Voices members help Project Harmony and Family Equality Council achieve the following goals:

• assist on the cross community work needed to succeed;
• ensure all programs and materials of Family Equality Council are culturally relevant, inclusive, and accessible to Families of Color;
• help increase the visibility of Families of Color; and
• ensure that the issues and concerns of Families of Color are part of the overall national dialogue on LBTGQ family equality.

Alicia Skillman

Alicia Skillman is the co-founder of PFLAG Family Reunion of Detroit, an organization whose reaches out to parents of glbtq people, especially African-American families. She has presented seminars at the National PFLAG Conference addressing issues involving families of color. Ms. Skillman is also a member of the REC Boyz Community Advisory Board. She is acutely aware of what it means to grow up gay and have no positive model for that experience.

Alicia’s many years of activism also include the Gay Law Caucus of Wayne State University Law School and former membership on the Triangle Foundation Board of Trustees and its Diversity Committee. Alicia is President and Board Chairman of S.P.I.C.E. (Sistahs Providing Intelligence, Creativity, and Empowerment). She is also co-creator and committee member of Healing Detroit, a collaborative of organizations and activist to increase activism through capacity building in the African-American glbtq community. Additionally, Ms. Skillman is an Advisory Board Member to the GLBTQ Liaison to Office of the Mayor of Detroit.

Even though she is a busy volunteer and advocate for glbtq rights, Attorney Skillman is the Director of the Fair Housing Center of Legal Aid & Defender Association. Through random and investigative testing of various rental, real estate, insurance, and financial sites, she monitors and enforces fair housing laws in Oakland and Macomb Counties, suburban areas of Detroit. Alicia holds a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School; Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Florida A&M University (Cum Laude); and an Associate of Industrial Engineering from Purdue University (Summa Cum Laude). Alicia is a member of the American Inns of Court; Wolverine Bar Association; Michigan Intellectual Property Association; and Third New Hope Baptist Church.

Pauline Guillermo-Togawa

Pauline Guillermo-Togawa, is a longtime activist and organizer within the San Francisco LGBTQ communities of color. She serves as the Finance Chair for the national Asian Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Transgender Network (APLBTN), is on the taskforce for the National Queer API Alliance (NQAPIA), and is a founding member of the Asian & Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Coalition (APIQWTC). Professionally, Pauline is the former Director of Development for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry (CLGS) at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. Pauline and her partner, Jill, are parents to 28-month-old Carmel. She can be reached at Pauline.togawa@gmail.com.