Colin is a teacher, entrepreneur, activist, writer and salesman.  Actively involved in uniting the St. Louis LGBT Community, he serves on the board of directors for Pride St. Louis and uses his free time trying to make a difference for oppressed members of society.  Teaching youth with developmental disabilities during the day, Colin also co-owns a school of self defense for adults with developmental disabilities.  He was selected by the Regional Arts Council as a 2011 Community Arts Training Fellow, where furthered his training in community empowerment.  Addicted to Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and the Romantics, Colin plays double bass with the St. Louis Civic Orchestra, of which he used to serve as the President of the Board. 

Dara is a partner at Strickland Jansen, PC, a law firm dedicated to offering sterling representation to families in the St. Louis area for their family law and estate planning needs. She graduated from Washington University School of Law in 2007 and opened the firm in 2010 with one idea: family law is for every family. Through her professional work, public speaking, media appearances and now serving proudly on the board of the LGBT Community Center, Dara hopes to make the law a shield for the community, not the barrier it is often perceived to be.

Celebrating 20-years in LGBT media, Colin Murphy is Executive Editor and Senior Writer at Vital VOICE Omni Media.  He has written for numerous community publications since 1991 and his op-ed, “1 Out of 10 Ain’t Bad!” is one of the longest running columns in St. Louis.  An avid gay history buff, Colin is a member of the St. Louis LGBT History Project and has collaborated with the LGBT Archives at UMSL. He is a member of the Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and Vital VOICE Advisory Board.  Colin is a former Vice President of The Late Knights of Pythias and currently serves as Secretary of the Pride St. Louis Scholarship Committee and as Vice President of Metro East Pride of Southwestern Illinois. In 2010 he was honored as a St. Louis Pride Parade Grand Marshal and is the recipient of the 2010 Missouri Award and 2011 New Day Award from the MGMA Pageant.

After receiving a bachelors degree in Zoology, Rick earned his Doctorate in Podiatric Medicine from Illinois College of Podiatric Medicine in 1979 and has been practicing foot and ankle orthopedics ever since.  In addition to serving as active podiatric staff at Des Peres and Forest Park Hospitals, Rick practices privately at Crestwood Foot Care Center.  Naturally being quick with his feet, Rick is an avid tennis player and distance runner, competing in marathons such as the Chicago Marathon and the world famous Bix 7. 

Heidi is the Director of Consulting, a writer, trainer, and editor for LeaderResources, a national Episcopal publishing company.  In 1997 she co-founded Oasis Missouri, the LGBT welcoming program in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri, and was the Diocesan Staff Officer for LGBT Ministries.  Heidi is on the National Task Force in the Episcopal Church seeking to provide resources for "same-gender rites of blessing" for the church. Heidi is married to Mike Clark. They have a son in middle school, and live in Kirkwood with their three cats - Storm, Trooper and Chewbacca.

Scott has been an active community organizer in the St. Louis LGBT community for over 20-years. He is the Lead Advisor for Growing American Youth, a social support organization for LGBTQ youth in the St. Louis area. Scott is the Development Associate at the ACLU of Eastern Missouri.  Scott and his husband organize the Show Me Marriage Equality Bus taking same-sex couples to Iowa to be legally married. Their bus efforts are documented in the short film, Heartland Transport, which has played in festivals across the country as well as on The Documentary Channel.  Scott has been  consistently active with The  LGBT Center of St. Louis since its inception following the  2004 Creating Change Conference (For which he served as co-chair of the Host Committee.) He is the recipient of many awards, including the 2010 HRC  Individual Equality Award and being selected, along with his husband, as a 2011 Pride Parade Grand Marshal.

Elected in 2009, Shane Cohn  serves the Alderman of the 25th Ward of the City of St. Louis.  He is the first openly gay elected official in the city's government and the second youngest member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. From 2000, Cohn worked as a human resources manager for Citi, supporting the employees in the firm's mortgage servicing operations in the St. Louis area.  There, he co-led a program to build a nationwide employee recognition program and organized an LGBT organization for Citi employees, Citi Pride, which grew to 86 members in 2007.  Before his election, Cohn worked as a community organizer in the Dutchtown neighborhood. He was on the Executive Committee and chaired the Resource Development Committee of the National Conference for Community and Justice of Metropolitan St. Louis (NCCJSTL). In May 2010, Cohn sponsored and won unanimous approval of a bill to add "gender identity" to the list of characteristics protected by municipal law against discrimination in housing, public accommodations, and employment.