OutYouth announces new executive director

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AUSTIN–Following a national search, OutYouth has selected Jaryn Holbrook Janeway (they/them), currently the organization’s director of programs and operations, to be the new executive director effective Feb. 12.

OutYouth, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2025, supports the physical, mental, and social well-being of youth of all sexual orientations and gender identities in Central Texas. The organization serves more than 5,000 youth every year with three locations, 16 employees, and a budget of $2 million.

Reporting to the board of directors, Janeway will lead OutYouth’s strategic direction, operations, finances, fundraising, and community partnerships; ultimately responsible for the quality and impact of all programs and initiatives.

“With Jaryn as our executive director, OutYouth is well-positioned for continued growth and success, and to serve the youth who need our programs and services more than ever,” says board chairperson Brandon Wollerson.

“Jaryn is the perfect person to help lead us into the future. During their 20-year tenure at OutYouth they’ve managed programs and operations during the period of a 700 percent increase in annual revenue, helped us adapt to completely virtual programs during the pandemic, and created a satellite-based service model after the catastrophic flooding that took our headquarters out of service in 2024, among other achievements.

“On a personal note, Jaryn and I met more than 20 years ago when we were students at UT Austin. Since then, I’ve served alongside Jaryn in numerous community leadership and advocacy roles and observed their highly effective and inclusive leadership style and deep commitment to OutYouth’s mission,” Wollerson says.

Janeway’s credentials include an undergraduate degree and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and certification as a senior human resources professional by the Society for Human Resources Management; community service including spearheading the $250K budget recommendation for the City of Austin LGBTQ+ Commission’s landmark quality of life study and subsequently serving as its chairperson, on the board of the Central Texas Transgender Health Coalition, and as interim executive director of the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival.

Janeway co-authored a multiple award-winning book, “Trans +: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You” for teens of all gender identities, published in 2019 and lauded by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, and the School Library Journal, among many others.

Brett Ashley Kaplan’s new novel coming in Fall, 2027

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Congratulations to client Brett Ashley Kaplan whose new novel Epiphany’s Lament will be published by Regal House Publishing as part of their Fall 2027 frontlist season!

Brett’s debut novel Rare Stuff was featured in the 2022 Texas Book Festival and received a glowing recommendation from Kirkus Reviews, among other honors.

Allison Orr, founder and artistic director of Forklift Danceworks with city workers.

Forklift Danceworks’ founder profiled in Bold Journey Magazine

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Allison Orr, founder and artistic director of Forklift Danceworks with city workers.

Allison Orr, founder and artistic director of Forklift Danceworks, creates award-winning choreography with all kinds of performers. From Venetian gondoliers to firefighters, trained dancers to Elvis impersonators, maintenance men to women over 65, her work challenges audiences to expand notions of dance and performer while posing the question: who and what can be presented on stage?

From her recent profile in Bold Journey magazine: “While getting my MFA in Choreography at Mills College, I was eating one day after rehearsals in the school cafe and looked up to see a man washing windows. His movements were both graceful and exact, and I thought, ‘Now this is the most interesting choreography I have seen in a long time!’ I got permission to job shadow him, and from there directed a series of dances with him and a group of his fellow employees that highlighted the movement and rhythm inherent in their work.

“By working with these employees, I was able to collaborate to make beautiful dances AND help my fellow students understand more about their critical contributions to campus life. That initial project laid the foundation for Forklift’s mission: to activate communities through a collaborative creative process.”

See more about Forklift Dancework’s innovative process and work on their website and order Orr’s new book Dance Works: Stories of Creative Collaborations, here.

Come From Away original Broadway cast

Come From Away fundraiser for Pay It Forward 9/11

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Come From Away original Broadway cast

The musical Come From Away, described as “a celebration of the best of humankind,” is the centerpiece of an event to raise money for Pay It Forward 9/11, a nonprofit promoting kindness founded by Kevin Tuerff (“real Kevin T.”), who was part of the original true story.

The event on January 4th in Austin has three parts—tickets to the touring production of Come From Away at Bass Concert Hall at the University of Texas at Austin, a pre-performance reception at the Texas Exes Alumni Center where Tuerff and the “real Nick and Diane” will be interviewed, and a private post-performance Q&A with the cast.

The Pay it Forward 9/11 kindness movement founded in 2002 is now a global charity with participants in all 50 states and a dozen countries. Money raised will help grow its 11 Days of Kindness for Kids program at schools across America.

More information and to purchase tickets: https://www.payitforward911.org/event-list

Do you want a future of decency equality and real social justice

National LGBT Cancer Network calls out major media

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Do you want a future of decency equality and real social justicePROVIDENCE, R.I., March 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Recent news stories in Newsweek and The Telegraph on a purported connection between gender-affirming hormone therapy and cancer are misleading and dangerous, according to the leadership of the National LGBT Cancer Network, a nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of LGBT cancer survivors and those at risk through education, training, and advocacy.

“The articles artificially elevate rare case reports as scientific ‘evidence’ of a connection between these therapies and cancer,” says Scout, executive director of the network. “Simply repeating a provider’s hypothesis that a treatment might relate to cancer does not constitute scientific evidence. The stories further misconstrue expected realignment of a person’s cancer risk with their true gender as more ‘evidence’ of problems with gender affirming therapy. For example, comparing a trans woman’s risk of breast cancer to men is deliberately misleading.”

There is no body of scientific evidence supporting a hypothesis that gender-affirming hormone therapy increases cancer risk, Scout says. “Attempting to draw this connection is a baldfaced attempt to misinterpret real science and use inflammatory language to fearmonger. There is no fire here; there isn’t even a spark.

“Most dismayingly, there is a major problem related to cancer among trans people that is not being covered by the media: how discrimination is a barrier to trans cancer screenings, diagnosis, and treatment.”

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-lgbt-cancer-network-calls-out-major-media-outlets-for-misinformation-on-transgender-cancer-302085695.html?tc=eml_cleartime

GFO Home featured in Inspire Magazine

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Check out the feature on GFO Home’s collaboration with BSB Design featured in the most recent issue of Inspire Magazine. Pictured is GFO’s model home in North Haven, in Liberty Hill. The Lincoln plan, a modern farmhouse ranch style, was customized specifically for North Haven’s wider lots, focusing on the front elevation and dramatic indoor and outdoor living spaces.

ThunderCloud Subs partners with Creative Action

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ThunderCloud Subs recently announced a new partnership with Creative Action, the local nonprofit that uses the arts to inspire creativity and equip students to make positive change in their communities.

The company donated $10,000 to Creative Action to facilitate the 2024  ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot Art Contest. Kids from selected schools in Creative Action’s after-school programs will benefit from a custom curriculum about helping their neighbors, and one winning student will see their art on thousands of T-shirts, posters, and promotions around the Trot this fall, AND receive a year’s worth of free ThunderCloud Subs!

ThunderCloud Subs raises $225,000 for Caritas of Austin

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The owners of ThunderCloud Subs presented a check for $225,000, representing 100 percent of the proceeds of this year’s 32nd annual ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot to Caritas of Austin this month.
From left to right: ThunderCloud Trot mascot (AKA Rachel Walley), ThunderCloud co-owners Paul Sughrue and Patty Sughrue, Caritas CEO Jo Kathryn Quinn, ThunderCloud co-owner and Trot executive director Mike Haggerty, and ThunderCloud director of development David Cohen.
The Trot has raised nearly $5 million since the event began in 1991.

NEW New Canaan Library opens on Valentine’s Day

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We’re thrilled for the citizens of New Canaan, Connecticut, as the NEW New Canaan Library has its grand opening on Valentine’s Day! We worked with the library’s executive team and consultants as they were planning for the launch of this world-class new library campus, a decade in the making. The new library will connect people, perspectives, and information to help build a more engaged, inclusive, and empathetic world.

Four women in an office

New collaborations with Young Communications Group

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Four women in an officeWe’ve had some fun and productive brainstorming sessions recently with this crew at Young Communications Group, Inc. with whom we’ve worked on a number of key public affairs projects for the State of California. Together we filled up four whiteboard pages with wild ideas for how to tell important stories. And bucking the trend of people not wanting to go back to the office, Brenda Thompson Communications is now co-working with YCG at in their fabulous office in Los Angeles’ historic Granada Buildings.

The block-long complex in the Westlake neighborhood was built as live-work spaces in 1927. The Los Angeles Times described the combined shop, studio and apartment structure as something entirely new for LA, resembling the design of European specialty shops.

Early tenants included the Hollywood photographer George Hurrell, who shot celebrated portraits of actors such as Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer in suite number 9.

The buildings have received many accolades. In 2003, the complex was named the “Best Nonprofit Enclave” by LA Weekly, which noted at the time that: “Creative people are drawn to the Granada because of its fascinating history, charming architecture, old-school elevator and lovely courtyard: a gorgeous garden with flowing fountains along the walkways.”

The complex was designated a Historic Cultural Monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in April 1981 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.