Current Board

Augusto Rodriguez, President

Director of Operations and Coordination for General/Men's Discussion Group Programming

Augusto “Auggie” Rodriguez (he/they) has been a Board Member at Large with BQAC since January 2020 and recently was nominated as Vice President in 2021. In 2022 became Board President. He is a firm believer in bringing diversity and inclusion and representation within the Bi+ Community being Latinx himself (Puerto Rican, Cuban and Spaniard).  Auggie spends his time creating content as a videographer under their production company AR FILMS CHICAGO LLC. (who produced our 10 year anniversary documentary in 2020) and helped launch our YouTube Channel for BQAC.

Hugo Escobar, Vice-President

Hugo Escobar (he/they) is from Guatemala and got his start with BQAC by volunteering and hosting our Bi Movie Nights monthly and adding structure by discussing each film we present and how it relates to the viewer’s life and identity. He joins the board as Vice President in 2022. Hugo has a degree in Education/Spanish Studies. He was an Executive Committee member of Anti-Defamation League (St. Louis) and Faculty Member of Malcolm X Institute. They are also a faculty member of The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) in the St. Louis Region. In his free time, they love nature walks, interior design, and has a huge appreciation for art.

Director of Partnerships and Outreach/Coordinator of Bi/Queer Movie Night Programming

Asheer Ashraf, Treasurer

Director of Treasury

Asheer Ashraf (he/him) lives in Chicago and works as a Salesforce Architect. He believes in learning and growing so that he can better serve others. He is into fitness, technology, history, psychology, nature and reading. As someone who had to overcome past sexual traumas and strong religious cultural dogmas, he hopes to inspire and support others on their bisexual journey. 

Nicole Frederick, Secretary

Secretary and Women’s Discussion Group Programming

Nicole Frederick (She/They) is a Bi+ AFAB Queer living in Uptown, Chicago. They joined BQAC in May of 2024 to cultivate a bisexual community. They host BQAC’s Monthly Women’s Discussion Group. “Hosting this group has been such a joy for me. I believe it's important for Bi+ AFAB, Trans, and Enby Women to have a space to share their feelings, thoughts, and struggles.” Nicole later joined the BQAC Board as in-term Secretary during the summer of 2024. Nicole works as a freelance stagehand and has extensive experience in event production. Nicole likes to play the keyboard, DJ, and produce their own music under the moniker SLF in their free time.

Greg Newton, Director

Director of Clinical and Education Programming

Greg joined the board in 2022 and has been involved with BQAC since September 2021. “While trying to understand myself, I hope to help others understand Bisexuals,” He said. His other passion is helping the food and home insecure community by partnering with the Chicago Bridge Project. Their services provide food, clothing and shelter opportunities for those lacking these resources in the Chicagoland area.

Jill Dispenza, Director

Director of Governance

Jill Dispenza (she/her), Director of Community Engagement for Northwestern University’s Institute for Gender and Sexual Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH), Third Coast Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), and Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG). Jill recently joined Northwestern University to enhance community engagement in sexual minority and HIV research, to educate and learn from community about engaging with research and gathering questions that research can help address, and to assist in the dissemination of research findings to the community. Previously, Jill was the HIV/STD Services Director at Center on Halsted, the Chicagoland LGBTQ+ community Center, and at Horizons Community Services. In this role, Jill created, developed, launched, and directed the Chicagoland HIV Resource HUB, the IL AIDS/HIV & STD Hotline, the Center’s HIV Testing & Prevention programs, and the Center’s Mpox/COVID/Flu vaccine clinics.

Jill was appointed by Mayor Lightfoot to the Chicago Syphilis Task Force, and she is currently a member of the Chicagoland Syndemic Advisory Council; the Chicago Service Providers Council; and the national Advancing Clinical Therapeutics Globally (ACTG) Protocol Development and Implementation Subcommittee and Outreach, Recruitment, and Retention Working Group. Previously, Jill was a member of planning groups such as the State of Illinois HIV Integrated Planning Council; the Illinois PrEP Working Group; Chicago Department of Public Health Meningococcal Committee; Chicago Hepatitis A Response Team; and the Illinois Get to Zero Planning Council and Work Groups. Jill received her Master's of Music degree from The Juilliard School in New York City.

Gary Henderson, Director

Director of Internal Data Analyst

Gary Henderson (he/him) is excited and honored to join the BQAC board as Director of Internal Data Analysis and co-host of the Bi Men’s Discussion Group. He began following BQAC after seeing them at Chicago Pride a few years ago and has become passionate about the community and advocacy they are building. His favorite part of BQAC is meeting so many folks with diverse backgrounds who have such similar experiences and stories. Gary is also an actor and writer; he loves learning languages, reading, film and art.

Kaitlyn Venturina, Media Director

Director of Media

Kaitlyn ‘Kait’ Yabes Venturina (she/they) is a proud queer Southeast Asian/Filipina activist with a passion for solidarity & intersectionality work between marginalized communities. Graduating from Columbia College Chicago in 2023 with a film degree, she has made many previous organization & event planning accomplishments to serve the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) community and other minorities while being the former president of Columbia’s Asian Student Organization, a former student manager for Columbia’s Student Diversity & Inclusion, and the Chicago Chapter Leader of the Blasian March. With her expertise in social media, she’s excited to elevate BQAC’s presence to better serve the queer community in Chicago and beyond! Kait also has a passion for creative producing, writing, and voice acting. Being the prideful geek she is — she loves listening to music, cosplaying, and watching TV shows and films (especially animation) through a DEI perspective.