The Center Board
The Board of Directors meets once a month to conduct the majority of business for The Center. If you're interested in attending the board meeting, please contact the board and we will be more than happy to give you the date and time of the next meeting!
Andy Nelson
Executive Director, Staff
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Andy grew up in Culbertson, a small town in Eastern Montana. He moved to Missoula in 2011 to attend school at UM where he fell in love with the people and community here. After coming out his senior year of college, a friend recommended that he attend the weekly men’s group hosted at the Center as a way to meet folks with similar lived experiences and to find a community. Shortly after attending this first meeting, Andy quickly found himself singing with the Missoula Gay Men’s Chorus, serving on the Center’s board of directors, and later working for the organization itself. Andy loves being active in his local community and when he’s not working at the Center, he can frequently be found performing in local theater, coordinating service events for our local Partnership for Children youth home kids in conjunction with the Missoula Sunrise Rotary as well as serving on the board of the Jeannette Rankin Peace Center and Run Wild Missoula.
Kera Rivera
Operations Administrator, Staff
Pronouns – They/Them
Kera is excited and thrilled to be the new Operations Administrator for The Center. They are passionate about creating a comfortable and safe space for their community while focusing on accessibility and inclusivity. Kera has been a part of the Missoula community for almost 10 years, moving to Missoula from Chicago in 2012. Kera does local theater, hangs out with their cat, and jams at karaoke in their free time.
Grant Melton
Board Member
Pronouns- He/Him Grant is a freelance television producer, food writer and political organizer who also serves as a City Council appointee on the Food Policy Advisory Board. Grant grew up in a rural community in southwest Ohio and attended Columbia College in Chicago. After living in NYC for 10 years, Grant relocated to Montana in 2020 with his boyfriend who grew up in Missoula.
Zeke Cork
Board Member
Pronouns- He/Him/His Zeke grew up in Missoula. He came out in the mid-seventies as “gay” then later as LGBTQIA+ people took back “queer” he ran with it. He started transitioning at the age of sixty and has enjoyed his second puberty far more than the first one. He works in railroad operations, writes queer fiction and CNF. He is passionate about his community and wants to be both an active and effective member of it.
Cara Grula
Board Member
Pronouns: She/Her Cara Grula grew up outside of Chicago and moved to Missoula in 2014 to work seasonally for the BLM. Later, she attended UM in 2016 and earned her Masters Degree in Environmental Studies. After Graduate school, Cara moved to Moab, UT where she found her love for public education and rafting. Cara now works as a High School Biology Teacher in Florence, MT and is excited to provide a safe space for students in the Bitterroot Valley. Cara currently lives with her Wife on Missoula’s Northside. In her free time, you can find Cara doing outdoor activities, throwing clay, or finding the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Miles Shuck
Board Member
Pronouns – He/Him/His
After leaving his hometown, Miles spent a decade in Colorado before continuing his journey North, to Missoula, in search of more natural spaces, fewer buildings, and better berry growing conditions (if you have cultivation tips, please share!).
He is a proud first-generation college graduate. He holds an Associate degree in Humanities and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He is particularly interested in policies related to education, LGBTQIA+ rights, labor rights, and U.S.-based food systems.
He currently works in UX Design making digital spaces more intuitive and inclusive for all.
Miles is excited to serve and support the LGBTQIA+ community of Western Montana (and beyond) through his board role at The Center.
Natalia Boise
Board Member
Pronouns – She/Her
Natalia Boise is a Montana-born activist focused on community engagement and education. A Fulbright scholar graduated from the University of Montana with a degree in Linguistic Anthropology and currently pursuing a masters certificate in nonprofit administration, she is passionate about nonprofit humanitarian work, equity, community engagement, and intersectional activism.
Lynsey G
Board Member
Pronouns – She/Her or They/Them
Lynsey G is a Montana-born, east-coast-raised word person. An IPPY Award–winning writer, editor, podcaster and publisher several decades of experience in the publishing industry, she relocated from New York City to Missoula in 2015 after more than a decade in New York City, where she wrote journalism about the adult entertainment industry, focusing on queer and feminist adult film. Now, she’s creating and publishing inclusive comics, fiction, and illustrated novels with Oneshi Press, the publishing company she founded here in Missoula with Jayel Draco; co-hosting the Hourgasm podcast with Lenny Peppers; studying druidry; and getting more involved with the community by way of the Center.
Karen Berg-DiGangi
Board Member
Pronouns – She/Her
Karen is an East Coast transplant who fell in love with Montana and met her wife here. Living in the Bitterroot with 4 dogs and 2 cats, she loves helping connect and grow this community through Real Estate. She can usually be found on the soccer field, at a brewery or floating down the river when not busy with the Missoula Businesswomen’s Network, the Lambros Community Foundation, the Missoula Organization of Realtors or the Center.
Erica Donohue
Board Member
Pronouns – They/Them
Erica Donohue is the Director of Communications at Montana Budget & Policy Center, focusing her work on equity in Montana policy and legislation. Erica is based out of Missoula, where they expand their passions through DJ’ing, activism, and their radio show.
Patrick Boise
Board Co-Chair
Pronouns – He, Him, His
Patrick Boise is a California-born, rural Montana-raised activist focused on intersectional and interdisciplinary community coalescence. A non-traditional student at the University of Montana, he earned bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Management Information Systems and is pursuing his master’s degree in Economics. Patrick has enthusiasm for finding common threads among individuals of different backgrounds and perspectives, working to bring them together in respectful discourse rooted in our common values.
He also has a creative streak and loves to make things, whether through sewing, painting, welding, or coding, he enjoys producing items that blend practicality and beauty whenever possible.
Chance Lea
Board Member
Pronouns – They/Them
Chance is a Montana Native, single parent, and lover of arts. They can regularly be found leading dance classes or knee deep in rivers looking at rocks. Chance is committed to using their voice as a force for all LBGBTQIA+ Montanans.
Charley Macorn
Board Member
Pronouns – They / She
Charley Macorn is a nationally touring stand-up comedian, drag performer, and general weirdo based out of Missoula, Montana.
Brock Flynn
Board Member
Pronouns – He, Him, His
Brock is originally from Billings and is glad to call Missoula home for the past 17 years. He enjoys the outdoors, tubing on the river, American Cinema, politics, and policy. He is most interested in policy related to equitable reforms. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Montana.
David Herrera
Treasurer
Pronouns – He, Him, His
David Herrera, director of Montana Gay Health Task Force, and as co-chair of the The Center, has been heavily involved with HIV prevention, testing and counseling throughout Montana since 1986. He has served on the planning committee for the National Men’s Health Summit, as well as currently serving on the Montana Two Spirit Society board of directors.