FOUNDER LLC-I John Weis is chairman of Gay Male S/M Activists, co-chair of the Anti-Violence Project’s Advisory Board and a member of the Manhattan Borough President’s LGBTST Advisory Council. In a moment of divine inspiration he decided that the sm community could benefit from leadership training, and the Leather Leadership Conference was born. Through his work with these organizations and others, he’s fighting to make the world a safer place for those exploring the sexual frontier.

Leigh Hessel. Dyke-identified leatherdyke/Amazon Warrior. I came out as a leatherdyke in Boulder, Colorado in a very hostile environment in 1981. There was no leather lesbian community there; so I moved to the Bay Area to find one.In 1991 I worked as co-chair on the first clean and sober leather conference in San Francisco. I founded a few small leatherdyke groups in the East Bay, former Outcasts member and I have 25 years experience in the martial arts. I believe that sexuality and spirituality can be united as one.

Jack McGeorge Jack is a het switch with a passion for heavy metal toys and interrogation scenes. He is a member of the board of directors of both Black Rose and NCSF. Jack is also a member of TES, Delta and GMSMA. He is a well known BDSM educator and received the 1998 Pantheon community service award for the Mid Atlantic States.

Karen Anderson Karen Anderson is a Black Rose contributor. She is an active volunteer with DCSMA and coordinated its 1999 Leather Leadership Conference scholarship project. In addition she is the Director of Publications for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom as well as one of the founding members of Baltimore Advocates for Alternative Sexual Expression.

Lenny Broberg Have been into leather for the last 20 years. Was International Mister Leather 1992. Interviewed for numerous newpaper and magazine articles, both gay and mainstream publications. In addition, I have appeared on television, both nationally and locally. In 1995, I joined the San Francisco Police Department and am currently assigned to the Bayview Community Housing Task Force.

Max Steiner Max Steiner currently serves on the DCSMA Board. She is the Safety Director for BR99. Max won the 1999 Mid-Atlantic Regional Pantheon Award. She was the first female to hold a major boy title as American Leatherboy 1997. Max is a founding Partner of Leather Rascals Inc. When not busy saving lives as a career paramedic, she enjoys woodworking and stained glass artistry. Max is completely devoted to her partner Schelli and their ever-growing collection of bondage equipment!

Master Lawence Master Lawrence is Dungeon Master Manager and serves on the Board of Directors of the Arizona Power Exchange, a pan-sexual, not-for-profit educational and support organization for the BDSM community. He is a Ph.D. behavioral scientist and wrote the Dungeon Master Training Manual, now used for DM training clubs throughout America.

Michele Lish Lt. Lish has been with the Portland Police Bureau for 17 years. LGBT activities & affiliations include Recruiter, specifically with an outreach for women and sexual minorities; officer liaison for the Crisis Response Team; the Sexual Minority Roundtable; member of Oregon's GLBT organization (Vision) and President of LEGAL International. She presently is the Afternoon Shift Commander for East Precinct.

Roger B.A. Klorese has been on-line for many more years than any decent person ought to be, having started on Dartmouth College's XTALK in 1974 and moving to Compuserve's queer CB Channel 33 in 1979 and Usenet in 1984. Since 1991, he has been bottoming for the online queer and kink communities as the founder and proprietor of QueerNet, a community-supported mailing list server offering over 200 lists. In his copious spare time, he serves as marketing evangelist for an enterprise software company. He is a member of GMSMA and an Associate Member of the Chicago Hellfire Club. For writing about himself in the third person, he deserves to be flogged severely. Please?