June Practitioners and Organizations

HONORING PRIDE

DR. KRISTIE OVERSTREET

Dr. Kristie is a clinical sexologist, psychotherapist, author, speaker and consultant who has developed best practices for DEI + LGBTQIA+ care. With over 16+ years of experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community, organizations and corporations her mission is to help people experience self-change through communication and care to empower them to feel confident and connected in their personal and professional relationships.

From healthcare to wellness professionals, she motivates everyone to have an open heart and an open mind to one another. Dr. Kristie has given a TEDx on transgender healthcare and is a sought-after expert. She is the creator of the Transgender Healthcare Dignity Model training and certification program.

She is the founder of the Therapy Department, a virtual wellness practice that provides consulting, training, speaking and coaching throughout the world.

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LOWCOUNTRY PRIDE

Mission
Our mission is to promote the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community in the Lowcountry by educating society, honoring our heritage, advocating for our culture and celebrating our diverse community.

Purpose
Our purpose is to highlight the uniqueness and diversity of our community through distinct events throughout the year promoting our history and culture, including the annual Lowcountry Pride Parade and Celebration Festival (also referred to as the “Annual Pride Event”).

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THE TREVOR PROJECT

The Trevor Project’s mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ young people. They do this through crisis support, advocacy, research and education.

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DARESHA KYI

Director, Mama Bears

Daresha Kyi is an Emmy Award–winning director who also writes and produces film and television in Spanish and English. She most recently directed a short documentary for Time Studios and the SpringHill Company called GEORGIA GOING BLUE about the Georgia-based grassroots organizations working to fight voter suppression in Georgia and throughout the country. She is currently in post-production on BLACK VOTERS MATTER, a feature documentary that chronicles Clif and April Albright’s and LaTosha Brown’s rise from aspiring acolytes to game-changing civil rights leaders and the critical role they played in helping Georgia flip from red to blue in 2020 and 2021.

In 2018, Daresha was commissioned by the ACLU to direct TRANS IN AMERICA: TEXAS STRONG which garnered over 3.5 million views online, premiered at SXSW and went on to win the News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary as well as two Webby Awards. In 2017 she co-directed and co-produced CHAVELA a multiple award-winning Spanish language documentary about iconic, lesbian ranchera singer Chavela Vargas ranked the “Number One Latin American Documentary of the Decade” by CineArte magazine and produced DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND.
Daresha’s films have been funded by IDA, ITVS, NEA, NYSCA, and numerous others. A former fellow in the Firelight Media Documentary, Chicken & Egg Eggcelerator, Creative Capital, and A Blade of Grass programs, Daresha has an extensive background producing content for FX, WE, AMC, Telemundo and FUSE, among other networks.

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LAURA TATHAM

Producer, Mama Bears

Laura Tatham is a creative producer committed to telling stories that highlight urgent social justice issues. She is currently producing the feature-length documentaries MAMA BEARS (2022 SXSW, ITVS) and WHAT WE CARRY and the short documentary BLACK BEAUTY. In the past six years, she’s worked on numerous award-winning films—as associate producer on the feature-length documentaries CHAVELA (2017 Berlinale) and DISPATCHES FROM CLEVELAND (2017 CIFF) and as the NYC production office manager for AMERICA, a series of silent, narrative shorts (2019 Sundance). She was a 2020 Film Independent Documentary Lab and WIF/Sundance Institute Financing Intensive fellow.

Originally hailing from the world of book publishing, Laura has spent over a decade in both the corporate (Simon & Schuster) and nonprofit (Feminist Press) publishing sectors, working on countless New York Times bestsellers, as well as Lambda Literary and Pulitzer Prize–winning works. Laura holds a master’s degree in American Literature from Drew University. She happily resides in Jersey City with her loving partner and their cat.

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AMY BENCH

Director of Photography, Mama Bears

Amy Bench is a cinematographer and filmmaker whose work spans documentary and fiction films. As a cinematographer her credits include TRANS IN AMERICA (Emmy, 2019), UPROOTED (HBO Max, NAACP Image Award nomination, 2022), BAD AT DANCING (Silver Bear, Berlinale, 2015), HOLY HELL (Sundance, 2016) and RUNNING WITH BETO (SXSW, 2019). Her camera work has won an Emmy, 2 Webby awards and has screened at festivals including Berlin, SXSW, Sundance, The New York Film Festival and at MOMA/PS1.

She is the Director of Photography on three features premiering at SXSW in March: Mama Bears (dir Daresha Kyi- Chavela), Lover Beloved (dir Michael Tully- Ping Pong Summer) and Shouting Down Midnight (dir Gretchen Stoeltje-Bionic Beauty Salon). Additionally, Amy directed the short documentary MORE THAN I REMEMBER, which received the IDA Enterprise Fund from the International Documentary Association and is premiering at SXSW in March 2022. Her 2019 film A LINE BIRDS CANNOT SEE won awards at SXSW, Cleveland, Oak Cliff Film Festival, Bend Film Festival, and IndieGrits and is currently featured online on THE NEW YORKER.

She is a member of the International Collective of Female Cinematographers (ICFC), Documentary Cinematographers Alliance (DCA), and the ICOSA Collective.

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MELIS

MELIS launched her accessory business in 2001. She has always been an artist since she was very young with a desire to work with her hands painting, sculpting and designing. MELIS has expanded the line over the years with new line additions from whatever creatively speaks to her. Originally from Dallas, Texas and now settled in Phoenix, after graduating with a degree in Merchandising and Fashion Promotion and a minor in Business from the University of Arizona. She creates accessories that encourage you to “bring out YOUR inner Rockstar ” because she feels everyone has an inner Rockstar and you only need one special accessory to bring it out!

MELIS recently went through her own personal journey which has lead her on a new path of positivity and happiness. She sees her life through new eyes with each day bringing so much growth and gratitude. As she followed her new path, her designing grew with her creating her line ENERGIE. The line is created with positive healing energies and messages. If you can begin each day with positivity and are kind to yourself and others, you begin a new path of happiness and healing that is contagious to those around you. She can now share this journey with you in hopes of creating new change and positive thinking with her accessories. Melis always says – Positive ENERGIE is Contagious!

Some of her jewelry has been gifted to celebrities including Sheryl Crow, Faith Hill, Nancy O’Dell, Jewel, Samantha Harris, Eric Clapton and ZZ Top.

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SALLIE ANN ROBINSON

Sallie Ann Robinson is an American cookbook author, celebrity chef and cultural historian. A native of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, she is noted for her knowledge of Gullah traditions and history.

In her own words:
I am a sixth generation native of Daufuskie Island. I love my life on Daufuskie Island. It has always been my home, and it is where I grew up learning the tough love way of life. The Gullah people were and still are proud people that live life off the land from their gardens, the woods and the ocean which were skills they learned at a young age and did things they would never forget. Their way of life was simple and sometimes hard, working to meet their day-to-day needs, not their wants. They were taught manners and respect for all, something I am proud to still use to this day. My childhood gave me treasures of a lifetime, thanks to my ancestors and folks that are gone, but not forgotten. My experience about Daufuskie is a lifetime of knowledge as a native. I have given tours on Daufuskie for many years sharing the history of my family and what life was like then and now.

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