ALK Consulting

After a decade of dabbling in film production, LGBTQIA+ advocacy, fundraising, museums, and grants management, I have built myself a portfolio career that drives my commitment to creating a world where everyone's truly belongs.

Through ALK Consulting, I help organizations become more affirming for q***r staff and stakeholders and support q***r creatives on their own business journeys.

I thrive when I am connecting with others, sharing my passions, and deepening my own knowledge.

Whether you are here to schedule an inclusion workshop, chat about a business and nonprofit growth, or check out what's new on the blog, I'm glad you're here.

While the AIDS Crisis made headlines in large cities like New York City, smaller cities like Worcester were not spared. With little government or funding infrastructure, resources for HIV care and research were scarce. Worcester stood out through the Worcester AIDS Coalition, founded in 1987, which brought together the city’s health department, school department, drug treatment facilities, community health centers, hospitals, correctional facilities, and other health and social services organizations.

Worcester’s community response was bolstered by University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (UMass) role at the forefront of HIV clinical research and care. In the early years of the AIDS crisis, viral immunologist John L. Sullivan, MD began researching the HIV virus at the molecular level, providing critical insight into how HIV impacts the immune system, which has put UMass at the forefront of HIV/AID research for over 40 years.

Katherine Luzuriaga, MD has also been an integral part of national progress in HIV research and medical care. Observing the growing number of mothers and children living with HIV, she opened a specialty clinic to slow the infection’s rapid progression in children. Over the next decade, they held clinical trials about treating HIV in children, including hosting groundbreaking trials for nevirapine in 1989, the gold standard for preventing HIV transmission in utero, and identifying the regime of anti-retrovirals that could effectively suppress HIV in infants.

While HIV continues to be a serious global epidemic, our understanding of the condition’s progress, prevention, and productive approaches to care has progressed immensely because of community response and institutional commitment to research.

Learn more about Worcester's legacy of caring for people living with HIV on the blog: https://alkaneconsulting.com/worcester-hiv-care-q***r-worcester-icons-2026/

On Bisexual Awareness Day, let's celebrate the first female presidential cabinet member and labor advocate, Frances Perkins!

While we cannot impose an identity on Frances, she was committed to caring for her husband, who had mental health challenges, throughout her life, as well as had a loving relationship with Mary Hartman Rumsey as a young woman and shared a home with U.S. Representative Caroline O’Day later in life.

Frances transformed labor rights nationally as Secretary of Labor to FDR. She oversaw the development of Social Security benefits and national labor reform through the Fair Labor Standards Act which established unemployment benefits, workplace safety regulations, child labor restrictions, minimum wage, and the forty-hour work week. Many claim that she was the primary architect of FDR’s “New Deal.”

To learn more about Frances Perkins and other q***r icons from Worcester, check out the blog: https://alkaneconsulting.com/frances-perkins-q***r-worcester-icons-2026/

While she avoided the public spotlight, Elizabeth Bishop’s lasting legacy places her among one of the “one of the most important American poets” of the 20th century.

Across her body of work, she blends present observation with memories of the past with specificity. As a meticulous poet, she would continuously revise her work before allowing them to be published, ultimately only sharing around 100 poems during her lifetime.

Elizabeth Bishop grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts with her grandparents and spent her adulthood in Brazil, New York, and Seattle writing and teaching. She struggled with mental health challenges throughout her life, though her poetry often demonstrates hope and promise.

To learn more about Elizabeth and other q***r icons from Worcester, visit the Q***r & Curious blog: https://alkaneconsulting.com/elizabeth-bishop-q***r-worcester-icons-2026/

Artists John O'Reilly and James "Jim" Tellin built a life together in Worcester, Massachusetts at a time when few gay men could life openly in a committed relationship.

John and Jim shared the role of art therapist at Worcester State Hospital, the first role of its kind at the institution, supporting patients experiencing mental and behavioral health challenges. This arrangement allowed them steady income, while having time to dedicate to their art.

At the age of 65, his work caught national acclaim in 1995, when John's collages were included in the Whitney Biennial.

John and Jim’s Worcester homes were central to their art and community. heir home was filled with artwork, rare books, plants, and novelties to inspire them, as well as host other creatives. In fact, over the decades, several photographers have documented their home, studio, and art collection, capturing its significance as a center of artistic practice and q***r domesticity.

To learn more about John, Jim, and other q***r icons, check out the blog: https://alkaneconsulting.com/john-oreilly-james-tellin-q***r-worcester-icons-2026

From becoming one of the first transgender sanctuary cities in the country to holding the first national Women’s Convention to, debatably, starting the American Revolution, Worcester, has played a role in nearly every major movement for progress in the U.S.

In recognition of Worcester’s Pride celebrations throughout September, I’m celebrating q***r icons who called Worcester home and meaningful moments for the LGBTQIA+ community that happened here, starting with transmasculine coach driver, "One-Eyed Charley."

Charley Parkhurst's driving skills were known nationally and mythologized when it was discovered after his death that he was assigned female at birth.

Charley's q***rness is often erased in the name of women's history, but nonetheless his story stands as a testament of 19th Century gender-bending.

Discover the full story on the blog: https://alkaneconsulting.com/one-eyed-charley-parkhurst/

As we enter September, my hometown of gets just a big more sparkly.

Q***r inclusion is important all year round, which is why Worcester (and many other cities!) amplify LGBTQIA+ pride outside of June.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing the four stories of q***r joy, resilience, and love spanning over 200 years in Worcester.

.Consulting moves organizations from inclusion as a statement to inclusion as a practice. That work starts with a good question — and the curiosity to keep asking.

This new visual identity, brought to life by , is grounded in warm colors and botanical elements that evoke feelings of authenticity, belonging, and comfort. Bold sparks of color and abstract designs inspire joy and curiosity.

Fonts are selected for their accessibility, namely Atkinson Hyperlegible designed by , carrying through our commitment to intersectional inclusion in every design.

It took a long time for me to break out of the mold of what an entrepreneur is supposed to be.

While I brought my authentic experience and vulnerability to every inclusion workshop, I wasn’t always comfortable sharing my full sparkle in my business.

As ALK Consulting has evolved, I’ve grown into my own identity as a genderq***r, neurodivergent advisor / drag king / accidental numbers nerd / aunt / partner.

It’s time for my branding to come out of the closet and into the sun to reflect every bold, bright facet of me and my work.

Thank you to for guiding me on this journey.