Newark Pride Alliance

Laquetta Nelson

 Laquetta Nelson, a longtime gay rights activist, established the Newark Pride Alliance to fight for safe spaces after the tragic murder of Sakia Gunn in 2003. 

She is also the founder of the New Jersey Stonewall Democrats and was awarded the 2004 Community Service Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. 

Bryan Epps

 Bryan Matthew Charles Epps is a policy wonk and community lover. He has worked for Mayor’s Cory A. Booker and Michael Bloomberg conducting outreach and training to the not-for-profit sector and performance management for city departments. Currently Epps directs a historical human rights based nonprofit and operates a beverage startup. As a Newark native Epps has dedicated himself to helping to build community as founding board chair of People's Prep high-school and First Advisory board chair of HMI:NJ and a former President of the James Street Neighborhood Association. He studied Urban Policy...

June Dowell-Burton

 June Dowell-Burton is the founder and an executive board member of Newark Gay Pride, Inc., a LGBT community-based, volunteer run organization that works to enhance LGBTQ life by producing an annual Gay Pride Week and facilitating programming in Newark, New Jersey. The organization was recognized by the White House in 2012 and recently celebrated its Decennial anniversary in 2015. June became an Essex County LGBTQ advisor in 2011, working primarily on identifying issues, providing recommendations and guiding strategy for the County Executive. In 2010, June was vetted and hired as 1 of 23...

blair dorosh-walther

 Director and Producer, blair dorosh-walther identifies as gender non-conforming and uses both male and female pronouns, is a social issue documentary director, experienced production designer, and artist with a passion for inspiring action for social justice through media. blair graduated with a BFA in Film from NYU and was awarded the Adam Balsano Award for social significance in documentary filmmaking. Out in the Night had its international premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival June 2014 and has since been in over 90 film festivals. It has was awarded the Joyce Warshow Fund from Astraea...