yourOUTsource: Your LGBT Resource

Shannon Bowman  |  Director & President

Shannon Bowman is the Marketing Director of Motley Media and owner of Elements of Waterside - both companies based in Norfolk, VA. Shannon has over 15 years experience in traditional, grassroots and alternative advertising and event planning. Her experience includes online marketing, street-level marketing, client services and project management as well as creative concept-lead in many of the projects she has worked on. Shannon also has a strong background in non-profit marketing and utilizing grassroots methods to achieve large budget goals for clients with limited budgets.

Shannon was one of the co-founders of Hampton Roads Business OutReach (HRBOR), an LGBT Chamber of Commerce in the Hampton Roads area, board member for Equality Virginia, and advisory board member for the ODU Gay Cultural Studies Endowment Campaign. 

Heidi Schlipphacke, PhD | Director & Vice-President

Heidi Schlipphacke is Associate Professor of German and Director of the B.A. in International Studies at Old Dominion University.  After receiving her M.A. and Ph.D. in German Studies from the University of Washington, she taught as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Heidi came to ODU in 2000. She received her B.A. in Philosophy/Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. Her research focuses on issues of national identity, aesthetics, and constructions of family in the European Enlightenment and in post-war Germany and Austria. Much of her work is comparative, linking the spaces of Europe and the United States. She serves as affiliated faculty for the Graduate Program in International Studies, Film and Video Studies, Jewish Studies, and Women’s Studies.

She also serves as Vice President of the ODU Gay Cultural Studies initiative.

Brian Wells | Director & Secretary

Brian Wells directs the membership program at the Chrysler Museum of Art.  As a development professional he works to build relationships that strengthen the Museum’s capacity to enact its mission: to enrich and transform lives by bringing people and art together. 

In his career he has also worked for national health organizations such as Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the American Diabetes Association as well as human service non-profits such as Target Community and Educational Services, Inc. in Westminster, Maryland and Mile High United Way in Denver, Colorado. 

Mr. Wells holds a degree in English from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky and is a member of the Virginia Association of Museums.

Don King | Director & Treasurer

Don is a Realtor® with Judy Boone Realty specializing in residential property in Southside Hampton Roads.  He is both a founding member of Hampton Roads Business Outreach (HRBOR) and the current President of the organization.   Don also sits as the Membership Chair and Advisory Board member of the ODU Gay Cultual Studies Endowment Campaign.

A Navy veteran originally from Texas, he graduated summa cum laude from ODU in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in English; he is a volunteer driver for the American Cancer Society’s “Road to Recovery” program; and he currently resides in Norfolk with his partner of 27 years, John and their Brittany Spaniel, Dot.

Jenifer Alonzo | Director

Jenifer Alonzo is a theatre artist who works at disciplinary intersections at Old Domion University.  She develops workshops that use applied theatre techniques to help scientists better collaborate across disciplines and she works with researchers to use theatre to communicate their research to public audiences. As a writer and director, Ms. Alonzo specializes in the creation of new work for the stage. In 2010, Ms. Alonzo created Fragments, a play that connected Hampton Roads military community to the university. Other pieces include Desire/Regret and The Wrath of God Revealed and Deserved, both of which were presented as part of the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington DC. Ms. Alonzo's designs have appeared on the Towson University and ODU Stages, at the Baltimore Theatre Project, at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore, and on The Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. Ms. Alonzo has performed in more than 30 productions in cities from Denver to Baltimore.

Ms. Alonzo holds an MFA in Theatre from Towson University. Her thesis focused on undergraduate training in the collaborative creation of site-specific and image-based work. Additionally, Ms. Alonzo has developed theatre workshops for professionals who wish to employ the tools of the actor to strengthen their work in health care, teaching, and law.

Martha Daas, PhD | Director

Martha Daas is an associate professor of Spanish literature at Old Dominion University.  She received her PhD in 2002 from the University of Texas, Austin.

Her research area focuses on the study of popular manifestations of religion in the Spanish Middle Ages.  She has recently published articles on religious parody in medieval texts and on the medieval life of Saint Martha.  Her monograph on religion and propaganda entitled The Politics of Salvation: Re-inventing the Mary Myth in Medieval Spain will be out in the fall of 2011.

Martha’s volunteer work ranges from activism on campus to helping those in need in other countries.  Martha is currently an active member of the ODU Women’s Caucus and its former president.  She also spends one week every year traveling to Honduras as part of a medical mission trip run by the Eastern Virginia Medical School and CHKD.