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Thomas

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Jerith

Sassy

Travis

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Board of Directors

Thomas Smith - Chair

Thomas Smith's dedication to the community always leads to new engagement. His journey has given him experience as a player, club member, titleholder, contest producer and judge, bar owner, discussion leader, and community supporter. Thomas is a past President of the Lexington Lyons Leather Club in Kentucky. He is an associate member of the Atons of Minneapolis and an alumni member of the Black Guard of Minnesota. He is a member of Mama's Leather family and known as "Mama's Kentucky Colonel". He was Mr. Kentucky Leather 1997 and Mr. International Rubber 1999. Thomas is honored to have received the Pantheon of Leather Southeast Regional Award for 2011 and the Pantheon of Leather President’s Award in 2000. He believes that your actions, words, honor and generosity to others will define you far more than a title or awards ever can.

Thomas enjoys travel and has visited all fifty states, and many locations in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Latin American islands and Canadian and Mexican cities. He is retired from an executive position in the U. S. Government and holds graduate degrees in administration and banking. Thomas is particularly proud to have created the Leadership Forum on FetLife which serves as a resource for leaders helping leaders in the kink community; and for his contributions as a member of the national Board of Directors for the Leather Leadership Conference. Thomas believes that leadership is practiced in attitude and actions and results in inspiring achievement.

Steve Ward - Vice Chair

Steve Ward has been a part of the San Francisco Bay Area Leather / kink community for over a dozen years. He began his community career as a member of the San Francisco boys of Leather from 2003-2005. He has since served as a committee member of the Leathermen’s Discussion Group, as representative to the San Francisco Bay Area Leather Alliance (formerly the San Francisco Leather Forum). He has held this position since 2006. He has also served as Vice-President of the Forum, until its merger with the InterClub Fund, to form the Alliance. Within the Alliance, Steve works on the Vision Committee, and orchestrates the Holiday Party each year, a Bay Area tradition which brings all facets of the community together. Steve works toward finding new and innovative ways to invite communication among the various Leather / kink groups of the Bay Area.

Steve has been a member of the San Francisco chapter of the Defenders, a chartered organization of Dignity USA. The Defenders are a spiritual organization, with a fundraising group within. Steve has been a member since 2004, and President from 2006-2010.

In the early years of Leather-Levi Week-end, a Northern California week-end with a focus on kink newcomers, Steve served as outreach and spirituality committee leads. In recent years, Steve has orchestrated the annual Cocktail Party, an event at LLW which introduces newcomers to the various Bay Area Leather / kink groups.

Steve has also served as membership chair (2005-2007), vice-president (2007), and president (2008) of the 15 Association, San Franciscos premier play group for men.

Among many local event responsibilities, in 2008, Steve was a member of the local organizing committee for Leather Leadership Conference, San Francisco. Steve served the LOC as volunteer coordinator.

Steve has been awarded as the Bay Area Leather Alliance Man of the Year for 2008, and will be the Leather Marshall for San Francisco Pride this year.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys working on community-building efforts with his collared boy, Jonathan. He also has a second boy under consideration at this time. Steve has a mission this year to become a great Leather Daddy.

Steve holds no Bay Area or California Leather titles at this time.

Jerith - Secretary

Jerith has a passion for volunteering and learning that she has honed since her introduction to the community 10 years ago. That passion has led her to serve as the education director for Galleria Domain 2, Chicago's premier BDSM membership organization, where she has organized over 100 educational and fund-raising events. She has taught classes at Leather Leadership Conference on the importance and methods of running education programs and serves as a mentor for others who hope to channel their energy into volunteering and community service.

Along with her owner Jim, Jerith teaches classes on breath play and emotional edge play across the nation, and given discussions at organizations and conventions such as Leather Retreat, Kinky Kollege, Winter Wickedness, Spanksgiving, Black Rose, Twisted Tryst, SMARTfest, GRALE, The LRA, and Noble.

Sassy - Treasurer

Stephanie "Sassy" Lynn found herself in a kinky relationship beginning in 1996 and has been active in BDSM organizations in Minnesota since 1998.

Currently she serves as a Stockholder with Minnesota Stocks Debentures and Bonds, a member of the leadership team at Minnesota Power Exchange and is an Associate Member of the Knights of Leather. She served as the Promotion Co-Chair for LLC XI and participates with all Minnesota groups annually during LeatherPride, a week-long tradition leading into the Twin Cities Pride festival. She also has a history of organizing traditional events for kinky people, and often facilitates community conversations.

Ms. Lynn holds an MPA degree and applies over 15 years of nonprofit work experience in communications, marketing, fundraising, and social justice advocacy to her passions. She is particularly interested in authentic public process and respecting the richness of our cultural differences.

Travis Wilson

Travis Wilson has been an attorney since 1972, and in the Leather/BDSM lifestyle almost as long. He was one of the founders of PEP in Houston, and was Chairman of that organization for many years. He was the founder of the Houston S&M Ball, and was Chairman of that BDSM/Leather event for the first eight Balls, helping to make it an internationally known and respected Fetish event.

Travis has been a presenter at Leather/BDSM events for many years, presenting at such events (many of them multiple times) as Washington D.C.’s Black Rose (4 times), Beat me in St. Louis (3 times), Tribal Fire in Oklahoma (3 times) , Sinsations in Leather and Kinky Kollege in Chicago (combined 4 times), Texas Leather Pride (5 times), the Austin GWNN Bash (4 times) , the NLA Living in Leather, Camp Crucible (twice), Texas Latex Party, Ms. Gulf Coast Leather, Beyond Vanilla in Dallas (4 times), multiple times at both the Madtownkink events in Madison, Wisconsin, and the events in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, (and now scheduled to go back to both Madison and Eau Claire at their next events), and many more events. He has also been the sole presenter for weekends of presentations for a number of different BDSM groups around the country, including organizations in Nebraska, Washington D.C., New Mexico, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Texas.

He was one of the facilitators for the 2005 Masters Retreat held in Dallas, Texas.

In April of 2004, he was the keynote speaker at the Leather Leadership Conference 8. In 2008, he was the Keynote speaker for Black Rose. In July of 2009 he presented the keynote address for the GWNN Bash, and gave the keynote speech for Beyond Vanilla in Dallas in September of 2009.

When not working or playing with his leather Toys, Travis plays trumpet in Jazz, Rock/Blues/R&B, and church praise bands. Hey, a guy has to have some fun once in a while.

APPLY TO BECOME A NEW BOARD MEMBER

The National Board of Directors for the Leather Leadership Conference has recently modified its Bylaws to fill vacant Board member slots that exceed one year. Applications will be received for the Interim Election until November 15, 2011 at 9pm PST. Additionally, every year, starting in March and ending on May 15 at 9 pm PST, the Board actively seeks applications to fill upcoming vacancies and openings to the Board.

There are nine (9) Board positions, each 3 years in length. These positions are grouped so that three position terms come up for election every year. This ensures continuity in the experience and positions on the Board for organizational stability. No Board Member may serve more than 2 consecutive 3-year terms. There is no guarantee that any board member re-applying for a second term will be elected - so all applications are encouraged. It is the goal of the Board of Directors to ensure that we have the best team possible to meet the upcoming goals.

There are two vacant Board positions to be filled at the present time. The two positions being advertised are anticipated to be selected from the members of the 2012 Nashville Conference and the 2013 Seattle Conference Operating Committees. In the Spring, 2012 election process the Board anticipates selecting at least three new Board members who will serve for three year terms. It is anticipated that one position will be selected from the members of the 2014 Conference Operating Committee. Additionally, persons with high level financial and administrative skills are encouraged to apply.

For information on the specific skills and requirements for this years open positions, please download the PDF for the 2011 New Board Member Requirements..

To apply to the Board, you will need to provide the following items.

• A completed board member application that can be downloaded as a PDF here.
• A completed board member application that can be downloaded as a WORD DOCUMENT here.
• A copy of your professional resume
• (optional) A copy of your volunteer work resume
• Any additional information, supporting documentation, etc. that you feel will help the Board understand how you would function as a member of the team to move LLC to the next step.

Please note:

• All your references will be contacted. It is important that valid email and phone numbers are supplied for each reference you list, along with any preferred contact hours and days of the week.
• Incomplete applications will be considered with less favor than completed applications.
• You may be contactec by members of the Board if any questions or additional information is needed by the Board.
• The Board Members may contact individuals other than the references you have listed, for more information and background.

The Board Members are also available for individual conversations by email.

Contact the board if you have any questions.