Conference

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Lillie Auslander (she/her they/them) is a 17 year old advocate. She has spoken at many events including multiple board of education meetings and the Intersectional Dynamic Pride Conference the past 2 years. She is the recipient of the Union County Pride Youth Leadership Award. In her spare time Lillie likes to listen to and play music, read, do art. When she is older she wants to attend college to become a Pediatric Music Therapist. She is a current UCPS student and loves to work to improve the school system for students like themself.

Audrey Teeter has been with Atrium Health for 8 years starting out with the Resource Team as a patient safety attendant. Audrey started her transition within the workplace in 2020/2021 Through many small obstacles and challenges outside the workplace. Audrev has truly blossomed into the courageous woman that we see today. She is currently a Manager Nursing Associate with the Resource Team at our corporate office in Charlotte. She has been a vessel for those that are needing advice and guidance while trying to come out within the workplace.

Joshua Jernigan (he/him/his) is a transgender and queer rights activist living in the greater Charlotte metropolitan area where he and his husband are raising their family together. He started the Gender Education Network, an organization helping transgender and gender diverse youth under 12, and is passionate about ensuring every child has a safe and loving home to nurture their growing identities.  Joshua has extensive experience in early childhood education both in traditional classroom settings and remotely. He has previously taught classes on numerous topics ranging from sign language instruction to racial and gender identities to queer history and creative writing.  Joshua is passionate about accurate and accessible history. He has worked hard to protect and illuminate many aspects of our historical records that have been actively suppressed by those aiming to promote self-serving narratives. This passion has led to him giving several speeches about accurate queer history and why it’s important that this information be available for all individuals.  When not helping kids or educating in some way, Joshua enjoys hiking, camping, and just hanging out with his family. He has authored a children’s book, and is working on additional writing projects currently. He and his husband also recently founded Wild Pride Productions, a media company with many awesome projects planned for the near future.

Cindy Lemberg (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing outpatient mental health therapy to individuals across North Carolina. Her primary areas of practice are working with members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are impacted by trauma, minority stress, and neurodivergence. She has been in private practice since 2018, but work in the social work field since 2006. Cindy is also a member of the Charlotte Trans Healthcare Group, a nonprofit organization focused on providing gender affirming care to the trans and gender diverse community in and around Charlotte. She lives in Charlotte with her wife and two dogs. In her free time she loves watching sports and crafting.

Nicole (Nikki) Ferguson (she/her) is an Emergency Resource Nurse for Atrium Health's Charlotte Region. She travels to different emergency departments within the Charlotte region where she both provides care for patients and observes processes. She brings these observations to discuss with the Resource Team Professional Governance committee in an effort to improve care across the organization. Her background involves a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology with an emphasis on healthcare to prepare for her lifelong goal of becoming a nurse like her mom, cousin, and great aunt. During the 7 years in her nursing career, she has always worked in the ER; being trained for charge, preceptor, triage, and trauma, joining and implementing professional governance committees, attending every conference possible, obtaining her CEN in 2020, and BSN in 2024. She has served on the NC ENA Quality, Safety, and Injury committee since 2024. She is currently in an MSN program, focused on clinical research and plans to test for TCRN, CPEN, and PMH-BC certifications. Nikki lives in Statesville, NC with her incredibly supportive husband, 18 rescue cats, and 1 rescue dog, where she is actively involved in her local LGBTQUIA+ community.

Mollie Burkholder (any pronouns) is the Interim Executive Director at PFLAG Charlotte, where they educate and empower allies to create more affirming and equitable spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community. Mollie received her master’s degree in International & Intercultural Communications from American University, and her BS in Family, Youth, & Community Sciences from the University of Florida - go Gators! Prior to joining the PFLAG Charlotte team, they served as a Community Health Promoter in Peace Corps Guyana, taught English in rural South Korea, and worked as an adult learning consultant with organizations like Sesame Workshop, USAID, and the World Bank. Outside of work, Mollie is an avid consumer of all things queer pop culture, a diehard Philly sports fan, and a devoted wife guy and dog dad.

Cristal Robinson, JD/MBA (they/them) is an experienced attorney licensed in North Carolina, Texas, and Washington, D.C., with a focus on civil rights, disability law, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in various sectors. Her legal career spans across multiple courts and involves working with hundreds of clients. She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a prestigious distinction limited to the top 1% of lawyers in each jurisdiction.

In addition to her legal practice, Cristal is deeply involved in social advocacy, including work with LGBTQ+ and disability rights organizations. She is the founding president of Union County Pride, Inc., the treasurer of United States Association of Prides, and a board member for several organizations such as the National Organization for Women’s Charlotte chapter, National Lawyers Guild, and several other national, state, and local organizations. 

Outside of the office, Cristal Robinson enjoys watching their autistic son experience life, growing older with their autistic spouse, and figuring out their true self as a late-in-life diagnosed autistic professional

Kayla Earley (she/her) has worked in HIV and public health in North Carolina since 2014. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Community Health and Master of Public Health from Lenoir-Rhyne University. After working in an HIV service organization for 2 years and local public health for 7 years, Kayla joined ViiV Healthcare in May 2023, where her role as a Community Liaison is to listen to communities, activate a response, amplify voices, and sustain resources in areas most impacted by HIV..

Susan Book (she/her) is a public school advocate and is a co-administrator for Save Our Schools NC.  She is the co-host of the podcast Advocacy Bites.  She currently works with the Every Child Coalition.  Susan is also an avid writer, blogger, and speaker on issues like education and Disability Rights. First and foremost she’s a public school parent to an autistic son and fights for him and others like him to get a sound basic education.

Brooke Shaffner (she/her) is the author of COUNTRY OF UNDER, which won a Next Generation Indie Book Award Grand Prize for Fiction, the 2024 Foreword Indies Silver Award for Literary Fiction, and the 1729 Book Prize. The novel was the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction runner-up. Brooke’s work has appeared in The Rumpus, The Hudson Review, BOMB, Marie Claire, Scoundrel Time, Necessary Fiction, Litmosphere, Lost and Found: Stories from New York, and Big Indie Books. She has received grants from the Arts & Science Council, United States Artists, and the Saltonstall Foundation and residencies from MacDowell, Ucross, Saltonstall, the Edward Albee Foundation, Jentel, I-Park, and VCCA. Brooke is bisexual and grew up part Garza, part Shaffner in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley. Her Garza grandfather was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico; her Shaffner grandfather was raised Mennonite. With her partner Niteesh Elias, Brooke founded Freedom Tunnel Press to publish artivist books that straddle borders; and Listening Labs to help organizations and individuals to become more connected, collaborative, and creative. An excerpt of her memoir-in-progress won the 2023 Lit/South Award and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Brooke teaches and edits through her company Between the Lines and is on the faculty of the North Carolina Writers' Network and Charlotte Lit.