Jonah Yokoyama, BSN, RN
Director
Jonah Yokoyama is a registered nurse, a trans man, artist, gamer, nature-lover, and all-around geek. He has a long history of volunteerism and has been active in the LGBTQPIA community across the country in multiple ways since the late 90s. Born and raised in small-town Texas, he spent his young adulthood in Northern California among the redwoods and hippies; he finds himself living in Cincinnati with his partner Laurie for over a decade. Jonah is passionate about helping trans people access care. He is an experienced educator, regularly training providers on how to best serve trans people in hospitals, doctors offices, clinics, and schools. In addition to his contributions to Heartland, Jonah works as a nurse at a children’s in-patient mental health center.
June Huelskamp, MSW, LISW-S
Treasurer, Board Member
June is a private practice therapist with more than twenty years of experience providing care and counseling to children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. From early work with county agencies, through years of service including organizing mentors and volunteers, supervising treatment teams, and ultimately establishing Latitude Therapeutic Practices, LLC, June has always implemented an eclectic, whole-person approach to transforming life situations.
The direction of June’s work was inspired in part by her upbringing in a close-knit, helping, farm community. Interestingly, the isolation of country living also brought about her interest in helping the world become a more open, inclusive place. June’s passion for finding creative ways to empower people to grow and achieve sustainable change in their lives brought her to become deeply involved in working with and trusted by the trans* community in recent years, melding strong values with urban edges.
June’s work with Heartland Trans* Wellness Group draws on nearly twenty years of experience as a non-profit board member and treasurer to support organizational planning and development, in addition to her clinical background supporting presentation and training design, consulting on specific cases, and connecting resources. In her spare time June sings for social change and justice in MUSE, Cincinnati Women’s Choir.
Callie Wright
Board Member
Callie Wright is a trans woman, activist, and podcaster from
Cincinnati, Ohio. She’s been involved in local trans activism since
shortly after coming out in the summer of 2013. Callie got her start
in activism by joining the board of A Voice for the Innocent, a local
organization dedicated to supporting those affected by rape and sex
abuse. After getting more involved in the local queer and trans
community, she stepped down from her position there to focus on queer
and trans activism. She’s also very involved in secular activism, and
the intersection of those two are of particular interest.
Chris Seelbach
Board Member
Named by the White House a “Harvey Milk Champion on Change,” Cincinnati City Council Member Chris Seelbach made history in 2011 when he became the first openly gay person ever elected in Cincinnati.
Since taking office, Seelbach led efforts to extend equal partner health insurance to all city employees, create a domestic partner registry, LGBT police, fire and mayoral liaison & require all city contractors to adhere to an inclusive non-discrimination policy. These combined efforts led to a score of 100 this year’s Human Rights Campaign Municipal Equality Index, making Cincinnati one of the most LGBT friendly cities in the country.
In 2005, after graduating law school and working for many years for former Vice-Mayor David Crowley, Seelbach joined the national marketing/consulting firm The Seidewtiz Group, where he was Chief Financial Officer and Vice-President until February 2013.
In addition to the LGBT work on Council, Seelbach led efforts to:
1) Have all electricity supplied to Cincinnati households backed by 100% renewable sources (perhaps making Cincinnati the most “green-friendly” city in the country);
2) Track veteran employment in all City contracts in an effort to help Cincinnati veterans who are unemployed or underemployed find jobs and make Cincinnati the most “veteran-friendly” city in the country.
3) Increase funding to human services with the goal of reaching 1.5% of the general operating budget (historically set by former Mayor Bobbie Sterne) by 2021;
4) Invest $10 million in shelters for people experiencing homelessness, including the Drop Inn Center, City Gospel Mission & YWCA Women’s Shelter.
5) Create a bikeshare program, the first protected bike lane in Cincinnati, a streetcar system and an exit off 1-71 at MLK to open access and development to uptown;
6) Cancel the plan to spend over $4 million on a City Hall atrium in order to help repair and renovate the historic Music Hall;
7) Repeal “Breed Specific Legislation”; and
8) Balance the budget without laying off a single police or fire officer;
In 2014, Seelbach attended the Harvard Kennedy School as a Bohnett Fellow in the “Senior Executives in State and Local Government” program.
Seelbach lives in the historic Over the Rhine neighborhood with his partner of nearly 10 years, Craig Schultz, and their two cats.