
Co-Director Alan Spector
Alan has been active in the Freedom To Marry movement since
1999. He was legally married to his husband in Ontario, Canada. Before moving to
Hawai‘i, Alan served as a District Organizer and Steering Committee
Member for Love Makes A Family, a state-wide non-profit advocacy organization working
for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Connecticut. Additionally, he
was active in organizing GLBT cultural events and marriage equality community
education programs in Northern New York. Alan
has a Master of Social Work degree from the University
of Maryland and a Master of Arts degree
from Baltimore Hebrew University.
He is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is employed with the Hawai‘i
Department of Health – Adult Mental Health Division.
Co-Director Paul Gracie
Paul has lived in Hawai‘i for 30 years. He is agraduate of
the University of
Hawai‘i at Manoa
with a Ph.D in linguistics. Paul has been a member of Ohana
O Ke Anuenue, the local LGBT parent’s group,
for seven years. Married since 1979 to Keo Sananikone, they are the proud parents of 6-year-old twins.
Treasurer Donald Bentz
Don has been involved, professionally and as a
volunteer, with organizations dedicated to equality for 17 years. While
treasurer for the Human Rights Task Force (the precursor to Equality Florida),
he experienced two ballot initiatives before moving on to become the President
of Pride Tampa Bay, which grew from an afternoon trade show to a diverse,
week-long celebration that was the largest in Florida and the second-largest in
the Southeast. Don has also served as the Media Chair for the start of Hillsborough County's GLBT Democratic Caucus. Professionally,
Don has served in public relations/development positions with the Greater Tampa
Chamber of Commerce, Tampa AIDS Network, and The Florida Aquarium before
becoming a consultant to various non-profit groups throughout Florida. He was the Tampa Bay Business
Guild's 1998 Citizen of the Year, a presenter of sponsorship strategies at the
1997 National AIDS Fundraising Conference and one of the first openly gay
members of Leadership St.
Petersburg (Class of 2001). Don
is now the Director of Development at the Life Foundation in Honolulu.
Secretary Joshua Frost
Josh has lived in Honolulu for over fiveand a half years and
works at ASB-Bishop Insurance Agency as a System Operator. He has been active
in the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i for a little over two years. He joined
the Family Equality Coalition shortly after its inception in the Fall of 2007 and joined the interim board, as Secretary, shortly
thereafter. Josh sits on the Steering Committee, as Treasurer for the
Progressive Democrats of Hawai‘i, and is currently the 2008 State
Democratic Party Convention Registration and Credentials Committee Co-Chair. He
is a card-carrying member of the ACLU and is a strong believer and supporter of
equal rights for all people, regardless of age, race, gender, orsexual
orientation.