The Marriage EQuality USA National Team consists of positions appointed by the Board of Directors. Marriage Equality USA has an amazing and diverse group of leaders who aide our organization in leading, developing and implementing outreach plans and education materials. Below are biographies for our current National Team.

MEUSA and Marriage Equality New York (MENY) are in the process of consolidating to be an even stronger force in the fight for marriage equality.  We will be updating this list upon completion of that process.  Click here for more information on MENY.

Stuart Gaffney National Media Director

Stuart Gaffney and his husband John Lewis have been prominent voices speaking out for marriage equality in the local, national and international media since 2004. Stuart is one of the well-known "faces" of the marriage equality movement. His messaging and marriage equality news dissemination is widely relied upon, both professionally and informally. Stuart and John were plaintiffs in the California case for marriage equality, In re marriage cases. Together for 24 years, they legally married in 2008. A graduate of Yale University, Stuart is a filmmaker and a policy analyst at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. The National Media Director serves as the primary liaison to all areas of the organization as it relates to media/press. MEUSA Media Center Not surprisingly, Stuart was president of his high school's debate team WAY back in 1980. Stuart says that one of the best times of their lives was when he and husband John backpacked around the world together before their wedding day.

Pamela Brown National Policy Director/Board Member

Pamela and her wife Shauna married in 2008. Following the election in 2004, Pamela, and therefore her partner, became more involved in working for marriage equality after watching our supporters and families become targets for the election results. Pamela is the Executive Director for Admin-Planning & Analysis at UC Berkeley, where she focuses on project management, including the production of statistical analyses and ways to present them to various audiences. She also attended Professor George Lakoff's (Don't Think of an Elephant) linguistics course to examine ways to successfully frame messages and has volunteered with Lakoff's Rockridge Institute to provide background information and materials on how progressives and conservatives discuss marriage equality. Prior to joining becoming Policy Director and joining our Board of Directors, Pam volunteered with Robin Barnett as a chapter leader in CA Alameda County; she helped get the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to approve a marriage equality resolution, and successfully encouraged the Alameda County Clerk's office to revise their statements regarding our marriage counter actions to acknowledge the County's non-discrimination clause and Board of Supervisor support. Pamela can pull the stats and facts together quickly to help us target and communicate our message: that marriage matters; that domestic partnerships and civil unions are not equal to marriage.

Christine Allen National Leadership Coordinator/Board Member

Christine is a long-term political and community activist -- she is passionate about civil rights and equal justice for all. She has worked in the arenas of racial and economic injustice, fair housing and LGBTIQ rights. As the Leadership Coordinator Christine handles the administrative work involved in setting up volunteer leaders and providing those leaders with what they need to do the front line work in this movement. She also networks with other organizations, responds to public inquiries, works with Drupal adding and editing website content, and deals with our Benchmark and Calliflower systems. In the '90's Christine served as a member of the Executive Board and as the Media Director for Out on the Island (OOTI) in Alameda, CA. She worked as a chapter leader with Marriage Equality California and Equality California, and was the MEUSA Administrative Coordinator before assuming the Leadership Coordinator position and joining the Board of Directors. Christine and her "wiffle", Ann, have been together through 26 years and 5 kids; they think they deserve awards for perseverance. Christine drinks strong, black tea around the clock -- hot when it's cold, iced when it's hot -- and, she believes in her heart of hearts that cake is the "staff of life".

John Lewis Legal Analyst

John Lewis graduated in the top ten percent of his class from Stanford Law School in 1986, where he was awarded the Steven M. Block Award for writing on Civil Liberties.  After clerking for the Honorable Thelton E. Henderson of the Northern District of California Federal Court, he practiced civil rights, public policy, and constitutional law.  John and his husband, Stuart Gaffney, were plaintiffs in the landmark California Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th 757 (2008), that established broad constitutional protections for lesbian and gay people and the freedom to marry in California before Proposition 8. John is a member of the State Bar of California. John provides legal analyses of marriage equality-related court case proceedings, judicial decisions, and legislation to Marriage Equality USA leaders and members. Marriage Equality in the Courts Additionally, John works with his husband, Stuart Gaffney, Marriage Equality USA's Media Director, as a media resource and public spokeperson for the organization. Interesting fact: John worked in a refugee camp in the Philippines for Southeast Asian refugees in the early 1980's.  He totally agrees with Stuart's assessment of their pre-wedding global backpacking trip!

Thom Watson Social Media Wizard

Thom is an avid reader, gamer, Lego builder, sci-fi and fantasy fan, and Internet junkie -- a real geek's geek. Professionally, Thom has directed e-commerce, online learning and electronic communications programs for the University of California, PBS, and the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute, among others, and he brings his communications and IT experience to bear for MEUSA's social media outreach efforts. Originally from Virginia's rural Alleghany Highlands and a Harvard graduate, Thom now lives with his partner Jeff Tabaco and their two cats, Mojo and Tiki, in a mid-century house in Daly City, CA, the perfect backdrop to their living room tiki bar and collection of tiki mugs, mid-century dinnerwear, and 1962 Seattle World's Fair memorabilia. Registered domestic partners in California, Thom and Jeff plan to marry once Prop 8 is finally and truly put to rest, and the full and equal protections of the U.S. Constitution are available to them. In addition to marriage equality and LGBTIQ rights, Thom also is passionately devoted to issues of secularism, church-state separation, gender equality, and social justice. MEUSA on Facebook and Twitter @meusa

Ned Flaherty Project Manager Election 2012

Ned lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he pursues a non-profit career in community and LGBT activism, and a for-profit career in information technology.  He created the Election 2012 project to show 12 major ways in which LGBT people still are not full and equal citizens, to expand the national dialogue, and to provide usable data to candidates, journalists, and voters.  Since the project began, presidential candidates have gradually increased their overall support for LGBT equality.  Ned sees all equality issues as interdependent, and hopes that people in the more-equal states will continue working toward justice for the less-equal states.  When he’s not working, it’s easy to catch Ned on a stormy day at some art house theater watching foreign films about hot food.

Jenn Chan Software Development Coordinator

Jenn Chan came to us from the frozen tundras of Colorado and now resides in San Diego, CA with her lovely wife.  She is a long time supporter of equal rights for all people, and an advocate for basic civil rights as a basic and proper courtesy.  Starting as a canvasser for California's No on Prop 8 campaign, she quickly realized that any contribution no matter seemingly how large or small could really make a difference in so many people's lives.  Her technical expertise (through decades of tinkering) has driven her to follow the motto of "Always try to make things easier and simpler for people so we can all live better lives."  She coordinates many of our technical projects and has hopes of continuing to fight for marriage equality until true equality is finally realized for all of us. Jenn's favorite game is EverQuest, and she loves the book Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Her favorite flick is Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and this multi-talented woman can use her feet to pick up things.

Tiffany Word Supplies Manager

Tiffany is located in Virginia and she serves as the supply depot for all of Marriage Equality USA. She handles all "shopping", ordering, storing, and shipping of supplies for our volunteer leaders, and sometimes for volunteer activists in other organizations. Tiff coordinates with her supplies assistant on the West Coast, activist and volunteer extraordinaire, Billy Bradford. Tiffany is passionate about marriage equality because she is devoted to working for equality for all people. It's as simple as that. She refuses to be a person who complains and does nothing to change what is wrong. In addition to Tiffany's husband Chris, and her three step-children, the other love of her life is her dog, Teddy, who she considers to be another "son". Teddy has sparked the other good fight Tiffany is involved in -- rescuing dogs from the shelter and abused/neglected dogs.