Saguaro Cactus at Sunset

LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund Announces New Advisory Board Members

The LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its Board. The Advisory Board sets priorities and approves grant recommendations. All members are volunteers and can serve up to two 3-year terms.

“We are pleased to welcome Kent Burbank, Dr. Sally Dodds and Jamie Lee to the Alliance Fund Board,” said Tim Olcott, Board Chair. “Their dedication and knowledge of the issues faced by the LGBTQ community will add further strength to our Board and help us continue to make a difference in Southern Arizona.”

Kent Burbank is a full-time faculty member in the Social Services Department at Pima Community College. Kent has worked for more than two decades in the field of social and human services, including working with the victims of violence, the LGBT community, people with disabilities, and refugees and migrants. He has a Master’s Degree in social work from the University of Chicago and a Master of Divinity from Meadville/Lombard Theological School.

Sally Dodds, Ph.D., is a recently retired research professor of psychiatry and medicine at the University of Arizona. For nearly 25 years, she served in numerous leadership positions in HIV/AIDS research in Miami including as a research professor at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She also conducted studies on model healthcare systems for HIV-infected pregnant women and their children. Earlier, she was the founding Executive Director of Miami’s first AIDS service organization and has been nationally recognized for her work in fighting HIV/AIDS.

Jamie Lee, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Digital Culture, Information, and Society in the School of Information at the University of Arizona. Since starting Arizona’s first LGBTQ archives in 2008 with seed funding from the Alliance Fund, Jaime has expanded it into the Arizona Queer Archives, AQA, through the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona. She is the recipient of the 2009 Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Project Grant, and a 2010 Arizona Governors Arts Award nominee for her work connecting her artform to community activism.

For the past 16 years, the LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund has been dedicated to engaging the community through philanthropy to support innovative LGBTQ programs in southern Arizona. The new additions to the board were recruited thoughtfully and carefully to complement the needs of our organization and community.