Our Staff

Michael Mitchell is Executive Director for the Stonewall Democrats. Prior to joining the Stonewall team, Michael served as the advocacy and planning specialist for the Equality Federation and as the marriage campaign manager for the ACLU's LGBT Project. Before those positions, he was the first executive director for Equality Utah. During his four years there, the organization was named "Organization of the Year" and he was recognized by the Utah Democratic Party with the "Voice of Reason" Award. Michael also served as a senior advisor to Donald Dunn's 2000 run for Congress in Utah, as well as Executive Director of the Gay/Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA), which he co-founded in 1995.

In addition to his professional roles, Michael has served on the national board of the Equality Federaton, the national association of LGBT statewide advocacy organizations; is board chair for the NY Innovative Theater Awards, which recognizes the achievements of Off-Off-Broadway; serves on the boards of the John Jasperse Dance Company (New York City, NY) and Center for Performance Research; and was board chair of the Plan B Theatre (Salt Lake City, UT). Michael was also the chair of the Community Advisory Board for Project ACHIEVE, a preventative HIV vaccine study through the New York Blood Center and the National Institutes of Health.

The son of an Air Force pilot and a homemaker, Michael was born in Austin, TX and raised in Preston, ID. He attended Utah State University on music and achievement scholarships, was All Greek Rush Chair, wrote for the Utah Statesman and was elected to serve as Associated Students of Utah State University Arts and Lectures Vice President. He currently resides in the Maryland suburbs with his partner.

You can reach Michael at mmitchell (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Linsey Pecikonis is the Director of Communications and Online Organizing for the Stonewall Democrats. Before joining NSD, she worked as a campaign and communications consultant, advising leading Immigration organizations on messaging, online strategy, and youth turnout.

Her previous experience includes serving as the Communications Director at Lambda Rising, Washington DC’s historic LGBT bookstore, and as a Marketing Director and Conference Planner for a leading DC Immigration Law Firm. Currently, Linsey runs her own marketing consulting firm for non-profits, volunteers for the Presidential Correspondence Office at the White House, and is a member of Burgundy Crescent Volunteers- the leading source of LGBT volunteers for gay and gay-friendly non-profit organizations in DC.  She has organized for a number of Democratic candidates, progressive organizations, and pro-equality ballot measures.

Linsey graduated from Ohio University, where she received a degree in Public Policy and Administration and minor in Communications and Marketing. While serving on the Student Government as the Women’s Affairs Commissioner, she organized the Take Back the Night March on campus and was integral in establishing the Women’s Center at OU. 

You can reach Linsey at lpecikonis (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

  Jerame Davis is the National Stonewall Democrats’ Affiliate Services Coordinator. He is a longtime LGBT activist with a background in grassroots organizing, campaign management and new media campaigns. Originally from Indiana, Jerame spent over 10 years helping to organize the LGBT community in a red state while also building bridges with the state Democratic party.

While Jerame lived in Indiana, he served in a leadership role in many Hoosier LGBT organizations including Pride At Work, Columbus GSA, Indiana Action Network, Indiana Equality, and Indiana Stonewall Democrats. Before joining NSD’s staff, Jerame was vice president of the Indiana affiliate.

Jerame has worked closely with his local and state Democratic Party, serving as an Indianapolis precinct committeeman and a delegate to the state convention; he was also appointed to the 2008 Democratic National Convention Rules Committee.

Before joining NSD staff, Jerame co-founded an internet and new media consulting firm that focuses on strategies to leverage technology for better fundraising, organizing and messaging for non-profit organizations and political campaigns. One of the most successful ventures from the partnership is The Bilerico Project, an award-winning and widely read LGBT blog independently ranked as one of the top political blogs in the nation.

He has a degree from Purdue University in Computer Information Technology and is a member of Tau Alpha Pi honor society.

You can reach Jerame at  jdavis(at) stonewalldemocrats.org.

Kaye Gooch is the Administrative Coordinator for the National Stonewall Democrats. Prior to joining NSD, Kaye worked in healthcare as a Social Worker, Trainer, Administrator, and most recently as a part of a team implementing an electronic medical record system.  She left her position at UT Southwestern Medical Center to pursue a career in her real passion social activism.

Kaye has been active in a variety of activist organizations in her hometown, Dallas, Texas.  She was Secretary of the Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus and Political Affairs Director of Dallas Stonewall Democrats.  She organized voter registration and get out the vote efforts in Dallas County.  As Precinct chair for the Dallas County Democratic Party she organized her precinct to increase turnout.  Kaye also co-chaired the Dallas/Ft. Worth HRC Religion and Faith Committee and was a part of the local DFW HRC Steering Committee.

She graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Sociology and she has a master degree in Gerontology from the University of North Texas.

You can reach Kaye at kgooch (at) stonewalldemocrats.org.