We’re excited to welcome Kailey Carter, Kendall Clawson, M. Eliatamby-O’Brien, and Qurat Ul Ain to the Pride Foundation Board of Directors! Each of these incredible individuals brings a wealth of experience, deep connection to our mission, and a shared commitment to advancing LGBTQ+ and racial justice across the Northwest.
This new cohort marks an exciting moment in our ongoing efforts to create a more inclusive, equitable, and representative leadership. Over the past year, we’ve reimagined our board recruitment process, ensuring that it better reflects our values and community-driven approach. Through this process, we aimed to:
- Equitably evaluate prospective board members based on our priorities and values alignment.
- Extend beyond individual networks to ensure diverse and widespread outreach.
- Offer more members of our community the opportunity to express interest in board service.
- Build a long-term, sustainable pipeline for future Board members.
We received almost 50 applications — an amazing and inspiring response as we continue to refine this new process. Learn more about our new board members below and check out their full bios here.
Kailey Carter (she/her)
Boise, Idaho
Kailey has spent most of her career providing trauma-informed services to survivors of gender-based violence working in both Montana and Idaho. Kailey currently works for the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) where she provides national technical assistance training to domestic violence and sexual assault programs who receive funding to help house survivors. Her work is rooted in dismantling oppressive structures and uplifting communities impacted by racism, sexism, and classism.
Kendall Clawson (she/her)
Seattle, Washington
Kendall holds more than 35 years of nonprofit management and public service experience, and her work is rooted in cross-sector collaboration, organizational development, community building, equitable practices, and sustainable leadership. She is currently a member of the team at Inatai Foundation and is based in Seattle Washington. As Senior Portfolio Director for Leadership, Kendall shapes the Foundation’s leadership strategies by working to build an ecosystem of well-supported and connected leaders and organizations working for racial equity and justice. She also works to identify opportunities to leverage the Foundation’s status as a 501(c)(4) organization that supports sustainable leadership.
M. Eliatamby-O’Brien (they/them)
Ellensburg, Washington
M. currently directs the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program at Central Washington University. Their professional work focuses on identifying and sharing how creative narratives and graphic art works by refugees and forced migrants, as well as by LGBTQ+ individuals, help capture overlooked experiences within these communities. They co-direct TransRural Lives, a digital storytelling project focused on the experiences of transgender older adults in rural areas and small towns throughout the Pacific Northwest. They also sit on the Board of Gallery One Visual Arts Center and are a DEI Commissioner for the City of Ellensburg.
Qurat Ul Ain (she/they)
Seattle, Washington
Qurat made the move to the Seattle area of the Pacific Northwest at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving behind Washington, DC. She once dreamed of becoming a jurisprudence professor, but her path took a different turn 15 years ago when she navigated her own immigration case. That experience ignited her passion to address the complexities of the legal system and systemic racism. As a queer refugee, she is deeply committed to advocating for gender justice and LGBTQIA+ rights. Today, Qurat is part of the Shared Leadership Team at Legal Voice, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to promoting justice and gender liberation across Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Oregon.
We want to thank everyone who applied for their time, energy, and understanding as we embark on this new approach. While we’re still refining our process, we anticipate continuing to use this open application recruitment process moving forward.
This was one of our first examples of practicing liberatory governance in action. This is a new model of governance that our board is developing and we look forward to sharing more about it in the near future.
We are grateful to each of our new board members for their dedication and passion, and to all of you for your ongoing support as we work toward collective liberation. Thank you for being part of this community.