Meet Our Team

River McMican, President

River is a design and communications professional who believes that good design is a powerful tool for social change. They work as a nonprofit project manager and freelance graphic designer with a focus on inclusive, accessible communication in healthcare and nonprofit settings. In addition to the BRC, River serves on the Community Advisory Board of Open Door Health – Rhode Island’s only community health center dedicated to LGBTQ primary and sexual health care. Their passions include weird musical instruments, queer comic books, and board games that take way too long to play. They’re still trying to figure out this whole Instagram thing.

Garrett Katz, Treasurer

Garrett (they/he) joined the BRC in 2022. Joining the BRC for them was an opportunity to be more active in the bi+ community and to contribute time and energy to furthering the BRC towards our vision of an empowered, visible, and inclusive community for bi+ people. Outside the BRC, Garrett works as the Director of Executive Search at Work Renewed, a talent and team management solutions firm for social impact and community-focused organizations. Their favorite hobbies include cooking new recipes, playing board games, and spending time with their cat, Zora. 

Noël Schutz, Clerk

Noël (they/she) has been a member of the Bisexual+ Resource Center since 2021. They serve as the Clerk and liaison to BRC’s support groups. Originally from Florida, Noël now lives with their partner and cat in NYC. Noël holds a Master’s in Social Work from Boston University and works at a community health center serving LGBTQIA+ youth. In their free time, Noël enjoys reading, watching horror movies and true crime documentaries, and attending as many concerts as possible.

Jamie Berg, Member at Large

Gabrielle Blonder, Member at Large

Gabby got involved with the BRC in 2014 as a barely-out bi after stumbling across the Young BLiSS group on Meetup (and circling the block several times before working up the courage to go in). Since then, she’s taken over leading Young BLiSS, traveled to many conferences as a representative of the BRC, and started Bi+Mic, a now regularly occurring bi+ open mic in the Boston area. She also helped create Upland, a bi+ themed webcomic featuring dollhouse miniatures. When she’s not yelling about bisexuality to anyone who will listen, Gabby enjoys making art of all sorts (name a hobby, she’s probably dabbled in it at some point), putting together elaborate costumes and makeup looks for no particular reason, spinning fire, swing and blues dancing, writing, and talking about how she should definitely clean her room. She likes to stay busy.

Angélique Bouthot, Member at Large

Angélique (she/they) giddily joined the BRC in early 2022. You may have run into them at queer events in Central MA, seen them talk sexual health working for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts or Framingham State, or had them serve you drinks and sass in equal measure in MetroWest. A Massachusetts gal transplanted to the Upper Valley of Vermont with pets and a partner, Angélique supports identity-based student programming at Dartmouth College. They hold an M.Ed. in Community Engagement and are en route to becoming a Certified Holistic Sex Educator. Much of Angélique’s professional and volunteer work centers sexuality, gender, justice, and health. It was a roundabout way to learn that, if we truly believe everyone deserves a world in which they can thrive in their sexuality and gender, we must include ourselves. 

Casira Copes, Member at Large

Kate Estrop, Member at Large

Kate Estrop (they/them) is a graphic designer and illustrator in Somerville, MA. In their role as graphic designer and merchandise coordinator with the BRC, where they’ve been on the Board of Directors since 2013, they love writing and designing resources to help the community. They also own Kestrop Studio, which specializes in branding, illustration, and creative design solutions. When they aren’t working, they’re taking pictures of birds and bugs, drawing, or drinking coffee. They also like to spend time with human loved ones and two black cats, Max and Puck. 

Jessica Haggett Silverman, Member at Large

Jessica, “Belle” to her friends, is a nonprofit professional passionate about leaving her communities better than she found them. Her career started in ecology, where she discovered her love for categorizing invertebrates. She has developed expertise in a broad range of nonprofit management at a variety of organizations, both big and small. She loves creepy crawlies, food, and music, and lives with her partner and her dog, Rosie. She loves hearing stories about how the BRC has impacted the bi+ community that has nourished her her whole life, and contributing her nonprofit know-how.

Jade Johnson-Brown, Member at Large

Brooke Lindley, Member at Large

Brooke Lindley has been part of the BRC since 2018. She is primarily responsible for email correspondences, sharing and building resources. Outside of the BRC, Brooke resides in Michigan and works in Nonprofit Organization leadership as well as, operates a small business. In 2021, Brooke was featured in the New York Times: The ‘Double Closet’: Why Some Bisexual People Struggle With Mental Health. Hobbies include streaming video games on Twitch, writing, playing ukulele and being a proud dog mom!

Christopher McKenzie, Member at Large

Christopher is a filmmaker, photographer, and lecturer in Film and Television at Boston University and Emerson College. After a lifetime of quiet bisexuality, he found in the Bisexual Resource Center an organization that he would have given anything to know about while growing up in Oklahoma. He joined the board in 2021 because he believes deeply in the BRC’s mission of building community and supporting bi+ individuals everywhere. As you might guess, he enjoys consuming media, but also loves road trips and playing his mandolin. Christopher uses the he series of pronouns and is a proud member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.

Julie Morgenlender, Member at Large

Julie has been involved in bi+ events and volunteer efforts for many years, and is excited to work on the BRC’s Board of Directors to further contribute to the bi+ community. She currently does freelance work, volunteers and advocates in the chronic illness community, and just published The Things We Don’t Say, An Anthology of Chronic Illness Truths, an anthology about living with chronic illness. She is also the former Director of Operations of the nonprofit Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis. In her free time, Julie enjoys dog sitting, reading books of almost any genre, and crocheting and knitting varied items in the colors of the many queer pride flags.

Helen Parshall, Member at Large

A self-described “professional bisexual,” Helen Parshall serves as the Senior Communications Manager for AIDS United. She is an avid writer and passionate social justice advocate, who uses digital media to bring visibility to marginalized communities. Before joining the team at AIDS United, Helen spent five and a half years at the Human Rights Campaign, working on issues at the nexus of racial justice, transgender justice and bisexual visibility within the broader LGBTQ movement. From covering stories about the broken criminal justice system in Baltimore City to rebuilding homes for LGBTQ elders in Puerto Rico, Helen has always been driven by a desire to uplift others in the hopes of creating a better, more just world. She is a graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, holding a master’s in journalism degree with a focus in multi-platform journalism. In her free time, Helen can be found reading a book or watching Doctor Who curled up with her dog, Pippin.

Vincent Paz-Macareno, Member at Large

Vincent is a creative professional, advocate, and educator
currently based in Los Angeles, CA. Through his work, he breaks barriers
and champions equitable representation, racial justice, and LGBTQIA+
visibility for public and private organizations within the arts,
entertainment, and advocacy sectors across the United States. Vincent
holds a DEIB Certification from Harvard Business Publishing, and his
advocacy work extends to producing diversity-forward programming,
facilitating violence prevention and response training, establishing
community partnerships, and promoting literacy and technology access. He
is proud to amplify his own visibility as a bisexual Latino man on
stage and screen as an actor represented by Actors’ Equity Association.
Across his entire body of work, he has lent his talents to a range of
captivating live and filmed productions for entertainment giants like
Warner Bros., The Walt Disney Company, and Universal Pictures.

Eliot Tracz, Member at Large

Eliot (he/him) joined the board in 2023 and is excited
to grow his bi+ community and help increase bi visibility. He is a law
professor, author of multiple scholarly works regarding law and the
LGBTQ community, and baseball enthusiast by day. The rest of the time he
can be found exploring New England beaches with his wife and sons,
enjoying coffee and a game of fetch with his yellow lab mix, or reading
whatever he can get his hands on.