(Boston, MA) GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) is thrilled to announce the appointment of three new board members: Jessyca Feliciano, Matthew McGuirk, and Spencer Icasiano. These individuals have served the LGBTQ community for many years and bring robust experience in the areas of corporate diversity, financial development, and technology user experience.

“With their commitment to GLAD’s mission and work, Jessyca, Matthew, and Spencer’s diverse talents will add to the Board’s strength, making us even more ready to face the challenges ahead. We are excited to welcome three people with such varied professional backgrounds and passion for LGBTQ equality,” said Executive Director Janson Wu.

Jessyca Feliciano is a Vice President of Employee Relations at State Street Corporation, helping manage the relationships between the organization and its employees. Prior to joining State Street, Jessyca held positions of increasing responsibility in corporate and non-profit organizations, most recently with Mass Mutual as a Human Resources Business Partner supporting the Data Science and Digital Design corporate groups and their leaders. In addition to her primary responsibilities, Jessyca also served as a diversity and inclusion liaison, holding the business accountable for implementing diversity best practices and strategies. She started her career in social work working with at risk youth in underprivileged communities, always focusing on creating opportunities of inclusion, which is still something very close to her heart. Jessyca earned a Master of Education with a focus on Organizational Development and Leadership from Cambridge College’s Graduate School of Education, and a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Roberts Wesleyan College.

Matthew McGuirk is a Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley. He has worked in asset & wealth management for over 20 years, currently focusing his practice on serving the LGBTQ community. In his public service life, he serves on several boards & committees that support this community and is honored to begin work on the Development Committee of GLAD’s Board. Matt particularly looks forward to building bridges between organizations with which he has ties, such as the MA LGBT Chamber of Commerce where he is a founding partner, and other non-profits such as Community Research Initiative where he is a member of the Board; Fenway Health where he is a member of the Board of Visitors; and the Human Rights Campaign, where he is a member of the New England Steering Committee and Co-Chair of the Federal Club for New England. Outside of his advocacy work, Matt also enjoys theater, and serves on the Board of Directors of New Repertory Theater. While he is committed to all areas of GLAD’s work, he has a particular interest in protecting children and the elderly and has been involved with organizations such as the LGBT Community Center and SAGE. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, and holds an Executive Certificate in Financial Planning from Georgetown University and a Master of Science in Financial Planning from Bentley University.

Spencer Icasiano is a product designer at HubSpot, and a user experience specialist who has held previous positions at Care.com and Wayfair. Spencer has consulted on and designed tech platforms that create seamless experiences for clients and customers. In addition to their day job, they work as a contributing writer for 90.9 WBUR, covering primarily QTPOC (queer and trans people of color) artists and activists whose cultural impacts are directly shaping the future of Boston. The beginning of Spencer’s connection to GLAD was as a resource – GLAD provided support to Spencer through a violent and transphobic landlord situation, as well as gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment instances in their career. Spencer’s natural inquisitiveness and pursuit of justice has spilled over into other areas of their life and thanks in part to GLAD’s impact they’ve been able to successfully advocate for employee environment and policy improvements and consulted on inclusive hiring practices at public tech companies. Spencer’s public speaking skills have been cultivated at professional conferences, engineering bootcamps, and local institutions—from world-class universities to Fortune 100 corporations—where they lead talks and workshops on topics of cultural competency and organizational change.  Spencer earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Writing from Emerson College.

Jessyca, Matthew and Spencer join current board members Joyce Kauffman (President), Darian Butcher (Vice President), Marlene Seltzer (Treasurer), Leila Bailey-Stewart, Edward Byrne, Francisco Cabas, Martha Holt Castle, Fred Csibi-Levin, Liz Doherty, Shane Dunn, Joseph Garland, George Hastie, David Hayter, Dianne Phillips, Lee Swislow, and Richard Yurko.

 

Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.