Jennifer Skinder
As Senior Director of Youth and Family Programs, Jennifer works across teams to center joyful and supportive spaces for LGBTQ+ youth and their families. As a part of the Senior Leadership team, Jennifer shares in the responsibility for ensuring that our Strategic Plan, Theory of Change, and Queer Ethic and Guiding Principles are aligned in the implementation of strategies to accomplish our vision and mission. Jennifer supports Outright’s Hope team that leads our recurring social and support groups as well as our camp programming. Team Hope helps youth find joy, belonging, leadership, and connection, and provides families with the resources, knowledge and support they need to be the strongest allies, advocates, champions for their LGBTQ+ kids.
Jennifer has a deep commitment to equity and justice that was sparked by growing up in a gay family. She learned early on that our collective liberation depends on empowerment, equity and hope for all, and she works to create a more inclusive and just world in all the ways she can.
Jennifer holds a degree in Political Science from Vassar College and a Master of Education from Johnson State College. She began her career working with youth as a K-12 art educator. Jennifer went on to serve as Program Director of Vermont College of Fine Arts’ (VCFA) Graduate Studies in Art Education Program, supporting art teachers around the US to incorporate social justice into their teaching practices, and to found VCFA’s Center for Arts and Social Justice to support and elevate the impact of artists working in their communities for social justice. As Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Flynn Center for Performing Arts, she worked to increase access to the arts for youth and communities in Vermont with a deep belief in the power of the arts to empower individuals and communities.
Jennifer is an artist and in her spare time loves using her hands to make art, food and gardens. When she’s not making or growing something, she’s often heading out on an adventure in the woods or on the lake with friends and family or with her big sweet dog Audrey.
