co-Founder of the Out in Front leadership program. David received his Bachelor or Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle and his Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin. David is also an avid political junkie, tries to work out physically and mentally, and enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
Born and raised in Ashland, Oregon, Charlie Butler earned his B.S. in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and his J.D. from the Willamette University College of Law. Charlie recently relocated to the Seattle area to enter into the practice of law. As a local attorney, he is affiliated with the Washington State Bar Association, the King County Bar Association, as well as the Federal Bar Association for the Western District of Washington. Charlie is a member of QLaw, the LGBT Bar Association of Washington, an organization that exists to support sexual minority legal professionals and their allies, and also participates in the activities of the Washington branch of the Human Rights Campaign. As a Commissioner, Charlie is dedicated to helping the Commission build relationships with similar organizations throughout the Puget Sound area and across the state. The Commission plays a very important role in the development of public policy within city government here in Seattle. Charlie seeks to ensure the adequate representation of each and every sexual minority interest. Charlie enjoys the outdoors, traveling, spending time with friends and family, cooking, running, and a good bargain. Charlie resides with his partner, Kevin, in Belltown, and in the Volunteer Park area of north Capitol Hill."
Lillie Cridland joined the Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities in 2007 as the "Get Engaged" Commissioner and was appointed to a full term upon completion of the program. Her work on the Commission has been focused on neighborhood planning and development on Capitol Hill. Lillie works for the Washington State Nurses Association as a Communications Specialist. She is responsible for creating a variety of communications materials in support of quality patient care, nurse wellbeing, and the advancement of the nursing profession. Her prior work experience includes public affairs consulting, political campaigns, work with Seattle youth, and voter education efforts. Lillie graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 with a Bachelor's of Science in Economics. Born and raised on Queen Anne, she now lives in Columbia City with her partner and rambunctious dog, Tex.
Ms. Dodson's professional experience is in participating and leading teams through solution and improvement based strategies. She brings to the commission her natural ability to nurture collaboration and exercise compromise across a variety of agendas. Ms. Dodson is actively involved in the community in a variety of areas such as: Board Member of the Gay and Lesbian Employees At Microsoft (GLEAM) and volunteer for the Microsoft Law & Corporate Affairs Diversity organization, an active member of the Seattle Women's Network, donor to the Seattle Life Long Aids Alliance and a current member of the Seattle chapter of QLaw, the GLBT Bar Association of Washington. On a more personal level, she is the mother of two amazing teenage sons. In addition to her professional and community based activities, Ms. Dodson supports the greater Seattle Arts and Sports communities. An enthusiastic season ticket holder for the Seattle STORM, a family membership holder to the Seattle Arts Museum, as well as a consistent Seattle Opera and Seattle Symphony audience member. She is excited about the opportunities the Commission has to make a difference to our community.
Allena Gabosch was born in Northern California, raised in Nampa, Idaho and yet has always felt more at home in an urban environment. Her early years were spent debating politics with her Grandfather, volunteering for various political candidates and working hard for Civil rights for all minorities. It's no wonder she ended up in Seattle and eventually on the Commission for Sexual Minorities. Allena is the Executive Director of the Center for Sex Positive Culture and has been active in the sex positive movement practically from its beginning. She has been producing educational and social events for the sex-positive community since 1990. She is a frequent speaker on many sex-positive subjects at colleges and conferences around the United States and Canada. She is the festival Producer for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and is a past board member of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. She looks forward to continue to increase awareness of sex positivity as a Commissioner and activist. She also has worked for the Seattle Lesbian Cancer Project as an outreach worker; spent four years as President of the board of Boomtown Cafe; was board President for Consolidated Art Works and continues to have an active political and social life. She lives in a small co-op on Queen Anne and is passionately in love with Seattle and honored to be able to be of service to her City and Community as a Commissioner.
As an undergrad, Tom co-founded Notre Dame Gay Liberation in 1971. (Thirty-seven years later, the University still does not recognize the gay students' organization.) While a grad student at the University of Washington, he was president of the Gay Students' Association. Tom helped organize the first gay pride marches in Seattle. He directed leafleting for the Seattle Committee Against Thirteen (SCAT) when the Office of Women's Rights and then recently enacted gay and lesbian civil rights were threatened with repeal during the Anita Bryant days. Tom has also been secretary of the board of directors of the Seattle Counseling Center. Tom has degrees in biology, forestry, and wetland management. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Kingdom of Tonga and established the first national parks in the South Pacific. Since then he has been employed by federal, state and local governments in stormwater/water pollution control programs. Tom is currently and environmental engineer for the Washington Department of Transportation.
Shelley is an island born Hawaiian Native and Chinese. Her family lived on a rural hillside of Kailua above the famous and picturesque Kailua Bay and Lanikai Beach. Her parents are typical of the islands. Both worked hard to provide a decent home and standard of living for 7 children. She has been a Seattle resident for the past 30 years. When asked if she misses Hawaii her reply is immediate, "It feels like an island here, mountains rising behind me and a convergence zone (tropical?) breeze when I sit on the sand at Golden Gardens watching the summer sunset." She has a diverse work history, is currently on the admin staff of Seattle Counseling Service. As the parent of a teenager in middle school, her interests have focused on youth issues in the community. Shelley volunteers at Lambert House, and is in training to become part of the Safe Schools Coalition with a focus on supporting trans-gendered teens. The struggle of a teen in transition is something she understands. Shelley brings the perspective of parenting to the Commission.
Dave Iseminger is currently a graduate student at the University of Washington pursuing his law degree and a masters in public health genetics. Before his graduate studies he earned a B.S. in genetics at the University of Rochester (NY) and grew up in the Appalachia area of western Maryland. Dave has a strong background in public service interning for a state senator for 3 years, working at a state department of education one year, and clerking in three division of the Washington Attorney General's Office over the past two years. He volunteers with Lifelong AIDS Alliance and can be found at almost every Gay Bingo event at the bar helping get you drinks. For the 2009 legislative session Dave is a lobbyist in Olympia representing the 12,000 graduate and professional students at UW. In addition to fighting for low tuition and more financial aid for students he will be working to expand state hate crime laws to include gender identity and expression (they currently only cover the LGB part of our community). Dave is extremely committed to local, state, and national LGBT issues. He focuses a large amount of his spare time learning laws relating to sexual minorities at the state and federal levels. One of his strongest passions is promoting equal access to employee benefits and health insurance coverage, as well as promoting policies and laws that are fully inclusive of the LGBT community. In 2006-2007 Dave served as President of the law school's LGBT group and helped the group promote legal issues in the school and surrounding Seattle community. He also volunteers on committees with Qlaw - the state's LGBT Bar Association.
Jean-Paul Page was born in Heidelberg, Germany. He was born into a military family whose roots are dug deep into Louisiana and being part Cajun he is a proud deep south southerner. His family moved around quite a lot traveling half of the globe before finally settling in Alabama. Driven by a desire to aid in the creation of healthier, more equitable and sustainable communities, Jean-Paul earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Georgia and has over fifteen years of experience in the social services field. Currently he is employed by the Archdiocesan Housing Authority as a lead case manager for a low-income project that houses over two hundred individuals. In the past, he worked at non profits both in WA, GA, and AL with diverse groups facing a variety of social challenges. In addition, Jean-Paul has worked in the community as a private care giver, Ameri-corps volunteer, and artist. The lion's share of his creative energy has been utilized to create, organize and put on community based art shows to either raise awareness, foment community dialogs, or assist non profits with fund raising. Employing the philosophy "live simply in order to simply live", Jean-Paul fills up his spare time with activities and projects involving his partner, family and friends. As an individual living with HIV, he knows very well the importance of feeling that one has a stable and secure community. He hopes to aid folks from the alphabet community to feel more secure, safe, and connected by aiding in the facilitation of having their concerns and issues brought to the attention of the Mayor, City Council, and City Departments.
Joseph Siddiq is the "Get Engaged" Commissioner for 2008-2009. Currently, he works for Community Capital Development, a non-profit business assistance firm providing technical assistance and lending to small business owners and minority entrepreneurs. Before arriving in Seattle, he was a Public Health volunteer for the US Peace Corps in Kenya. Joseph has a bachelor's degree in Political Science with a minor in Conflict Resolution from the University of California, Irvine, and is a certified mediator in the state of California. Also, he served as a US Marine for four years, stationed in Camp Pendleton, CA. He enjoys literature, cinema, karaoke, and sketch comedy. Joseph lives in Queen Anne with his girlfriend and their two cats, Whiskey and Simone.
How to Become a CommissionerAnnouncement of VacanciesEach year a percentage of Commissioners' terms come up for renewal and sometimes those seats are vacated. The Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities currently has open seats and is actively recruiting for new commissioners. The Commission is especially interested in applicants who are women, transgendered, differently-abled, or of color. The Commission is also interested in working with individuals who have an interest in the following issues: lesbian health, domestic violence, aging, work place acceptance, and youth safety. The Commission is also interested in working with qualified volunteers who have an interest on specific Commission projects. Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to attend at least one Commission meeting. You may contact us directly if you would like a paper version of the application sent to you, or if you have other questions. Click To read the "PDF" format application, you need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader software, which may be obtained free on the Internet at the Adobe web site.
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