Ally to Queer Youth Award – Awardee:
JAMIE CUTTER, M.ED.
Teacher, QSA Advisor & Safe School Lead, Delta High School at Cabrillo College;
Queer-Inclusive Curriculum Design and Instruction, Safe Schools Project of Santa Cruz County;
and author and illustrator of Inclusive Sex Ed: A Comprehensive Sex Education Curriculum Guide for Teachers
Jamie Cutter is the English and health teacher and QSA advisor at Delta Charter High School where she creates and teaches LGBTQ inclusive lessons for all her classes. Jamie is also the author and illustrator of Inclusive Sex Ed: A Comprehensive Sex Education Curriculum Guide for Teachers and is currently leading a Community Foundation grant to train a cohort of health teachers to teach California Healthy Youth Act compliant and queer inclusive sexual health education. Jamie goes above and beyond every day to ensure all students are treated with respect and feel safe. To support such equity Jamie also took on the role of Safe School Lead at Delta and wrote policy to support trans youth at school and ensure they are referred to by the proper names and pronouns.
Ally to Queer Youth Award – Nominees:
Celine Cuneo
Teacher, Delta Charter High School at Cabrillo College
Celine Cuneo an English teacher and QSA co-advisor at Delta Charter High School. Celine uses her platform as an educator to teach social justice issues in her classes where she consistently increases the visibility of Queer folks and POC through her intersectional approach to teaching and intentional inclusion of diverse voices in her curriculum. Celine also supports and advocates for the LGBTQ community outside of the classroom. For the past three years Celine has chaperoned students to the YES Conference and attended local queer youth events. Celine helped plan the Queer and Trans Student Summit in fall 2017 and was a chaperone for the 2018 Creating Change Conference. Celine’s compassion and advocacy for the LGBTQ community has earned her the respect and trust of her students and community.
Jamie Joy
Youth Program Coordinator, The Diversity Center Youth Program
Jamie Joy is a Youth Program Coordinator of The Diversity Center Santa Cruz County where they plan community building events for queer youth and visit local GSA/QSA/SAGA school clubs to bring youth together for important events such as the Day of Silence, Queer Prom, Camp OUT, Pride, and Coming Out Day. Youth describe Jamie Joy as “energetic,” “joyful,” “supportive,” and “outstanding.” Jamie Joy also works to improve the education of the general community through their sexuality and gender trainings. Jamie worked with queer and trans youth to create a two-year-long mural project titled, “Unify, Decolonize, Thrive,” which provides accurate and positive visibility of queer and marginalized communities for the Santa Cruz community. Jamie’s infectious energy and fearless activism provides an important role model for LGBTQ youth.
Michelle Brandt
Strategic Leader and Spokesperson, TransFamilies of Santa Cruz
Michelle Brandt is a supportive parent of a trans youth and has done signifcant advocacy work for the transgender community as the Strategic Leader and Spokesperson for TransFamilies of Santa Cruz. Michelle shares her experiences and expertise to mentor other families of trans youth and to provide much needed support and resources. Michelle has also worked to create more safe and inclusive spaces for trans and nonbinary people by advocating for staff training on the needs of trans patients at Dominican Hospital, PAMF and Santa Cruz City Schools. Recently Michele pursued political advocacy by speaking in Sacramento in support of the afrmation of trans youth in the new California Health Curriculum Framework. Michelle has been instrumental in making Santa Cruz County a more inclusive place for the transgender community.
Scottie Johnson
Patient Navigator, Transgender Healthcare Program,
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Scottie Johnson is a Medical Assistant at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte where he works in the Transgender Healthcare Program. A tremendous advocate for queer and trans youth, Scottie always works hard to ensure all patients are connected to the transgender healthcare resources they need; he has even stayed late after work to help connect a young patient with donated chest compression shirts. Scottie is also a consistent ally to trans youth outside of his job. He was one of the frst “Bigs” for the Santa Cruz County Big Brothers Big Sisters TransMentoring Program where he has become a mentor and friend to the trans “Little” he was paired with. Scottie always goes above and beyond in advocating and supporting queer and trans youth.
Tracey Weiss
Executive Director, Exploring New Horizons
Tracey Weiss is the Executive Director of Exploring New Horizons and a leader and advocate for advancing the feld of outdoor and environmental education. Tracey’s visibility and advocacy has spanned over 25 years. Tracey is an out and proud lesbian who leads by example by showing queer youth what a successful and proud LGBTQ adult can be. Since college, Tracey has been an active ally and advocate for developing safe communities that support inclusion and safety for all LGBTQ+ youth. Today Tracey is a volunteer in Girl Scouts and a leader in the Live Oak education community. Tracey is a wife and parent and believes that by being openly LGBTQ and working in her community she contributes to important visibility for the queer community.
