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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, in the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, and as Deputy General Counsel at The Ohio State University. She has also served the State of Ohio as Executive Director of the Ohio School Facilities Commission. In 2018, Lynn retired from her full-time career as Associate Vice President, The Ohio State University, Facilities Operations and Development where she oversaw new construction, building renovation and maintenance, environmental health and safety, utilities and groundskeeping for the 1700 acre OSU campus.

In retirement, Lynn works as a part time business development advisor for Engie North America, a global energy company focused on decarbonization. She serves as Chair of the Dublin, Ohio New Community Authority for the Bridge Park Development Project and is Vice Chair of the Westbay Cove HOA on Anna Maria, Island Florida. She has served on the Equality Ohio Legislative Committee since January 2021.

She is an Air Force Veteran with bachelors degrees from Southeast Missouri State University and University of Vermont and a JD from the University of Dayton.

Lynn and her partner of nearly 30 years and now wife, Sandy Anderson, live with their dog Scout in Dublin, Ohio.

Joseph has been a member of the Equality Ohio Education Fund Board since 2018. He previously served on the Equality Ohio Board from 2012-2018, including as Chair from 2016-2018. In addition to his service with EOEF, Joseph is a Trustee of the Ohio State Bar Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving Ohio's justice system. He engages in a number of other volunteer activities, including teaching middle and high school students about civil rights and the law.

A proud Buckeye, he graduated from The Ohio State University twice, receiving his BA in History in 2007 and JD from the Moritz College of Law in 2012. While at Moritz, he received the Robert M. Duncan Service Award and served as co-chair of OutLaws, a student group dedicated to advancing equal rights for the LGBTQ community through education, advocacy, and outreach.

Joseph works at the 10th District Court of Appeals for the State of Ohio. Originally from Lancaster, Ohio, he currently resides in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus. He loves to bake, read, and spend countless hours on conference calls for EOEF.

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

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 and serves as Vice President. She also serves on the board of the Recovery Center in Lancaster, Ohio.

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.

Benjamin M. Williams serves as an Assistant Dean of Students at Miami University. In his position, he oversees outreach efforts, restorative justice, and conflict resolution on campus, campus climate & bias incident response, and supporting students facing challenges. He has worked in higher education for over a decade and is pursuing his doctorate in Education Policy Studies from Georgia State, looking at a sense of belonging for LGBTQ+ collegians.
Outside of his professional role, he serves in various volunteer roles in addition to Equality Ohio, including on NASPA Foundation Board of Directors, Miami University 1809 LGBTQ+ Alumni Board,  and the  Greater Cincinnati HRC Steering Committee.

Eileen Galvin is Director of Applications and User Services at the Columbus College of Art & Design where she also serves on the Bias Incident Response Team. Born and raised in Columbus, OH, Eileen began organizing around LGBTQ+ rights by co-founding the first GSA at Hilliard Davidson High School in 2006. She graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.A. and M.A. in Linguistics. She is a member of Columbus Trans Pride, a grassroots coalition whose mission is to uplift trans* voices and make trans* lives possible. The group organizes the annual Columbus Trans Pride March and the Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Eileen is also a burlesque artist of over 10 years. Her work envisions a world where sexual liberation and empowerment is available to all bodies. She lives in Upper Arlington with her partner, Monte. She is an enthusiast of Tarot, antiques and origami.

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.