JW_Ü
OCTOBER 7, 2011
Lenington [financial McVittie-Law PC
ATTORNEYS
AT
------- • profile •
---
W W W .J U S T O U T .C O M
LAW
BU ILDING WEALTH AND WELL BEING
Trust the
Specialists.
Providing fee-only advice
to the LGBTQ community.
We receive no commissions.
We sell no products.
We require no minimums.
The State of
Q Center
Living Trusts
Healthcare
Directives
Retirement Planning
Investment Advice
Budgeting
Domestic Partner Planning
Exec. Director Barbara McCullough-Jones examines
her first four months at the helm
Hospital Visitation
Power of Attorney
BY RYAN J. PRADO
Domestic
Partnerships
Probate & Trust
Administration
1841 NW 23 rd Ave., Portland
Licensed
Derek Lenington, CFP ", RLP™
C i r i im i
«
w
mm
n F in a n c ia ! P lanner * Professional
I
in Oregon & Washington
,%
e
VISA
503 . 928.5585
www.McVittie-Law.com
w w w .lc ì l i tig lo n ( in a m id i, com
r.r ea su res
je w e lr y
U estqner
( m i) 5 2 2 -4 X 9 #
www. / 'ime/ess/reasuresby. Ji alhy (1/iea com
Barbara McCullough-Jones’ introduction
to Portland’s LGBTQ_community, and her
position as a leader at Q_Center, was put to
the test almost immediately upon her arrival
in the Northwest. That same week in early
June, the Portland City Council voted
unanimously to approve trans-inclusive
health care for city employees, and Pride
was just days away. Gay hashings in Old
Town were all over the news. She had little
time to adjust.
McCullough-Jones’ poise in the face o f an
expectant LGBTQ_population, however, has
been impressive, as new user-friendly inte
grations have been implemented into the
Center system to encourage more individual
leadership among those in the community.
And while the debate over Q s decision to
foster a dialogue with the evangelical Mars
Hill Church has dominated media stories
involving the center, McCullough-Jones, 53,
hasn’t lost the focus o f sustaining and grow
ing Q_as it heads into 2012.
How has her influence been felt within
the community? How has she improved the
infrastructure o f Q_Center since taking on
her role as executive director? Read on.
vide more leadership in terms o f not just
waiting for folks to come here and organize,
but helping put out some o f those ideas and
some o f those ways that our community
and our allies can organize and use (^ C e n
ter as that hub.
One o f the things that came out o f this
tour is that we now are able to talk about
four core program areas that we work in.
Those are health and wellness, education
and training, advocacy, and arts and culture.
What we were able to then identify is that
we support over 40 different affinity groups
that meet at Q_on any given month. Once
we started identifying those groups, and
marketing that more as “this is what Q C e n
ter does,” now we’re getting calls from people
saying, “I didn’t know all that was going on
there. Now I wanna do this group.” We
opened ourselves up and created some inter
nal processes that allowed a smoother path
for folks who want to raise their hand and
have an idea to come in. Now we have a
much more systematic way o f integrating
those ideas into what Q_Center presents to
the community. I’m really happy with that.
When we last spoke, you mentioned
that one o f the larger ways Q^can be effec
tive is as a model for smaller community
centers statewide. In what ways have you
instituted pathways to ensuring that kind
o f leadership?
BM -J: Within our service area, we’ve
started a partnership with [Portland Com
munity College], specifically the Rock Creek
Campus. They’re launching a [queer] resource
center October 11. They came [to Q] and
learned a lot about how to operate a center in
their academic context, which is different
JO :
How have you been handling
this busy start at your new position?
Barbara M cCullough-Jones: For the first
three months, I did what I called a listening
tour, meeting with individuals, donors, differ
ent organizations and different businesses to
get their sense o f who they perceive QCenter
to be, what they think we ought to be, and
trying to learn more about those unspoken
expectations people always carry. It was really
time well spent. I learned a lot about other
organizations, learned a lot about Q_Center
and our position in community, and the
places where there are possibilities for col
laborative work, partnerships, or programs.
J u s t O u t:
c m
d 3 i.€ Z ijs C ^ £ ,< *
cL
See us at the Oregon Handmade Bicycle Show in Bend, OR on Oct. 29 & 30
WWW.RADFINISHES.COM
RAINBOW
917.219.5307
Jackie Wheatley, CPA
20+ Years Experience
A CCO UNTING
0 o S o » ' o u u©
Discounts to all LGBTQ and Allies
Oote
Quality Bookkeeping & Accounting fo r 2 o ia m *
îo,oTP'nh
Individuals, Small Businesses, Non-Profits
r»i/
(Mention this Ad Receive a 10% Discount)
-
503.482.8298 ... www.RainbowPDX.com ... Jackie(ö>RainbowPDX.com
Karen J. Mockrin
Attorney at Law
2075 SW 1st Ave., Ste. 2J, Portland, OR 97201
(503) 421-8169 • w w w .northw estlaw office.com
Transgender Law • Criminal Defense • LGBT Civil Rights
Mem bers of the LGBT com m unity face unique challenges in both the civil and crim inal justice systems.
Hire a committed and compassionate attorney who understands you. who cares about what you are going through.
Call Karen at (503) 4 2 1 -8 1 6 9 or e-m ail her at karen@ northw estlaw ottice.com for a FREE consultation.
What kinds o f concerns did you hear
most on this listening tour that had gone
unspoken before?
BM -J: Probably the best thing [I learned]
was that Q_Center has a very good reputa
tion in the community. For a young organi
zation, it has a really great foundation in
that there’s a lot o f people that look to Q_
Center as a place to gather and to organize.
But one o f the consistent things I heard was
that they would like to see (^C en ter pro-
JO :
“ For the first three months, I did
what I called a listening tour, meet
ing with individuals, donors, dif
ferent organizations and different
businesses to get their sense of
who they perceive Q Center to be,
what they think we ought to be, and
trying to learn more about those un
spoken expectations people always
carry. It was really time well spent.”
-BARBARA McCULLOUGH-JONES