Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, J.D.
Interim Executive Director
Katie Belanger
Co-Interim Executive Director
Maya Simek, Esq.
Legal Director
Maya Simek, Esq. (she/her/hers) serves as the Legal Director at Equality Ohio, where she she has spent the past year developing and launching a state-wide legal clinic for the lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer (LGBTQ+) community. Ms. Simek further serves as a Clinical Law Professor and Co-Director of Case Western Reserve’s Health & Human Trafficking Clinic.
Ms. Simek focuses her practice on legal issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community and human trafficking prevention and victim redress. Other areas of interest for Ms. Simek include community lawyering and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, particularly with social services, on the efficacy of legal practice. The focus on these areas of interest inspired Ms. Simek’s spearheading of a law clinic for individuals affected by HIV/AIDS engaging in case management services at the Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center in 2012.
Ms. Simek earned her J.D. in 2010 from Cleveland State College of Law, her M.S.S.A in 2007 from Case Western Reserve’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, and her B.S. in 2000 from John Carroll University. Ms. Simek is admitted to the bar in Ohio and California. In addition, she is an Ohio Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervision designation(LISW-S).
Maria Bruno, Esq.
Public Policy Director
Sarah Hastings
Director of Development
MD Sitzes
Communications Manager
Jen Scott
Statewide Field Manager
Jen Scott (she/her/hers) is a native Ohioan from Forest Park, Ohio. She attended Northwestern University earning a degree in Chemistry. After returning to Ohio, she embarked on a successful career in information technology and established her own consulting firm. In 2015, she began another path in life, that of a community organizer and grassroots activist. She became very involved with the atheist and secular movement, driven by a passion for separation of religion and government. She believes strongly that an individual’s right to religious freedom should not infringe on the rights of others. In 2016, she co-organized a campaign which drew international attention to raise awareness of the anti-LGBTQ hiring practices of a tourist attraction in Williamstown, Kentucky. In 2018, she was recognized as Activist of the Year at the national convention for American Atheists, and now serves on the Chair for the Board of directors.
She also serves on the board of Cincinnati Pride as the Director of Compliance and Parade Chair and as Vice President for the Community Shares of Greater Cincinnati. She also expresses her love of science by running Science on Tap, a science education program. Through her volunteer roles, Jen learned how to use personal passion to empower a community to make a real difference in the lives of others. She brought this passion to Equality Ohio when she joined the team in 2019 to establish and expand our work in the southwest Ohio region and now works statewide.
Jen also serves as the acting Steward for the Equality Ohio Workers United Union.