Board of Directors

Melissa Sklarz is a Co-Chair of National Stonewall Democrats. She became the first transgender person elected to office in New York in 1999 when she was elected Judicial Delegate from the 66th Assembly District. In 2004, Melissa became the first transgender person from New York to be part of the state delegation at the Democratic National Convention, by being appointed to the Credentials Committee.  She again represented New York when she was appointed to the Rules Committee for the 2008 Convention.

Melissa helped bring civil rights to transgender people in New York City when INT 24 became law in 2002 and has been a leader in lobbying for GENDA (Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act), which passed the NY State Assembly in June 2008.    

In 2003, Melissa was elected to the executive board of the National Stonewall Democrats and has served 6 years on the Executive Board of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats (GLID) in Manhattan and 5 years on Community Board #2 in Greenwich Village. This past year, Melissa was a co-chair for Obama Pride NYC, helping to organize the LGBT community for the campaign. She also serves as Director of the New York Trans Rights Organization (NYTRO). In 2005, Melissa appeared in a featured role in the film TRANSAMERICA.

You can reach Melissa at msklarz (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Shane Larson is a Co-Chair of National Stonewall Democrats. He serves as the Director of Government Affairs for the Association of Flight Attendants – CWA (AFA-CWA) -  the world’s largest and oldest union representing flight attendants. Shane, a native of South Dakota, attended Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, earning a BSFS in International Politics.

Shane began his career working for Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) in Washington, D.C. and South Dakota serving as Deputy Press Secretary in his Senate office and Communications Director on his 1998 re-election campaign.

Shane also serves on the National Executive Board of Pride at Work, the LGBT constituency group of the AFL-CIO, and the Board of National Stonewall Democrats.  Shane enjoys spending his free time traveling and with his husband, Jean-Pierre Gaster, and their dogs.

You can reach Shane at slarson (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Christopher Massicotte is Treasurer of National Stonewall Democrats. Christopher comes from an extensive business and political background. He has a degree in Accounting from Villanova University and a Masters degree in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

Christopher worked as an Information Systems auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and then fulfilled the role of IT Security Officer at the University of Pennsylvania where he concentrated on improving the protection of private information of patients at the University's five hospitals and for the University's student body.

Christopher became more deeply involved in politics in 2002 serving as a campaign treasurer and fundraiser for now Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach (D-17) and as a field volunteer on Pennsylvania Governor Rendell's 2002 campaign. He also did political fundraising for LGBT ally Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ). Christopher currently works as the Director of Sales and Marketing for NGP Software a progressive political technology firm.  He lives in Washington, DC.

You can reach Chris at cmassicotte (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Stephen Driscoll is a Co-Chair of the National Stonewall Democrats’ Leadership Council (LC), the program advisory board made up of chapter leaders. He served as Co-Chair of the National Stonewall Democrats Board of Directors from 2004 - 2009.

Stephen is a founding member of National Stonewall Democrats and holds the distinction as the organization's longest serving director. He is a former Co-Chair of Bay State Stonewall Democrats, and is currently Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party's LGBT Caucus. Stephen was a delegate to teh 1996, 2000 and 2008 Democratic National Conventions, and was a member of the Electoral College in 2000.

You can reach Stephen at sdriscoll (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Laurie McBride is a Co-Chair of the National Stonewall Democrats’ Leadership Council (LC), the program advisory board made up of chapter leaders. She served as Co-Chair of NSD's Board of Directors from 2005 - 2009. Laurie is also Co-Chair of the California Democratic Party's LGBT Caucus. A long-time activist, she served as a gay lobbyist in California from 1990 through 1998, and then worked in the legislature for then Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa and Secretary of State Kevin Shelly. She helped shepherd legislative victories on HIV/AIDS legislation as well as non-discrimination and domestic partnership laws in California. She just celebrated anniversary #24 with her partner, Donna Yutzy.

You can reach Laurie at lmcbridge (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Stephen Gaskill is a communications and political strategist with more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing media outreach programs for political candidates, government agencies, advocacy groups, major corporations, trade associations and ad hoc coalitions.  He is expert at positioning issues, organizations and individuals in the media.

Based in Fort Lauderdale and working in South Florida and Washington DC, Stephen is an independent consultant with a variety of client interests, and has served as national spokesperson on a wide range of issues and causes.  He is a veteran of Democratic politics, and held senior positions in the Clinton/Gore, Gore/Lieberman and Kerry/Edwards presidential campaigns, as well as in numerous campaigns during off-year election cycles.

In addition to the board of National Stonewall Democrats, Stephen serves as communications director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, and as spokesperson for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Council for Diversity and Equal Opportunity.  He is also a former board member of the Dolphin Democrats, the oldest and largest GLBT Democratic club in Florida.

You can reach Stephen at sgaskill (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Olga Hernandez was born in Brownsville, Texas and is described as a life-long “yellow dog” Democrat.  She received her undergraduate degree from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas and a Master of Science degree from Oklahoma State University.  She has spent her professional career in Science Education and is presently on the Adjunct Faculty in the Biology Department at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.

Olga has been politically active in San Antonio for many years.  She has served as precinct secretary and has been a delegate to the Texas Democratic Convention.  Olga has been a grassroots campaign worker in the election of pro-equality Democratic candidates.   She is active in the Stonewall Democrats of San Antonio, serves on the Board of Directors of SDSA, the Executive Board of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus, as well as the Board of National Stonewall Democrats.  She and her partner of 17 years reside in San Antonio where they continue their political activism.

You can reach Olga at ohernandez (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Bill Jacobs  is currently serving his second term as a board member of National Stonewall Democrats. Bill has led several statewide LGBT outreach efforts in presidential campaigns in the early battleground states of New Hampshire and Nevada since 2000.

Bill began his association with Stonewall Democrats through his work with the Las Vegas chapter while serving as the Kerry/Edwards Nevada state LGBT Outreach Coordinator in 2004. Two years later, Jacobs was elected Chair of the Stonewall Democratic Club of Southern Nevada. He remains actively involved as a member of the Nevada State Democratic Party's Cenral Committee and Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus. He recently helped turn Nevada blue by coordinating the statewide efforts of the Nevada Obama Pride Network.

Bill received his MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management after graduating with highest honors from the University of Illinois, majoring in Finance. He has worked for over 25 years in the Corporate Finance area of major Fortune 500 companies, specializing in corporate bond marketing, foreign currency exposure management, and international business planning.

You can reach Bill at bjacobs (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Babak Movahedi has an MBA from the George Washington University and the degrees of Juris Doctor and Masters in International Law from Georgetown University Law Center. He owns and operates HALO Lounge in Washington DC and Miami, Florida. Currently, he is the chair of Miami Beach GLBT Business Enhancement Committee and President of Miami Beach Gay Pride, Inc. Babak was elected as Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in 2004 by the citizens of the District of Columbia. He has been involved in Democratic politics for many years and has served on the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council and the National Advisory Board of the Democratic National Committee.

You can reach Babak at bmovahedi (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Craig Roberts, a resident of San Diego, California, since 1987, has been active in Democratic politics since 1992.  He has been a member of San Diego’s NSD chapter, the San Diego Democratic Club (SDDC), since 1993, including a three-year stint as President from 1998 through 2000.  He has served as a delegate to the California State Democratic Convention every year since 1994.  One of the highlights of his political activism so far was his experience as a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Roberts has been active in NSD since its inception, attending the official formation meeting in Kansas City in 1998 as SDDC’s representative.  He has attended every NSD convention since then.  Roberts began serving on the NSD board in May 2001 and is now its longest serving board member.

At native of Midwest City, Oklahoma, Roberts works as a Senior Software Quality Engineer in the San Diego area.  He has over two decades of experience working in high tech environments.  He holds a Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma State University and a Masters of Science from San Diego State University, both in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

You can reach Craig at croberts (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.