We recently added several new adult advisors to our team. Advisors help to plan and facilitate our youth meetings and serve as role models for participants. To give you a sense of the adults you might meet at our programs, we did a virtual interview with one of our newest adult advisors, Maria. Here’s what we learned about this warm and strong addition to the OUT MetroWest family!
Word of mouth is how many of our participants learn about OUT MetroWest, and that’s how Maria found out about us, too. When we asked what drew her to serve as an adult advisor, she told us that working with youth challenges her to be her best self and that she appreciates the chance to learn and grow together. In particular, she knows that being an LGBTQ+ youth requires determination, creativity, and solidarity, and that this challenge makes working with LGBTQ+ youth especially rewarding. As a queer person herself, she reflected, “When working with LGBTQ+ youth, I feel an instant connection, even if on the surface we have little in common.” Most importantly, she emphasized to us, “working with LGBTQ+ youth is FUN.”
It’s an OUT MetroWest rite of passage for new team members to share their dream dinner party roster, so of course we asked Maria about hers. If she could invite three famous LGBTQ+ people to a dinner party, she told us that her guests would be Queen Latifah*, Elliot Page, and Jonathan Van Ness.
Maria also brings her love of the outdoors to our team. She enjoys hiking and camping and did an incredible 60-mile backpacking trip in Glacier National Park a couple of years ago! As winter turns to spring and public health allows, we hope Maria will help us with some of our outdoor youth activities.
We are so glad to have Maria on-board, and we know you’ll enjoy connecting with her at an upcoming WAGLY meeting or special event.
*We’re not trying to start rumors here, so we’ll just footnote to say that presumed or hoped-for LGBTQ+ guests are permitted, too!
