M. Sharkey is a photographer, filmmaker and writer living in Brooklyn, New York and has been making portraits of people professionally around the world for the past 15 years. QUEER KIDS, a long-term documentary project begun in 2006, has been exhibited internationally at locations including Galerie de la Main de Fer, Perpignan (2012), Rainbow House, Brussels, (2013), Les Rencontres d’Arles Photographie’s Night of the Year (2014) and at Lamont Gallery, PEA (2017). Sharkey's work has appeared in numerous publications including Interview, The Guardian/Observer, New York magazine, La Repubblica, Stern and T: The New York Times Style Magazine and been included in various exhibitions at venues such as the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay & Lesbian Art, New York, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; The Pride Photo Award & Exhibition, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and the Staten Island LGBT Community Center, New York.

Nicole Lashomb is Editor-in-Chief of The Rainbow Times, New England’s Largest LGBTQ+ Newspaper. Her work, published and otherwise, is largely focused on underrepresented communities and, synergistically, she is also the Co-Executive Director of Project Out, a Trans Services and Educational Training Organization.

Nicole’s professionalism has helped secure awards for The Rainbow Times such as a citation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ House of Representatives for “10 years of providing inclusive news coverage of the LGBT Community,” the Hispanic Black Gay Coalition’s Sylvia Rivera Community Award, and Promise Place School’s “LGBT Champion in Media Award,” among many others.

Nicole is also a board member of the Salem’s No Place for Hate Committee. While serving as its Community Engagement Co-Chair, she organized a successful citywide rally during the Sanctuary for Peace Ordinance. She was selected as one of twelve on the city’s Ordinance Committee crafters and then demonstrated and openly spoke in support of it to the Salem City Council and numerous residents opposing and in favor of it. Nicole also serves as an Advisory Member of the Salem Latino Leadership Coalition.

Schuyler Bailar is the first transgender athlete to compete in any sport on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team. By 15, he was one of the nation’s top-20 15-year-old breast-strokers. By 17, he set a national age-group record. In college, he swam for Harvard University, on the winningest Harvard team in 50 years. Schuyler’s difficult choice – to transition while potentially giving up the prospect of being an NCAA Champion – was historic and timely. His story has appeared everywhere from 60 Minutes to The Ellen Show. Schuyler’s tireless advocacy of inclusion through public speaking and social media (@pinkmantaray) has earned him numerous notable honors.