LGBT Bold Introduces Michaela Mendelsohn

Michaela Mendelsohn can talk about her relentless work as a transgender activist, helping the restaurant industry become more inclusive and better tap the talent pool of transgender employees with her TransCanWork.org non-profit company.

Mendelsohn was selected to be the state and national recipient of the Face of Diversity Award and will be recognized amongst her peers at the NRA Public Affairs Conference on April 19 in Washington DC, and in Sacramento on April 24 at the CRA Restaurant Day (Lobby Day).

The annual award is part of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation’s (NRAEF) celebration of the “best of the best” in diversity and inclusion, community service and hospitality leadership.

Mendelsohn, CEO of one of the largest El Pollo Loco franchises in the country and the first transgender member of the L.A. Workforce Development Board,  is the founder of the California Transgender Work Project (CTWP) transcanwork.org - a program formed with the mission of promoting a trans positive work climate throughout the state of California and the US.

Mendelsohn's incredible story and professional endeavor continue to make headlines.
She was recently profiled in the LA TIMES: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-himi-michaela-mendelsohn-20180323-htmlstory.html

Mendelsohn is in a unique position to teach on the subject and help others break barriers.

A longtime El Pollo Loco franchise operator and CEO of Pollo West Corp., with six restaurants in Southern California, her restaurant teams now include transgender employees including hispanic transgender women.

She’s also on the board of the Trevor Project, a national organization devoted to eliminating suicide among LGBT youth. And she served as a consultant to the series “Orange is the New Black.”

Mendelsohn is an amazing woman who has had a tremendous impact on the community.
This is an annual award presented by a leader in the restaurant industry, championing people from all backgrounds.

What makes Mendelsohn’s story so special and inspiring is that it shows the world that everyone can be their authentic self and succeed; and that everyone can overcome the challenges they are facing and find their voice.

"In being my best self and telling my story, I hope to create “ripples in the pond” to open the hearts and minds of one person at a time”, says Mendelsohn.

LGBT Bold Introduces Susan Surftone

Surftone is a former FBI agent turned surf guitarist / singer / songwriter.

From her FBI years to the time she spent as an Attorney for the NYPD assigned to the Tactical Narcotics Team in Harlem, and her prolific career as a surf guitarist, the out artist has a lot to say and is never afraid to say it.

Susan’s endured more than her fair share of misogyny, discrimination, even physical assault; but throughout it, she’s stuck steadfast to her goals and refused to be intimidated. And although her musical genre tends to be straight-male-dominated, she's done hiding in the closet.

Whether engaging in espionage or breaking into music, this queer musician has always been fearless and lives out loud. Surftone is a fascinating woman who has continuously been breaking barriers.

Now the sixty-something year-old artist just released a new EP  “2nd To One”.

The album, an homage to Elvis Presley (Surftone’s idol) is a take-off on Elvis' collection of great B-sides called "2nd To None”. It features Darlene Koldenhoven, the nun with the tambourine from the "Sister Act” movies, who plays the piano on "One-Sided Love".

There’s probably not a single person who wouldn’t be inspired by the story of Susan Surftone.

She went from a career working in an government agency that is reputed to be very macho, to another profession known to be heavily male-dominated, namely “surf” music as a guitarist. Yet while the gender ratio wasn’t in her favor, she thrived in both fields.

In the early '80s, SurfTone (real name: Susan Yasinski) was an FBI agent in New York, chosen to monitor KGB agents assigned to UN headquarters. The Soviets weren't allowed to travel more than 25 miles outside New York City, so she would run surveillance and occasionally go undercover to sniff out their motives and next moves.

Fancy  job, but she became worried about her future within the bureau. For a lesbian, upward mobility was not going to come easily. Plenty of Hoover men were still in place at the FBI, and "don't ask, don't tell" was the prevailing attitude. It grew increasingly more difficult to make excuses for not dating, and she knew the rumors eventually would prevent a promotion, anyway.

But something other than the challenge of hiding her sexual orientation ultimately led to her resignation from the FBI. Leaving the FBI pushed SurfTone to form bands of her own.
Susan and the Surftones went on to record more than 10 albums, became breakout stars in Europe and even had a couple of their songs featured on a season of The Real World.

Through the years she has always been a strong advocate of encouraging girls to play guitar and start bands. She continues now to be a social activist for women empowerment and LGBTQ rights.

Ironically, with Russian espionage in the news lately, Susan’s found herself reflecting back on her FBI days with unexpected frequency penning more than a few op-eds about the political news of the moment, published in HuffPost, The Advocate and Curve.

Surftone has become an influential trailblazing voice in both the political arena and the LGBTQ community. She's using a lifetime of lessons and musical talent to encourage other queer young women to sing out loud and strong.

LINKS:

• http://www.susansurftone.com/
• https://www.out.com/music/2017/4/11/meet-susan-surftone-fbi-agent-turned-lesbian-surf-rocker
• http://www.afterellen.com/people/535663-susan-surftone-making-waves-surf-rock-revival-scene
• https://www.advocate.com/authors/susan-surftone
• https://twitter.com/susansurftone
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5bdjBlxJlDdQmTpmgkEuCQ/videos