Radical Queer Brown Non-monogamous Old-School Femme Lover Evangelical Mystic Missionary Mama First-Gen Appalachian Latina Resister.
Alicia has a BA in sociology and a career background as a political community organizer, working on issues ranging from workers’ rights, LGBTQ advocacy, immigration reform, reproductive justice, and racial equality. She began facilitating workshops on sexual wellness and healthy relationships over a decade ago, both in the U.S. and abroad, and was honored to be a presenter at last year’s first annual Sex Down South Conference. She’s currently a songwriting student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, fusing important social issues with positive music. Personal empowerment and community engagement are mainstays of Alicia’s work and art.
Ama McKinley, Priestess
Before becoming an initiated Yoruba Orisha priestess in 2012, Ama spent much of her younger life suffering under the pressures of contradiction between sexuality & traditional spirituality in the Southern church. She addressed this contradiction by studying all manner of indigenous faiths and sexual customs, in order to prove that perhaps Spirituality & Sexuality are just two sides of the same coin. This study led her to discover the West African faith of Yoruba/Ifa, and the goddess Oshun – one of Africa’s many manifestations of the beauty, power, and divinity of Sexuality. A communicator and teacher at heart, Ama is the the creative force behind the blog You Are The Truth. Her articles and lectures on spirit, sex and life have been featured by Medium and ForHarriet, and she is a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post. When she isn’t writing, she’s often communicating divine messages for private clients (and herself) or talking dirty to her partner, Andrew. You can learn more about her work at AmaMcKinley.com.
Anandalila (‘Lila for short) is a Tantric Hatha yoga teacher in Atlanta, GA. offering individual sessions and group classes for people of all persuasions seeking a broader sense of self and connection with the divine. She holds additional certifications in Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Positional Release yoga therapy. When she is not practicing yoga, ‘Lila enjoys reading, writing, art, and, of course, chocolate. www.Anandalila.com
Andre Shakti is an educator, performer, activist, and professional slut living in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is devoted to normalizing alternative desires, de-stigmatizing sex workers and their clients, and not taking herself too seriously. Andre wrestles mediocre white men into submission and writes about sex work, queerness and non-monogamy for Cosmopolitan, Harlot, MEL, Vice, and more. She can frequently be found marathoning Law & Order: SVU under a chaotic pile of partners and pitbulls, and yes, she knows how problematic that show is. Visit her on Twitter @andreshakti, on FB as “Andre Shakti”, and at AndreShaktiXXX.com (NSFW).
Andy Duran is the Educational Outreach & Affiliate Manager for Good Vibrations. As a trainer for over 15 years, this California bear cub and proud blue collar dandy loves providing accurate and accessible sex information with hopes to arouse curiosity and spread truth. Customer service and sex positivity are more than just buzzwords for Andy, but rather fundamentals that are essential for working in the field of sexual health & pleasure. Customer service and sex positivity are more than just buzzwords for Andy, but rather fundamentals that are essential for working in the field of sexual health & pleasure. Whether it’s product and tech support off hours, or his infamous handwritten notes in each reviewers’ package, it’s no wonder his affiliates have dubbed him the Sex Toy Santa.
When not philosophizing about all things sexual, Educator Andy can be found singing George Michael, blushing, and keeping up his teddy bear figure.
Annai Lopez-Tavira, MFT, LAMFT
Annai Lopez-Tavira, MFT, LAMFT earned her Master of Family Therapy degree from Mercer University School of Medicine’s Atlanta/Piedmont campus in the summer of 2015. She currently is working at Affinity Counseling Center as a Bilingual Child and Family Therapist and utilizes expressive arts and play therapies in order to engage her clients and eliminate the pressures of traditional talk therapy. She is an active member of the Association for Play Therapy and American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Annai is currently working on becoming a Registered Play Therapist and is also working on her EMDR certification.
Ariel Vegosen is a professional sex educator, workshop facilitator, gender inclusivity trainer, performance artist, liberation advocate, sex and gender identity coach and mentor, writer, ritualist, and consultant. Ariel is the founder of Gender Illumination (www.genderillumination.com) an organization dedicated to creating safer spaces for Trans and gender queer people through the tools of education and policy change. Ariel is well known for creating safer play spaces, using performance as a tool for social justice, go-go dancing, making everything glitter fabulous, playing with gender, and being a rock-start at life. This work has taken Ariel all over the US and internationally. Ariel enjoys being queer, poly, playful, and proud. Ariel believes in creating communities across diverse cultural backgrounds and is committed to working from an anti-oppression lens. Ariel is an ordained Priestess, practitioner, and educator of sacred sexuality. Ariel is a member and co-creator of the Sexual Liberation Collective (sexualliberationcollective.com) Ariel is available for workshops, performing, teaching, coaching, and speaking engagements and can be reached at email@example.com.
Asha Leong is a life-long activist and community organizer with over 15 years of experience as a sexual liberator, rabble rouser, and scintillating writer. Through Dreaming Desires Consulting she provides a range of services critical to organizational and personal development. Asha provides expertise around fundraising tactics, social media strategy, and campaign development. She has a passion for queer sexual liberation and provides training, sacred sexuality coaching and shamanic reiki healings. Asha also works as an artist most recently her writing was published in the Femmethology, she is looking forward to being published in Perverts of Color in 2013. Asha’s alter ego drag king Al Schlong graces stages nationwide with his memorizing hip-shaking performance art.
Ashleigh Shackelford is a queer, agender Black fat femme writer, educator, and cultural producer. Ashleigh is a contributing writer at For Harriet, a community organizer at Black Future, and the creator of a body positivity organization Free Figure Revolution. Her work focuses on body positivity, desire politics, consent/ survivor trauma, and dismantling anti-Blackness. Ashleigh ranges from exploring how anti-Black violence and fatphobia affect Black women and femme bodies, to addressing the constructs of desire and how they affect the humanity (and violence) you are provided within society. She is currently working on her Masters of Arts in African American Studies at Morgan State University.
Brion & Karen Craig
Brion and Karen Craig are life and relationship coaches who own Next Chapter Relationship Coaching to help couples and singles transition to their next chapter. They also own Love, Sex and Intimacy Retreats that hosts retreats and events that focus on themes such as The Art of Sacred Sexuality. They operate Brion and Karen Boudoir Photography to create stunning sensual images of women and couples and are the developers of an energy healing modality called the Energy Body Synergy Technique.
Cameryn is a playwright/performer, activist, educator, writer, and yes, a phone sex operator. She has been doing phone work for nearly seven years, writing and rehearsing between calls and even taking calls while on tour. Her solo shows have won awards and critical acclaim around North America and in the UK. She is the creator and co-host of Smut Slam, an open-mic storytelling event featuring real-life, first-person sex stories, and the founder of BEDx, a mini-conference for sex geeks in a bar. In her spare time during the warmer months, Cameryn pounds out custom pornography for strangers on her manual typewriter and calls it Sidewalk Smut. Contact her at www.camerynmoore.com
Camille Zimmerman (she/her) has worked one-on-one with sexual assault survivors as a crisis counselor for the past three years. Through her work with survivors, as well as her own complex history with sexual trauma, Camille has become fascinated with understanding the nuances of consent.
Caroline Black is a student in the dual master’s degree program at Widener University’s Center for Human Sexuality Studies and Center for Social Work Education. Her professional work focuses on advising sexual health promotion and interpersonal violence prevention programs on college campuses. She believes that everyone is entitled to sex positive education that teaches biology, choice, consent, and pleasure. According to Caroline’s uncle, she is a GRITS (Girl Raised in the South), even though she has lived in New Jersey, by way of Texas, since she was 10. Contact her at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Cassandra’s foray into sex education began in a Barnes & Noble after a disappointing fourth-grade sex and relationship education class. Her fascination with sexual health and wellness grew from there, and it hasn’t stopped growing since then. Cassandra graduated from New College of Florida in 2015 with a BA with Honors in Literature and Gender Studies, where her thesis focused on modern, feminist adaptations of classic fairy tales. She co-authored New College’s Best Practices Recommendations for Gender Inclusivity in the Classroom, led Title IX working groups, was one of the designers of the “Consent Is [Not]” viral photo campaign, and fought for better trans-inclusive policies on campus. In 2014 she opened the SHARE (Sexual Health and Relationship Education) Resource Center, a 24/7 drop-in center dedicated to providing a safe space to learn about un/healthy relationships and healthier sexual behaviors. She currently is a sex educator with The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, where she also works as the Social Media Strategist. When she isn’t teaching, studying, or organizing, you can find her elbow-deep in cake batter or cuddling with any of her three fur-children (hopefully not both at the same time).
With a decade of experience alongside queer and trans youth, Cavanaugh’s work focuses on cultivating leadership and autonomy in queer and trans youth and adults. Through arts practice and analysis, he aids leaders in deconstructing institutional systems of oppression and examining the intersections of their identities. He has worked with school administration and faculty members, mental health clinicians, and other youth service providers as well as student unions, summer camps, and experiential education services. In addition to youth and community organizing, Cavanaugh teaches comprehensive sexual health education for queer and trans people and offers consultation, technical assistance, and training for service providers focused on the needs of LGBTQIA+ people across multiple areas. He also sits on the board of Camp Unirondack, a residential youth camp in the Adirondacks, where he previously directed programming. Cavanaugh holds a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, with dual concentrations in neuropsychology and sociolinguistics, and a minor focus in applied languages. He is currently pursuing graduate education in social work. Cavanaugh believes in honesty, self-education, and radical kindness.
Cazembe Abena/Lord Vesper
BDSM can be cold, calculated and brutal. But it doesn’t have to be. For Cazembe Abena and his DOM alter ego, Lord Vesper, BDSM is where Sensuality meets Art meets Spirit. S&M is a medium where Lord Vesper can perform, and take select clients to the edge of their senses, thereby unlocking new doors to their persona and soul, as trust is exercised and healing is experienced. Years of training as an Energy Practitioner and Tantra Practitioner, have given Lord Vesper a unique set of skills and sensibilities beyond your ordinary DOM. This allows him to conduct a communion of sensuality, dominance, restoration, trust, and spirit. For the masses, and those that desire the less intense side of healing work, Cazembe offers services as a Certified Reiki Master Teacher/Healer, Symbologist, Certified Tantra Practitioner, Certified Health Coach, Channeler, and Holistic Practitioner.
Charone Pagett (she/her) has been doing Human Rights work for over twenty years. Her primary focus is on disability justice and intersectionality. As a Leather woman, she has facilitated workshops on kink and disability and is proud to be a member of Women in Leather Atlanta (WiLA). Find her at email@example.com
Che J. Long
Che J. Long hails from Los Angeles by way of Hawaii where at 7 years old she began her organizing work licking envelopes for the Hawaiian land and cultural sovereignty movement. She is a Queer Black Femme, community organizer, and trained herbalist. For the past 8 years, she has dedicated her life to organizing around community based strategies for ending violence. As the former program coordinator of the Safe Outside the System Collective of the Audre Lorde Project and a current member of the Solutions Not Punishment Coalition, Che works with communities most affected by violence to develop political education and campaign strategies that increase capacity for safety and wellness. She uses the languages of guerilla theater to infuse cultural work into the fibers of strategy building. When she is not organizing, Che spends her time at the intersections of Sci-fi and Beyonce.
Christopher K. Belous, PhD LMFT
Dr. Belous is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Approved Supervisor, and Clinical Member of AAMFT. He also holds certification as an LGBT Affirmative Psychotherapist and is a Certified Family Life Educator. He currently holds the position of Assistant Professor and Clinic Director for the COAMFTE-accredited marriage and family therapy program at Mercer University School of Medicine’s Atlanta/Piedmont campus in Atlanta, GA. He has practiced therapy for approximately 9 years, and has researched and published in several outlets, as well as presented at multiple national conferences – winning awards for his presentations (e.g., NCFR New Professional Poster Award), and teaching abilities. His primary research and clinical interest is in sex therapy and sexuality.
Dalychia Saah, MSW, is a Social Worker with a focus on Black social development and liberation through sexuality. Her research interests include ramifications of historical trauma in Black communities and ways to reclaim our bodies, relationships and sexuality through a pleasure centered manner. She has conducted research using bibliotherapeutic tools to form self-identity and connects this to current work where she uses literature and other art forms from Black creative thinkers to guide community conversations about black femininity, masculinity, and sexuality. Dalychia is the co-creator of Afrosexology, a sexuality education program for Black communities to explore and encourage sex positivity.
Danielle M. Tidwell, MFT
Danielle M. Tidwell, MFT is a graduate of Mercer’s Marriage and Family Therapy Master’s Program working towards Expressive Arts Degree and Play Therapy Certification. I am an accomplished artist with a background in neuropsychology and a degree in general art. I currently work with children and families as a multicultural marriage and family therapist. I use creative interventions along with artistic techniques to join with clients and help express thoughts and emotions that might be too complex or abstract to verbalize. Interventions such as sandtray and puppet play are techniques that I am utilizing to help clients deal with attachment and trauma issues. I believe that the use of artist creativity in therapy is essential, just as a pencil or brush is to an expressive artist.
Desiree N. Robinson, MSW
Desirée N. Robinson, MSW is a licensed therapist & holistic practitioner with advanced training in Substance Abuse Assessment and Treatment, Sex Therapy, Tantra and HypnoCoaching. Her practice is a reflection of her life’s mission – to create a world of celebration and understanding for all people. In her practice, Desirée utilizes conscious touch, pranayama, mindfulness, movement therapy in conjunction with didactic methods to access healing for all of her clients. Additionally, she able to offer all of her services with sensitivity and respect for individuals identifying as Plus Size! This is a provider geared toward allowing people to feel validated, supported and – most importantly – to CELEBRATED.
Drew Konow is a scholar of American religious history. His work focuses on the intersecting histories of religion and social activism – specifically engaging what they reveal about how difference has been articulated, understood, negotiated, and embodied in America. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University and a Master’s of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School. He currently serves as the Scholar in Residence at the Religious Institute.
Elisabeth Sheff, PhD, CASA, CSE
Dr. Elisabeth “Eli” Sheff is the foremost academic expert on polyamory in the US, and the worldwide expert on polyamorous families with children. Sheff’s first book, The Polyamorists Next Door (2014), details her 15-year study of poly families with kids and was just reprinted in paperback, and her second book Stories from the Polycule (2015) is an edited anthology of writings by poly folks. When Someone You Love is Polyamorous (2016) is Sheff’s shortest book that guides family members and significant others who are trying to understand a polyamorous loved one. Dr. Sheff specializes in gender and sexual minority families, kink/BDSM, and issues facing trans* people. She is the CEO and Director of Legal Services at the Sheff Consulting Group, a think-tank of experts specializing in unconventional and underserved populations.
Emmy Johnson (they/them, ze/zer/zem) has worked as a crisis counselor for the last few years. Through their interest in sexuality education, their work with survivors, and their trauma history, they are interested in the limits of consent rhetoric.
Ericka Hart is a black, queer, kinky, poly, Sagittarius, cancer-warrior, activist, Sex Educator, and performer. She has taught sex education from elementary aged youth to adults; across New York City for the past five years. The catalyst of her work in sex education was her service as a Peace Corps HIV/AIDs volunteer in Ethiopia (Dec 08- July 10). Currently, she is completing her Masters of Education in Human Sexuality at Widener University and works as the Director of Adolescent Sexual Health at a community-based organization in New York City.
Ignacio Rivera is a queer, trans, two-spirit, Black-Boricua Taíno who prefers the gender-neutral pronoun “they.” Ignacio is an activist, writer, educator, filmmaker, performance artist and mother. Ignacio has over 20 years experience on multiple fronts including anti-racist, anti-violence, feminist and LGBTQ movements. Ignacio is the founder of P3, sporadically blogs on WhatTheySaidBlog.com and is one of the founding board members of Queers for Economic Justice. Ignacio is a 2016 Just Beginnings Collaborative Fellow. JBC is a movement building platform designed to initiate, cultivate and fund strategic efforts to end child sexual abuse. Ignacio was named one of 5 Trans Writers who are Redefining Masculinity 2016, Queer as Verbs, 7 Trans & Non-Binary Artists Doing the Work in 2015, Honor 41 in 2014, Trans Artists of Color You Should Know 2013 and recognized as on of the Trans 100 in 2013. http://www.IgnacioGRivera.com http://whattheysaidblog.com
Jasmine, Owner of Jet Setting Jasmine LLC. , is a Licensed Clinical Therapist with a Bachelors of Art in Sociology, Masters of Clinical Social Work and Masters in Aging studies. Jasmine is a certified Sexpert, Master Fetish Trainer and contributing product reviewer for California Exotics. She has traveled internationally hosting SexEd Workshops for private clientele and organizations. The Jet Setting Jasmine team highlights the more erotic side of sensuality through Fantasy Flight parties. She places a strong emphasis on empowering, enhancing and redefining sexuality for singles and couples. Jasmine’s high-spirited & unconventional approach to intimacy issues has allowed client’s to explore and address many of their deeply rooted barriers, as well as accept and normalize fetishes. Jasmine brings the unique element of Sexy & Confidence to her clientele, with the development of fitness formats K.I.S.S (Keep It Strong & Sexy) & Steel & Stilettos Fitness™ and Fantasy Flight Fitness! The Royal Fetish Film team develops adult content that is designed and customized to explore Fetish work with clients and adult film stars. She strongly believes that “A Little Sexy Goes A Long Way…”, which defines the journey Jasmine herself has taken while holding the hands of fans across the globe through their exploration of Kink & Sensuality.
Holiday Simmons, MSW is a Black Cherokee transmasculine two-spirit activist, athlete, and lover of babies, soccer, and the ocean. He has a background in Social Work, Education, and Performing Arts & Activism. Simmons has worked with youth in foster care, taught GED, has managed education initiatives, and has facilitated numerous creative writing and spoken word workshops with groups of youth, queer and trans* people and women in the U.S. and across the planet. Holiday is currently the Director of Community Education and Advocacy at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBT people and people with HIV. At Lambda Legal he focuses on transgender rights, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, police misconduct, and amplifying the voices of LGBT Native Americans and two-spirit people. Holiday is based out of Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Kesi Shaw, CLC, CMFT, NCC, LPC
Dr. Kesi D. Shaw is a , certified life coach, certified marriage and family therapist, nationally certified counselor, and a licensed professional counselor who has been providing psychotherapy for the last 12 years. Dr. Shaw has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Services, a Master of Arts degree in Professional Counseling and a Doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology. As a single mother, psychotherapist, and part-time writer and poet, Dr. Shaw knows all too well the trials of balancing work, life and everything in between. Using personal experience and education, she commits to “help you find your epiphany” through reflective skill building and solution oriented interventions that are future-focused, proactive, and empowering.
There are many adult entertainers but there is only one King Noire. His passion is pleasure and he is driven by freedom, justice & equality for all. King has toured the world via Hip-Hop(Hasan Salaam) and organized as a human rights projects in Guinea Bissau West Africa, Palestine & his home state of New Jersey. King began his career in adult entertainment as a nude model for magazines and adult websites. King’s clients did not take long to introduce him to the BDSM community. The attraction to his dominant nature lead to requests of servitude by submissives and cuckolds. He enjoyed and learned a great deal during years of live shows, fetish trainings and performing for XXX companies such as Scoreland, Bang Bros, Plumper Pass & Private Society. King is currently the co-owner of Jet Setting Jasmine LLC, an intimacy consultation company, with business partner Jet Seting Jasmine. Together, the duo has developed a series of Fantasy Flight parties and Master Fetish Training sessions. King and Jasmine have recently launched Royal Fetish Films, an adult film company that allows client’s to tailor their most intimate fantasies and fetishes and co-produce XXX films. “This is a renaissance for the art of making love”.
Greer Williams, our resident southerner, can be seen running from the classroom to the rally to the punk show to the play party any given day. As a queer Arkansan educator, they are constantly working to build power and understanding in the LGBTQI+ community. With art, writing, and connection close to their heart, Greer is always ready to learn, discuss, and inform. ; Jessica Ratchford, a mechanical engineering student, is the Executive director of Kink Underground. Deeply rooted in the LGBTQ community, Jessica works on many activism projects based in Chicago, which include HIV/ Aids, Youth homelessness, and black and brown queer power. ; Whether it’s walking the halls of Congress to talk about nuclear waste or belting out a favorite tune with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC, it is hard to miss Samuel Brinton‘s bright red mohawk. When Sam isn’t intently studying nuclear physics papers or educating the mass on kink play, Sam is an ardent activist against the dangerous and discredited practices of conversion therapy as the Co-Chair of the #BornPerfect Advisory Committee for the National Center of Lesbian Rights. ; Aaron Barnes is a British American trans man who has been fighting for gender and sexual equality for over ten years, on both sides of the The Pond. He has a BA in Cultural Anthropology, Human Rights, and Women’s & Gender Studies from Southern Methodist University. He is currently in the process of becoming an ordained interfaith chaplain. In Bristol, England, where he resides, he offers his educational and advocacy services, often working alongside such organizations as the ManKind Project, Gendered Intelligence, and Trans Pride Bristol. He is passionate about bringing spirituality and BDSM into conversations around gender, sex, and intimacy, ideally simultaneously, and always intersectionally! ; While originally Midwestern, Jules is a traveler at heart and most recently spent six months in New Zealand on fieldwork. Their LGBTQ+ community involvement includes work with oSTEM, local trans and LGBTQ+ groups, and most recently Kink Underground. Jules believes that education is vital for empowerment and seeks to share knowledge whenever they can. ; Part time painter, part time submissive, and full time red mohawk supporter. Kevin is Sam’s companion in crime. New to the Kink Underground family, but not to kink, he’s passionate about bondage and submission.
Many of you know me but for those who do not; my name is Reverend Deborah Harrison but I am better known as Lady D. I am a Lifestyle Domme and the owner of D&S Lifestyle Enterprises, Inc. I am also a certified master hypnotherapist and I truly believe in holistic healing of mind, body and spirit. As a sex consultant, I counsel and help those in complimentary lifestyles accept who they truly are. For almost fourteen years I ran (People Exchangeing Power), P.E.P Atlanta a BDSM pansexual support group in Atlanta Georgia. This organization provided weekly discussions, demonstrations, support and a play space to help educate those interested in power play relationships in a safe environment. In 2001, I created PEP4POC (People Exchanging Power for People of Color) an inclusionary group created to enlighten, empower and dispel myths and misconceptions concerning BDSM and People of Color. I also helped to organize and am the present President of Onyx Pearls Southeast, a women’s organization focused on female camaraderie, community awareness and service. Onyx Pearls is also the sister organization to The Southeast Men of Onyx. My personal commitment is to help make this community stronger and better and to continue Jill Carter’s philosopy of Each One, Teach One.
Sarah Avraham, Esq. a.k.a. Lady Steele
Lady Steele was born as a lover of all things BDSM and has been involved in Leather since 1999, where she just recently was gifted her boots by the community leaders. Lady Steele held the position of Social Coordinator for NLA – Atlanta during its inaugural year during its last incarnation in Atlanta and has presented across the U.S. She currently resides in Atlanta where she operates her law practice that primarily serves alternative lifestyles. Education is her passion, especially in the area of educating newcomers in what it is we do. She is also the Co-Founder of the local chapters of both MDHL/fs and the Worthless Bastards (Cigar) Club. Another of Lady Steele’s passions lies in presenting about the law. Her presentations cover many family, civil, criminal, contracts, and business law topics. More specifically, Lady Steele’s favorite legal topics to cover are how to protect BDSM families, poly families, and multipartnered households through legal documentation.
Lyndon Cudlitz began his social justice work as a queer trans teen in Portland, Maine and continued it in both his grassroots organizing and full-time work. His experience in sexuality education, queer youth empowerment, and racial and economic justice is strongly informed by his transfeminist and working-class perspectives. Lyndon previously founded and directed a social justice leadership retreat for queer youth in Maine, and currently is the director of training and community education for an LGBTQ center in Upstate New York.
Madame Estrella is a genderqueer Femme Domme, and SM Top, who has lived and breathed BDSM for the last twenty-five years. It’s amused her to discover just how useful a degree in Communications and training as a conflict mediator have been in her ongoing exploration and communication about BDSM. Estrella is a respected educator and well known performance artist, and was a pro Domme for twelve years. Estrella has a strong commitment to building ongoing leather community, and finds great joy in sharing her knowledge and skills. She has presented or performed for QSM, Fantasy Makers Academy, The Center for Sex and Culture, The Exiles, Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, and Twelve Inches of Sin, as well as for conferences including DomDominion, Folsom Fringe, IMsL, and Living in Leather. Although she can wield a whip expertly and enjoys inflicting all kinds of delicious torture, her absolute favorite toys are her mind and spirit, and she most enjoys play that is mentally challenging, and promotes strong connections.
A recent transplant from Canada, Mademoiselle Ceci is a powerful Alpha Femme chasing life and adventure. She has been on various portions of her Leather journey for the past decade, and done so more publicly in the past several years. Education, Mentoring and Hedonism are her Passions. In recent years she served as International Ms. Leather’s Seduction manager, a charity-driven evening of burlesque, strip tease, drag, kink, and more. She has also served on the executive board of the International Drag King Extravaganza and the Toronto International Burlesque Festival. Mademoiselle Ceci is producer, choreographer, performer and manager for various shows and Pride stages in Toronto, San Francisco, Baltimore and Columbus.
Maggie is the lead organizer of the first Slutwalk Atlanta. She is also the founder of Alright, Rebel- ALREB, a southern grassroots organization formed to maintain a safe place for all but focusing on queer, trans, and poc and support other local groups. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a concentration on English & Gender Studies. Queer Activism is her passion and she makes an effort to bring visibility to the south with a queer eye.
Maisha Najuma Aza
Maisha Najuma Aza is a black, queer/lesbian co-parent of two teens, a partner and an ecstatic lover. She is also a certified Tantra sacred intimacy coach, a certified reiki practitioner, a certified massage therapist, and a Shaman priestess, with a Master’s degree in social work. She is the founder of A Life Alive Consulting and Black Girl Tantra (http://www.alifealiveconsulting.com), in Atlanta, GA (and beyond), where she uses the erotic marriage of spirituality and sexuality, to provide sexual healing and experiential workshops. Maisha’s deeply accepting, open and down-to-earth energy makes her work especially powerful! She simultaneously weaves in her Black lesbian activist roots and her social work background to create comprehensive experiential healing sessions that impact the multidimensional aspects of a person’s psycho-sexual, physical, spiritual and energetic world. From Atlanta to Oakland, Seattle to New York to Lima, Peru, Maisha travels, wherever she is called to teach, individual, partner and group sacred intimacy coaching sessions; spiritual consulting; and erotic embodiment classes. Her 19 years in bodywork, 13 years in workshop facilitation, 9 years in mental health, and 17 years in the Leather, BDSM and poly communities; alongside her own spiritual and sexual liberation, inform her deeply transformational work.
Mistress Orchid has a formal science degree and has taught such concepts for years. After over 10 years of formally teaching science and mating behavior, she decided to live authentically and open up BDSM toy business. She now travels the world educating about science and sex to a more fun crowd.
Monet Magnolia is a fist shakin’ shimmy shakin’ Burlesque Dancer, Vocalist, Performance Artist, Femme/Diva Drag Queen, and avid book nerd.
Dr. Natasha Watson Mack
Dr. Natasha Watson Mack has over 20 years of experience as a domestic violence and sexual assault counselor working with men who have been physically, emotionally, sexually, psychologically and economically abusive to their partners, and as crisis intervention counselor at an agency for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Natasha does extensive work with teens in the area of sexual dating violence and safer sex practices. At Widener University she studied Human Sexuality earning her 2nd Masters degree. She also obtained her PhD in Clinical Human Sexuality at Widener University. Natasha has also established her own professional relationship and sexuality coaching, counseling, and educating business. She does individual sessions as well as groups, workshops, seminars and professional presentations. She created a series of seminars entitled “Developing Healthy Sexuality through Sisterhood” which were designed to empower women to live sex positive lives. In addition, she does sexual harassment trainings for private businesses and corporations. She brings a tremendous amount of insight to services, reflected in the success stories of the populations she serves.
I’m Nichole Little and I am the Founder and Executive Director of Sexual Health Education, Research & Outreach (SHERO). SHERO is a grassroots community advocacy network whose focus is personal development and sexual empowerment for African American Women. SHERO provides workshops, trainings and roundtables, most specifically related to HIV Prevention in communities of color. I am a Sex, Love and Relationship Coach with a focus on Good Black Love. I conduct group, couple and one on one coaching/mentoring in the bay area and across the country. I received my academic education from Merritt College (Oakland, CA) and California State University, Hayward. I completed the Black AIDS Institute’s African American HIV University/Community Mobilization College and I am currently a member of AVAC’s pxROAR Biomedical Community Outreach Fellowship. For more information or to schedule a consultation, contact me at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Onyx Keesha & Xen Shinobii
Onyx Keesha is the founder of Onyx Keesha Films, with several films and theatrical productions under her belt, Onyx decided to step into the world of Erotica, believing there were few representations of queer women of color on the screen; sex positive and body positive work is what Onyx focuses on. Xen is her first work in her new erotica collection of films, her second film “Moods and Moments” will be released early June. Onyx is proud to have her film selected premiere at the first ever SEX DOWN SOUTH conference and to have it selected as a feature at this years CINEKINK film festival in New York City.
Queer Moxie Documentary Panel
Heather Provoncha and Leo Hollen, Jr. are Atlanta based filmmakers focused on celebrating and representing the communities on the margins. Their goal is celebrating the history and great stories of our intersecting communities past and present through documentary while pushing our story forward to the future through narrative and other visual media. Queer Moxie is their first feature documentary together celebrating the importance and power in queer performance art.
Treah Caldwell Sutphin is the creator of Camellia Cuntwell, Atlanta’s preeminent full figured burlesque heartthrob. Camellia titillated and scandalized audiences from Seattle to Atlanta, Manhattan to Florida in her heyday from 2002-2007. By day Treah is a psychotherapist in metro Atlanta and by night she dreams of bringing Camellia out of retirement with a glittery and devastating return to the stage. For more info on Camellia’s day drag, please check out therapywithtreah.com
Vivianna Vavoom was a voluptuous queer femme performer in several of Moxie Cabaret’s shows in 2007-2008. She was the culmination of early theatre and ballroom dancing roots intertwined with a blossoming exhibitionist, fat-positive, sex-positive spirit. Vivianna was eager for the opportunity to share her magic with an audience that only a show like Moxie could lure. A stage where queer people of all sizes, ages and ethnicities could shine. Although only a performer for a short span, the Moxie Cabaret stage provided Vivianna with connections that led her to moonlight as a lingerie and fetish model (Coco Devereaux) for the past 8 years. She is very gracious for Moxie’s role as the glittery stepping stone that shaped the sexuality activist and confident women she would later become.
James Darling is a southern born, bay area based trans adult performer, sex educator and director. James was included on the Trans 100 for his work in the adult industry, two time Transgender Erotica Awards FTM Performer of the year, Feminist Porn Awards Heartthrob of the Year and has been nominated numerous times at AVN, XBiz, and Cybersocket as a performer and director. Darling’s rise in porn began with his performance debut on CrashPadSeries.com, and continued with queer and trans porn studios, including T-Wood Pictures, TROUBLEfilms, Alternadudes and Buck Angel Entertainment. In 2012 James launched FTMFUCKER.com, one of the first all FTM porn membership sites and has since released four feature length films. His work has been featured internationally at film festivals, universities and conferences on topics related to trans issues, sex worker rights and privacy. You can find more of James Darling’s adventures on Twitter and Tumblr at JamesDarlingxxx.
Caitlin Childs is a queer, intersex, femme writer and community organizer raised and rooted in Atlanta, GA. She is a former sex worker and burlesque performer and was a founding member of Atlanta first all queer burlesque troupe, The Dixie Pistols. Find her online at www.caitlinpetrakischilds.com
Rafaella Fiallo, MSW, LMSW is a social worker and sex educator with a passion for working with survivors of sexual abuse and violence. Concentrating on Mental Wellness and believing that an engaging, healthy, and pleasurable sex life is a human right, she works from a pleasure-centered perspective. Additionally, she aims to provide hope to survivors of sexual violence and trauma through encouraging positive sexual attitudes and healthy practices. Rafaella is co-creator of Afrosexology, a program to encourage Black bodies to discuss and discover sexuality in a way that will promote empowerment and liberation.
Rebecca Hiles is a dating, relationships, and sexual wellness coach called The Frisky Fairy(www.friskyfairy.com ). She is a writer who addresses issues of polyamory, cancer, sex education, and sex toys. She has contributed to Sexpert.com, xoJane.com, and havs had her writing featured on EverydayFeminism.com discussing her life as a polyamorous cancer patient, among other things. She has spoken at CatalystCon East and West, Poly For All Seasons, AwesomeCon, Rocky Mountain Poly Living, Atlanta Poly Weekend, InfinityCon and Woodhull Sexual Freedom Summit. She is a member of the Poly Leadership Network, and is certified as a sex educator through Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. She was voted one of the Top 100 Sex Blogging Superheroes of 2014 and 2015. She is a member and contributor to the Gentle Perverts Social Club podcast. She is co-writing a book on coming out as poly (comingoutpoly.co ) and you can help by submitting your coming out stories there.
America’s favorite sex geek, Reid Mihalko of ReidAboutSex.com and Relationship10x.com helps adults and college students create more self-esteem, self-confidence and greater health in their relationships and sex lives using an inspiring mixture of humor, keen insight, and comprehensive sexual health information. Reid frequently speaks at colleges and universities on sexual assault prevention and healthy relationship skills, and regularly appears in the media sharing his views on consent, dating, and shame-free sexuality. Reid’s workshops and college lectures have been attended by close to 50,000 men and women. He has appeared in media such as Oprah’s Our America With Lisa Ling on OWN, the Emmy award-winning talk show Montel, Dr. Phil’s The Doctors on CBS, Bravo’s Miss Advised, Fox News, in Newsweek, Seventeen, GQ, The Washington Post, and in thirteen countries and at least seven languages. Reid is also founder of Sex Geek Summer Camp and Sex Geek School for Gifted Sex Geeks which help sex educators learn valuable business skills that allow them to reach more people, transform move lives, and make a better living as sexperts. Follow Reid on Twitter and Facebook and YouTube – @ReidAboutSex or /ReidAboutSex
Roan Sarah Coughtry, MSW, is a healer, sex educator, and transqueer writer based out of Atlanta, GA. With roots originating from the rural farmlands of New York, they’ve lived in many different corners of the country and world, fostering a background in social justice organizing, alternative healing, creative arts, and radical sex positivity along the way. After receiving their Masters in Social Work from Smith College in 2011, they co-founded an advocacy and support group for trans* and nonbinary folks in Albany, NY. In addition to co-founding the Sexual Liberation Collective, they’re a lead producer of the Sex Down South Conference and an organizer of the annual Southern Fried Queer Pride festival in Atlanta. In 2015 they were invited to be on the advisory board of Project AFFIRM, an organization researching trans* resilience, and they regularly facilitate trainings and workshops on gender, sexuality, race, disability, mental health, spirituality and violence prevention. They’re most inspired when they’re out in the community building bridges, facilitating conversations, and kindling the connection between creativity, spirituality, embodied practice and liberation. Learn more about their work at www.roancoughtry.com.
Robin Wilson-Beattie, proprietor of sexAbled, is a nationally recognized self and systems disability advocate. After acquiring a physical disability in 2004, Wilson-Beattie has offered presentations at conferences, medical schools, and disability organizations about the intersection of race, disability, sexuality, and kink. Find her at sexabledwithrobinwb.com and @sexAbled.
Dr. Ruthie Neustifter
Dr. Ruth Neustifter is a recognized relationship expert specializing in sexual well-being and education as well as recovery from intimate partner violence. She works with a diverse range of individuals and relationships, conducts original research, offers workshops, and is available for professional consultation. Ruth Neustifter is an assistant professor and graduate faculty member at the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada) in the Couples & Family Therapy program. She holds a doctoral degree in Child & Family Development with specializations in Couples and Family Therapy and Qualitative Research. Ruth has a growing list of publications in academic journals as well as in the mainstream press and continues to create original research in her areas of interest.
Born and raised in Miami, Sadia is a South Asian Pakistani Guyanese/West Indian, Muslim woman with experience as a peer sex educator and reproductive justice advocate.
Sir Claire Black
Sir Claire Black (they/them pronouns) is a professional dominatrix, sex and BDSM workshop facilitator, sex-positive events producer and kinky performer based in London but working around the world. They are committed to helping people explore, accept and revel in all facets of their sexuality. They’ve been working in the world of sexuality for 8 years and are absolutely fascinated by the diversity of human turn-ons. Claire is a non-binary gendered creature, and has spent their adult life navigating how to express this, what it means in relationships, in sex, and in work.
Shayla D. Tumbling, M.S., NCC
Shayla’s mission is to educate people in understanding historical, cultural, generational trauma; the impact it has on our daily functioning and supporting them in developing solutions and healing the trauma in order to have a healthier quality of life. As an Emotional Wellness & Sexuality Empowerment Mentor Shayla supports her clients in developing a healthy balanced relationship with themselves and with others. Her mentorship, coaching, and educational style are integrative, holistic, and sex-positive. She works with clients to better understand how sexuality is integral to their humanity and how to achieve unique healthy relationships with their personal sexuality. Understanding the different levels of Human Connection & Intimacy she is also the co-founder of A Southern Touch Company LLC: A Cuddling & Companionship Company, which specializes in healing platonic touch services based in Atlanta, GA.
Sexual Liberation Collective
The Sexual Liberation Collective (sexualliberationcollective.com) is an intentional collaboration of folks who are passionate about sexual liberation and healing for all people. We see sexual liberation as a human right and our bodies and desires as sacred. Believing in the possibility of healing for all people, including ourselves, we strive to be a collective that prioritizes people of color, trans* and gender non-conforming folks, people of working class backgrounds, sex workers, women, and all body shapes, sizes, and abilities. The SLC provides sexual liberators with support, advice, and accountability on their personal and professional projects, and provides education and healing to larger communities through facilitating workshops, skillshares, and healing circles. Since its inception in 2013, the SLC has presented at numerous conferences around the country, including Creating Change, Unity Through Diversity, the Woodhull Sexual Freedom Summit, and Sex Down South.
Stacey Herrera is a Body, Love, and Pleasure Strategist, from southern California. Her sensuality focused work helps women to enjoy their bodies, cultivate conscious relationships, and live delicious whole-hearted lives. She loves having shame-free conversations about subjects that should be shameless, because “life is sexually transmitted” and she believes that in order to live a wholehearted life, we must include our whole selves.
Tal Peretz has engaged in and studied men’s anti-sexist and anti-violence activism for over a decade. His Ph.D. is in Sociology and Gender studies, from the University of Southern California. He is the author of “Some Men: Male Allies and the Movement to End Violence Against Women” (Oxford University Press), co-written with Michael Messner and Max Greenberg. His latest research looks at how intersecting race, class, religious, and sexual identities shape the efforts of two grassroots men’s gender justice groups. His scholarship on men, masculinities, and feminism has been published in academic journals, edited volumes, and popular and activist/professional newsletters. He also contributes to the blog Mascuinities101.com, posting advice for men’s groups that endeavor to ally with women in working for gender justice.
Dr. Vertna Bradley
Dr. Vertna Bradley is a filmmaker and professor at Carthage College in the Department of Communication & Digital Media. She holds a PhD in Media & Communication Studies with an emphasis on Film & Philosophy, an MFA in Film & Video Production with a Complementary Study in Mass Communication, and a BFA in Film & Video Production. Her first experience in mass communication was traditional and began in 1990, working in print journalism and graphic design. She began film school in 1995. After graduating in 1998, she started working in television production for Time Warner, then for NBC, ABC, and Fox affiliates, where she created a variety of programs, commercials, and news promos.
Virginia Goss is a master’s degree student at Princeton Theological Seminary. Along with pursuing ordination, Virginia’s professional passions include social work and creating safe and healing spaces for people within and outside the church. Virginia was raised outside of Atlanta, GA, attended college in Memphis, TN, and it a recent transplant to New Jersey. According to Virginia’s uncle, she is a false prophetess that is ushering in the apocalypse. Feel free to contact her at email@example.com.
Yoseñio V. Lewis
Yoseñio V. Lewis is a Latino of African Descent female to male transsexual who has been a social justice activist since he was 13 years old. A consultant, health educator, speaker, trainer, facilitator, writer, performer, out poly and kinky person and a spiritual hugger, Yoseñio has been a panelist and keynote speaker at numerous universities and sexuality conferences. He was one of the inaugural honorees of The Trans 100 list. Yoseñio is a Board Member of TASHRA (The Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance), a Board Member of the AFFIRM Project Transgender Resilience Study and a member of The Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians. He is a Certified Restorative Justice Practitioner and has completed the Introduction to the Principles of Kingian Nonviolence and Conflict Resolution. Yoseñio is the founder of Written In The Flesh, an annual Erotic writing and performing experience to uplift the voices of People of Color. He is a co-founder of Big Boys’ Ink™ Productions, a theatrical writing and performing company, and he has been featured in several documentaries about gender identity and the trans* experience. Yoseñio believes that there can be no art without activism and no activism without art.
Dr. Zelaika Hepworth Clarke
Zelaika S. Hepworth Clarke, PhD, MSW, MEd is a sexosopher, sexual epistemologist, cultural and clinical sexologist, sexecologist, African-centered social worker, and decolonizing autoethnographer. Zelaika received a Bachelor’s degree in Sexuality, Culture and Oppression at New York University. In 2012, Zelaika obtained a Masters in Social Work and Masters in Education of Human Sexuality from Widener University as well as a certificate from the National Academy for African-Centered Social Work. Zelaika has studied internationally in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Trinidad, Jamaica, Netherlands, and Cuba. In 2014, Zelaika conducted decolonizing research in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil which focused on exploring Ọ̀ṣunality, an African-centered, sex-positive, post-colonial paradigm that affirms diversity in sensuality, sexual pleasure and eroticism. In 2015, Zelaika received a Ph.D. at the Center for Human Sexuality Studies. Zelaika is committed to intersectional mindfulness, counter-oppressive discourses, the decolonization project, empowerment and increasing sexual epistemic justice and diversity.