Equality Ohio Education Fund Board
As chief strategy officer and senior advisor to the president, Tayo Clyburn will serve as a guide and resource to staff in carrying out the foundation’s new strategic plan. He will work across the senior team and program leadership to identify strategic opportunities to innovate and create change through the foundation’s programs. Acting as a trusted advisor to the president, this role will provide guidance on internal priorities, challenges, culture, and decisions.
Clyburn has held leadership roles at Colby College as the dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion and St. Mary’s College of Maryland as the vice president for inclusive diversity and equity. Prior to these positions, he served as the executive director for mission and strategic partnerships in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) at The Ohio State University. Throughout Clyburn’s career, his work has been cross-functional, interfacing with senior leaders, staff, and local community members to strategically integrate inclusive and equitable practices.
Clyburn earned his MA and PhD from Ohio State’s Department of English, where his work focused on critical race theory, post racialism, and post-civil rights African American literature.
Lynn Carter is the Senior Policy Coordinator for the Office of Human Resources at The Ohio
State University. She graduated in 1981 from Marquette University with a Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration. In 1984, she received her Juris Doctor from The Ohio State
University College of Law, and in 2006, she received her Master of Arts from The Ohio State
University, with a specialization in Counseling Psychology.
Lynn is serving her second term with Equality Ohio, and has been an advocate for LGBTQ+
equality for over 25 years as part of the employee group that drafted the City of Columbus’ first
domestic partner ordinance, as a founding member of the Legacy Fund of the Columbus
Foundation, and chair of the grants committee, and as a board member with Stonewall
Columbus.
Lynn lives in Columbus and enjoys music-especially jazz, classical, and 70’s R&B and pop,
working out and spending time with (and spoiling) Tyler, her Golden Retriever and Monte, a
shorthaired tabby kitten who recently joined the household.
Dabney K. Conwell is the Vice President and Executive Director of Rose Centers for Aging Well
at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging. She is responsible for the oversight of all nutrition and
socialization programs within seven senior centers and four home delivered meals programs.
To address food insecurity and social isolation amongst older adults living with chronic diseases
Ms. Conwell designed Cuyahoga County’s first medically tailored meals program.
Dabney received her master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University in 2007. She holds
a professional license from the State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage & Family
Therapist Board. Dabney serves on multiple community boards. Most recently served as a
National Board of Governor for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Dabney and her wife live in Richmond Heights.
Levent Talgar is a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase & Co, where he leads technology and operations initiatives to innovate and transform Chase’s ~5,000 retail branches. Prior to joining Chase in 2003, he was at McKinsey & Company serving financial services and high-tech clients with growth, service, and technology strategies.
Outside of his day job, Levent serves as Chase’s sponsor in Ohio for both Pelotonia and Next Gen, its internal business resource group focused on leadership development for early career professionals. He has previously served for multiple years on Chase’s Columbus Management Committee and Diversity/Equity/Inclusion Committee.
Levent holds B.S. and M.Eng. degrees in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory focused on natural language processing and knowledge-based systems.
Levent resides in Dublin, OH with his wife and 3 children. They love to travel, visiting family spread across the globe including Turkey, Ireland, Portugal, UK, UAE, Thailand, Cambodia.
Lynn has had a long and varied career primarily as a litigation attorney
in private practice, as a Section Chief in the Ohio Attorney General’s
Office and as Deputy General Counsel at The Ohio State University.
She also served as Executive Director of the Ohio School Facilities
Commission, and as Associate Vice President for Facilities Operations
and Development at OSU. Following her retirement from OSU Lynn
worked as a business development advisor for Engie North America, a
global energy company focused on decarbonization.
In addition to working with Equality Ohio, Lynn serves as Chair of the
Dublin, Ohio New Community Authority for the Bridge Park
Development Project and is President of the Westbay Cove
Condominium Association on Anna Maria Island, Florida.
An Air Force veteran, Lynn has bachelor’s degrees from Southeast
Missouri State University and University of Vermont and a JD from the
University of Dayton School of Law, where she was Editor of the Law
Review.
Lynn and her partner of over 30 years, Sandy Anderson, live with their
dogs Scout and Harper in Dublin, Ohio. They will celebrate their 10 th
wedding anniversary this year, thanks to the work of Equality Ohio and
other organizations and individuals committed to the belief that we can
change the world.
Chad Williams is the director of Tax Systems and Technology for Eaton Corporation where he manages a global team to ensure efficient management of statutorily required data. Chad has over 15 years of tax technology experience and prior to Eaton held positions of increasing responsibility in tax consulting and private sectors. In addition, Chad serves as the global lead for Eaton PRIDE, the Eaton LGBTQ employee resource group where he champions Eaton’s initiative to create a safe and inclusive environment allowing everyone to bring their most authentic self to the workplace.
Originally born in Mississippi and a graduate of Belhaven University, Chad lived in multiple locations across the US before landing in the Cleveland, Ohio area. When not traveling, Chad and his husband Kerby reside in Chagrin Falls, Ohio with their dog Leaper.
Equality Ohio Board
Tim Johnson is currently a senior policy advocate with the Ohio Poverty Law Center, specializing in
education, childcare, and human services issues.
Tim Johnson joined the Ohio Poverty Law Center in July 2019, after having spent six years in state government. During his time working for the state, Tim was both a staffer to several members of the General Assembly and the senior policy advisor to the Senate Minority Caucus. As a senior policy advocate, Tim spends his time working on a variety of issues that affect poor Ohioans including education and childhood lead poisoning. He is serving his term as an Equality Ohio Board Member.
Tim graduated a proud Falcon from Bowling Green State University where he received BA in Political
Science. Tim was born and raised in Columbus Ohio where he currently resides with his partner and
their two cats.
Melissa McLaren (she/her) is the Administrative Director of Graduate Nursing Programs at the Leavitt School of Health, Western Governors University. She graduated from Ohio State with a Bachelor's degree in Nursing and her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University of Minnesota. She has a Master's degree in Management and a Master's also in Leadership and Business Administration. Before moving to higher education, she worked as a nurse and nurse practitioner in neurosurgery and critical care. She is a founding board member of the Rainbow Alliance of Fairfield County. She also serves on the board of the Recovery Center in Lancaster, Ohio and on the HRC Parents for Transgender Equality Council.
As the mother of a transgender teenager, Melissa has over 12 years of advocacy work educating professionals in healthcare, education, and policy-making related to supporting gender-diverse youth. She has partnered with the Human Rights Campaign, Welcoming Schools, PFLAG, ACLU, and healthcare organizations and has spoken to lawmakers and officials at the state and national levels. Melissa and her husband Mikael live in Lancaster, Ohio, with twins who are about to leave the nest for college, as well as several entitled cats and the two best dogs in the world.
Eileen Galvin (she/her) is the Director of Applications & User Services at the Columbus College of Art & Design where she also serves as Co-Chief Information Officer.
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Eileen graduated from The Ohio State University in 2011 with a B.A. and an M.A. in Linguistics. While at OSU she served as Chair for the LGBT First Year Cohort program, President of the LBGT Speakers Bureau and co-founded the first transgender and intersex student affinity group. She was awarded the 2011 Harold A. McIntosh Award for Leadership and Service by the Scarlet and Gay LGBTQ Alumni Society.
Eileen is also a performance artist of over 10 years. Her work envisions a world where liberation exists and is available to all bodies. She lives in Upper Arlington with her partner, Monte.
Amanda Everitt serves as the Executive Director of Destination Downtown Lancaster and the President of the Downtown Lancaster Special Improvement District. Passionate about community and a fixture in Lancaster nonprofit work, Amanda was one of the founders of AHA! A Hands on Adventure, A Children's Museum and currently serves on the boards of Lancaster Friends of the Parks, Lancaster Sherman Rotary, Keller Market House, and Equality Ohio. She was active in the development of Lancaster's PRIDE organization, The Fairfield County Rainbow Alliance, and is committed to the revitalization of downtown Lancaster where she lives, plays, and works. Amanda and her husband Bryan have 5 children, 2 rescue pups, and one grumpy cat.
Ben Garcia (he/him) is Executive Director of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, slated to open in New York City in early 2025. Ben has worked in various roles as an educator and administrator at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Skirball Cultural Center, Hearst Museum of Anthropology, Museum of Us, and the Ohio History Connection. Ben led initiatives to return Indigenous ancestral human remains and belongings in San Diego and Ohio. He serves as Vice President of the Association of Midwest Museums board.
Ben graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Boston with a B.A. in Art and from Bank Street College of Education with an M.S. Ed. In Museum Leadership. He has shared his life since 1999 with his husband, Scott Fabianek, a UX/UI Designer and comic book artist. Ben is the child of a journalist and a visual artist. He has six siblings, thirteen nieces and nephews, and one great-niece and nephew (as well as many beloved in-laws). He is a proud fantasy and science fiction nerd.
Bethany E. Sanders is an attorney in Columbus with a career focused primarily on public sector policy.
Currently, Bethany is the Director of Policy & Strategic Initiatives in the Franklin County Auditor’s office. There she pursues goals related to improved government service and equity in property tax policy. She previously served as caucus counsel to the Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus with particular focus on election law and redistricting, labor and employment, and health and human services. Prior to joining the public sector, she was in-house counsel with Ohio Council 8, AFSCME, AFL-CIO.
Bethany is the current Co-Chair and long-term member of the Democratic Party’s Ohio Promote the Vote steering committee. During the 2018 campaign she served as the voter protection director. She is particularly proud of how the voter protection hotline empowers individuals to exercise their right to vote.
After growing up in Toledo and Whitehouse, Ohio Bethany came to Columbus to attend the Ohio State University and then the Moritz College of Law. She now lives in the Glen Echo neighborhood with her dog Sly and a garden always in need of tending.