QNotes to host issue launch party and young professionals social

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — QNotes will release its April 12, 2013, print edition on Friday, featuring more than a dozen young LGBT professionals making a difference in Charlotte, Chapel Hill and Raleigh. In celebration, a special social and mixer will be held, allowing young professionals and community members of all ages to mix and mingle with the young people profiled in the April 12 print edition.

The “Out for Change” Young LGBT Professionals issue highlights young leaders under the age of 35 making an impact at their work, in the community organizations with which they are involved and in the greater Charlotte and North Carolina community.

“As a person who is myself under the age of 35, I have often looked to fellow community leaders my age for camaraderie, advice, fellowship and joint leadership opportunities,” said Matt Comer, 27, QNotes editor. “My staff and I know there are many, many other deserving community members working in our state and we extend our gratitude and appreciation to them. We are pleased to be able to honor the 18 young people profiled in our upcoming issue who are making a real difference in the lives of many people. I’m privileged to count them among my colleagues and friends and encourage the entire community to get to know them and the work they are doing to help create change in Charlotte and across the state.”

Those featured in the special issue include a variety of leaders working or volunteering for community non-profits, serving in elected office and working in the corporate business community, among other worthy accomplishments.

Young leaders to be featured in the special issue include: O’Neale Atkinson, 28, a former QNotes editor and operations manager at the LGBT Community Center of Charlotte who now works as director of youth programs at Charlotte’s Time Out Youth; Amanda Breeden, 30, a member of the Charlotte Business Guild Board of Directors; Amos Cooper, 34, a volunteer at the LGBT Center of Raleigh and Out! Raleigh; Rebecca Chapin, 30, a transgender advocate and LGBT Center of Raleigh board member; Anthony Dondero, 24, a transgender advocate and student at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte; Kelly Durden, 32, and Sarah Demarest, 31, co-founders of Charlotte’s LGBT Law Center; Cate Eble, 32, a former LGBT Community Center of Charlotte trustee and volunteer with the Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala Steering Committee; Ann Gonzales, 29, a Charlotte web designer and entrepreneur who has worked with a variety of local non-profits; Richard Grimstad, an accountant at Charlotte’s GreerWalker LLP and co-director of Charlotte Pride; Micah Johnson, 26, the director of school outreach and gay-straight alliance support at Time Out Youth; Josh Lemke, 30, an employee of Bank of America and a Time Out Youth board member; Laura Maschal, 34, and Lacey Williams, 31, community activists on LGBT and immigrant rights issues; James Miller, 29, the executive director of the LGBT Center of Raleigh; Mario W. Newton, 33, an employee of Duke Energy and a member of the Human Rights Campaign North Carolina Gala Steering Committee; Lee Storrow, 23, an outspoken health advocate and openly gay member of the Chapel Hill Town Council; and Daniel Valdez, 27, an employee of Charlotte’s Crisis Assistance Ministry and a board member of the Charlotte Lesbian and Gay Fund and GayCharlotte Film Festival, among other groups.

More information on these young leaders, including their thoughts and quotes on their work and a variety of issues, will be available in the April 12, 2013, print edition and online at goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com.

The special issue launch party and social/mixer will be held on Friday, April 12, 8-11 p.m. at The Bar at 316, 316 Rensselaer Ave., in Charlotte. Light hors d’oeuvres will be available. The event is open to the public and to all ages and is meant to allow community members to meet and network with the profiled young professionals and others in attendance.

For more information, email editor@goqnotes-launch2.newspackstaging.com or call 704-531-9988.