Soulforce Board of Directors

Chuck Phelan

Chuck Phelan is a charter member of Soulforce and has served on its board of directors since 2000. Chuck additionally serves on the board of directors of Metropolitan Community Church-Los Angeles and is president of the MCC Churches Board of Pensions (USA). He is also a founder and managing partner of National TeleConsultants, a consulting, engineering design and systems integration firm serving the media and entertainment industry. He lives with his husband, Steven McIntyre, in Los Angeles.

Judy Osborne

Judy Osborne is a transgender woman who has been active in the transgender community for more than thirty years. She is past president of The Emerald City in Seattle, a social/support organization for newly-out transgender people, serving on its board for a total of 12 years while promoting the organization's political outreach. She also served on the board of Seattle's Ingersoll Gender Center, which provides facilitated support groups for transgender people and works to connect transgender people and issues with the wider world beyond.

Under a grant from the Northwest's Pride Foundation, Judy wrote a monthly letter acquainting 220 psychologists and educators with transgender issues and people, and for five years during the late 90's she wrote a monthly column on political issues for Transgender Forum, a national web magazine. Currently, she speaks to various groups and students interested in transgender issues and volunteers with a northwest HMO hospice helping people to die well. In her career, Judy was a television broadcasting executive and later owned and operated a popular Seattle sports-themed restaurant.

Judy has been deeply involved with Soulforce's activities since the organization's first action in 1999, for much of that period as event planner and registrar.

Phil Lawson

Rev. Phil Lawson is a United Methodist Minister and veteran of the 1960's civil rights movement. Over 40 years ago, it was the Rev. Phil Lawson's brother, Rev. Jim Lawson, who trained the Freedom Riders in nonviolence prior to their journey to justice for civil rights. Rev. Lawson is courageously outspoken in his support of LGBT equality and has participated in several Soulforce actions over the years. He is currently the Interfaith Program Director for East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) where he leads the Interfaith Action in Housing Program. He remains active with Richmond Vision 2000, Northern California Inter-Religious Conference, Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP), Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights and California Council of Churches. (Photo courtesy of East Bay Housing Organizations, EBHO.)

Rodney Powell

Rodney N. Powell, MD is a Pediatrician, International Health Specialist and former Professor of Pediatrics and Health Services Administration at University of Minnesota School of Medicine, and Professor of Family Practice and Community Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii. Rodney is a gay, African American, who has lived in Hawaii since 1976 with his partner of 30 years, C. Robert Eddinger, PhD. While a medical student at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee during the years 1957-61, as a student protest leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement, Rodney had the privilege and honor to learn and apply the philosophy and strategies of love and nonviolence under the guidance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other dedicated ministers of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Karen Ball

Karen is a leader and project manager in the public, private and non-profit sectors, assisting clients in achieving their strategic and operational objectives. The last 15 years have been focused on Information Technology, directing complex projects, delivering training, identifying and documenting business processes, and negotiating. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and an attorney licensed to practice law in Ohio with specialized mediation and collaboration training.

Phil Reitan

Philip R. Reitan and his family have been involved in the work of Soulforce for several years. Phil has been representing the injured and disabled people of southern Minnesota for the past 30 years. He is certified as a Board Certified Civil Trial Specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association. Mr. Reitan limits his practice to helping the injured and disabled with their personal injury claims, workers’ compensation needs, and social security disability appeals. He fights to collect benefits and damages for those who are injured and disabled. Mr. Reitan is a past-president of the Sixth District Bar Association. He is a member of the Academy of Certified Trial Lawyers of Minnesota, the National Organization of Social Security Representatives, and is an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Reitan has also lectured to attorneys throughout the state and nation.

Matt Kulisch

Matt grew up in Spokane, Washington where he ran cross country for Lewis and Clark high school and attended church as a member of one of the local LDS congregations. Matt had his first boyfriend at age 18 and came out to his family as "gay" at 19. He served a full-time mission for the LDS church in London, England. He attended Brigham Young University from January of 2004 to April of 2006. While a student at BYU, Matt stood with the 2006 Soulforce Equality Ride during their visit to BYU-Provo in April of 2006. After being arrested for trespassing during the Soulforce action, Matt was disciplined by University officials. He chose to leave BYU and now attends University of Utah in Salt Lake City where he is pursuing a degree in English Literature as a full-time student. In March and April of 2007, Matt joined the Soulforce Equality Ride as a Rider, including planning the year's visit to BYU-Provo. He now serves as the Youth Representative on the Soulforce Board of Directors.

Rev. Paul Egertson

The Rev. Paul W. Egertson graduated with a B.A. from Pepperdine College in 1955 and received his Master of Divinity degree from Luther Seminary in 1960. He spent the following years serving as a pastor of the former American Lutheran Church and received his Ph.D. from the Claremont School of Theology in 1976. He served as Bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from 1995 until 2001. He resigned one month before the end of his term after ordaining a lesbian as a Pastor and taking a public stand for justice in opposition to the official policy of his denomination. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the California Lutheran University where he has taught full time or part time since 1984. He has published numerous articles and book chapters and earned awards from multiple organizations for his steadfast support of the LGBT community. He and his wife, Shirley, have been married since 1956 and have six children, twelve grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Gary Nixon
Director of Business and Co-Founder

Gary is Co-Founder of Soulforce and has been with the organization before conception doing what has been needed from behind the scenes. Working as a team, he and Mel celebrated 25 years of life together in 2006 and are looking forward to the next 25. Living in Lynchburg, VA and keeping a watchful eye on Jerry Falwell, "we felt this is the heart of our journey and besides it can't be all that bad, who can boast that they live in the city that hosts Jerry Falwell and Fleet Enema."

"My wish for Soulforce is that eventually we are no longer needed, that we will have been accepted into the human family like the rest of the population and now we can get down to business to do what really needs to be done."