The Effing Foundation Advisory Council is a group of folks with a wide range of life experiences and expertise who offer feedback to our staff and Board of Directors, including helping us review grant proposals. We are grateful to the members of our Advisory Council (listed in alphabetical order):
|
|
|
Aria Vega (Twitter @vegadreamcast) Aria Vega is a sex writer, podcast producer, and pleasure advocate based in Atlanta, Georgia. Trained as a sex educator in her native New York, Aria’s writing explores sexuality and relationships via reported features, cultural criticism, and personal essays. She’s especially focused on how depictions of sex and love on-screen impact real-life relationships, and what makes for the steamiest sex scenes. As the host and producer of the podcast POV by Lustery, Aria speaks with creators, educators, and activists in the sex industry about the sex-positive world their work is building. |
|
|
|
Cecilia Villero (goddesscecilia.com/ IG @GoddessCecilia/ Twitter @GoddessCecilia), she/her/siya You can find the Filipina Mermaid Goddess sharing her favorite spa and sexy products at an in-home party, with Voula the Vulva at a variety of events, on YouTube during #MermaidMonday, and providing private consultations to those curious about exploring their pleasure. If you’re particularly in her favor, you’ll get to see a flick of her tail as she drops some pearls of wisdom. |
 |
|
Dev Ramsawakh (IndivisibleWriting.com / IG @merkyy_waters / Twitter and TikTok @merkyywaters) Dev Ramsawakh is a Toronto-based disabled and non-binary multidisciplinary storyteller, producer, and model whose work focuses on their intersecting identities. They were the 2019 TVO Short Docs Contest winner and their short films have been screened at CaribbeanTales Film Festival, Inside Out Film Festival, Toronto Queer Film Festival, ReelAbilities Film Festival, and North Bay Film Festival. Their written work has been published on Chatelaine, CBC, them, and Xtra, among other publications. Dev has also been a producer on Radio LUMI for Luminato Festival Toronto, a story producer for SKETCH, and has been on jury panels and committees for ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto, Warner Brothers Discovery, and Toronto Arts Council. They’re included in the Disability Visibility anthology edited by Alice Wong and have fiction in the anthologies Two Times Removed and Toronto 2033. They have self-published poetry chapbooks and smaller zines. They also facilitate workshops independently and with CRIP Collective around disability justice, media, storytelling, and more.
|
 |
|
Dirty Lola (DirtyLola.WordPress.com / @DirtyLola) she/her Dirty Lola is a sex edutainer, performer and dildo slinger. She has spent the last 6 years working to end stigma, shame, and lack of accurate and accessible sex education available through her live sex Ed Q&A and variety show, Sex Ed A Go Go and her job as manager of the woman run and owned sex shop, SHAG. She began her journey into sex education by sharing her personal discoveries in the kink and polyamory worlds with the internet. Now she uses that knowledge along with her warm, no holds barred approach to body and sex positivity to teach the masses. Lola has presented her brand of sex education and positivity at a variety of events and venues, including Catalyst Con, The Sex Expo, Southwest Love Fest, Baruch College, Hofstra University, UNF and UNM. She is currently taking her message to a wider audience as co-host and producer of the web series Sex Probz. |
|
|
Jimanekia Eborn (TraumaQueen.Love/@Jimanekia) she/her Jimanekia Eborn is a Queer Media Consultant, Comprehensive Sex Educator, and Sexual Assault & Trauma Expert. With a Masters in Health Psychology, she has worked in mental health for the past 13 years in sex education and sexual trauma support. Jimanekia is the host of Trauma Queen - a podcast mini-series for survivors of assault and our allies, and the Founder of Tending the Garden, a healing retreat for assault survivors of different marginalized identities. In 2020, Jimanekia co-founded Centaury Co., bringing increased representation to the field of Intimacy Coordination in the film industry. |
|
|
Meg G (https://witchofthewands.com / @witchofthewands ), they/them Meg G is a sex educator, sex toy reviewer, and witch who lives in the mountains of Pennsylvaina. They are a kinky, polyamorous, nonbinary demisexual femme. While they have been blogging on and off since 2012. They began Witch of the Wands in 2017, which centers around sex, kink, polyamory, spirituality, and reviews. |
|
|
|
Mx Nillin (mxnillin.com) You can find Nillin's queer erotica in the “Big Book of Orgasms: Volume 2”, as well as “Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year”, volumes 4, 5, and 6, from Cleis Press, their sexual wellness work as a chapter co-author in the second edition of “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves” from Oxford University Press (2022), and as the editor of “Heckin' Lewd: Trans and Nonbinary Erotica” from Bold Strokes Books. Nillin is now hard at work editing their 2nd anthology for Bold Strokes Books, “Emerging Selves: An Exploration of Gender Identity”, and their first solo book, “How Do I Sexy? A Guide for Trans Queers”, to be publish in 2024 by Thornapple Press. |
|
|
Rae Chen (theNotice.net / IG @thenotice / Twitter @thenotice) they/them Rae Chen is a polyamorous sex, beauty, and lifestyle writer living in Edmonton, Alberta. As a part-time hedonist and a part-time socialist, their work focuses on the idea of inclusivity, even in luxury. At theNotice (founded in 2007), Rae uses a review-style format to educate and improve access to safe, informed, and responsible pleasure. Their work is richly detailed and highly sensory, and aims to make experiences accessible to every reader, regardless of physical ability or socioeconomic status. You can find more of Rae’s work at Teen Vogue and NextShark, where they discuss the Chinese diaspora experience. |
 |
|
Taylor J Mace (feistyfoxfilms.com / @feistyfoxfilms) they/he Taylor J Mace is a white, nonbinary, transmasculine sex worker who is chronically and mentally ill. They are a queer, polyamorous, primarily-Dominant switch who lives below (and occasionally around) the poverty line in Toronto, Canada, though you can often find them gallivanting around North America. Their fascination with how the human brain and body work led them into the fields of independent sex work and sex education back in 2011, where they focus on mental health and disability advocacy, trans and sex worker issues, relationships, BDSM practices/guides, and sexual assault awareness and prevention. |
|
|
SugarCunt (https://www.sugarcuntwrites.com / @sugarCunt), they/them SugarCunt is a sex writer, worker, and educator from WNC whose work reflects their experiences growing up a fat, white, neurodivergent, mentally and chronically ill queer enby in rural Appalachia. While Sugarcunt Writes started as a sex toy review site and repository for relationship triumphs and terrors, it now more broadly focuses on sex and kink education and adult wellness. Sugar began their foray into professional online domination in the mid ‘10s, and in the last 4 years their advocacy has focused especially on the effects of poverty and the needs of other ND abuse survivors with C-PTSD and BPD.
|
Past Advisors
Crista Anne (CristaAnne.com / @pinkness) she/her; 2017-2019
Crista Anne is a Professional Oversharer whose main focus centers around defying stigmas surrounding sexuality, mental illness, and motherhood. With 20 years of sharing her life online, she uses memoirist blogging and 16 years working in sexuality to educate on a wide variety of topics. “Internet famous” for her #OrgasmQuest, she loves to spark conversations on topics that some find taboo. As a poly, queer, cis woman, her pronouns are she/her.
Kae Burdo (@kaeburdo) they/them; 2017-2020
Kae Burdo is a sex, sexuality, and relationship educator & writer. They regularly contribute to the sex & relationships section of Bustle, writing and consulting on polyamory, kink, and queer topics, and were recently a guest on Vermont Public Radio’s Vermont Edition with Jane Lindholm (“What Constitutes Sexual Consent?”), focusing on the complexities of consent. Kae is the founder and president of Vermont Ethical Non-Monogamy (VENM), which is dedicated to creating social and educational spaces - both online and off - for polyamorous folk in (or attached to) Vermont. Previously, Kae sat on the board of Vermont Alternative Sexuality Education (VASE). They also offer workshops and presentations on polyamory, consent, and other sexuality-related topics for audiences of all ages.
Jamila Dawson (www.jamiladawson.com / FB: Jamila M. Dawson / IN: jamiladsextherapy / @jamila_dawson) she/her; 2019-2020
Jamila Dawson, MA, LMFT is a sex therapist, pleasure activist, and speaker. Her goal: break down sexual stigma so people can design relationships that center imagination, connection, and liberation. Specifically, she focuses on integrating personal/professional development, supporting POC to thrive despite racial battle fatigue, and helping people in marginalized communities to explore their sexuality, enhance their relationships, and discover wellness through pleasure. She presents clinical trainings to mental health professionals and organizations and teaches classes on kink/BDSM, non-monogamy, and erotic play to individuals and partners. Jamila has lectured at USC, Antioch University Los Angeles, ASSECT Summer Institute, collaborated with a variety of sex educators as well as with Buzzfeed, Playboy, Harper’s BAZAAR and other media outlets.
Leslie Foster (http://lesliefmuse.com / @leslie_muse) he/him; 2017-2019
Leslie Foster is currently serving on our Board of Directors.
Cecilia Gentili she/her; 2018-2020
Cecilia Gentili currently serves as the Managing Director of Policy and Public Affairs at GMHC, the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy. Originally from Argentina, Cecilia found her passion for advocacy and community service when she started working as an intern at the LGBT Community Center in New York City several years ago. From 2012 to 2016, she managed the Transgender Health Program at the Apicha Community Health Center. Cecilia is also a contributor to Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, and a board member at Transcend Legal and Translatina Network. For fun, she loves performing at storytelling and stand-up comedy events where she talks about her life experiences. Cecilia is very passionate about advocating for her community, especially Latina transgender women who may have a history of sex work, drug use and incarceration.
Aida Manduley, LCSW (http://aidamanduley.com/ / @neuronbomb) they/them; 2017-2020
Aida Manduley is an award-winning Latinx activist and presenter known for big earrings and building bridges. Trained as a sexuality educator, social worker, and nonprofit manager, they're working to make the world a more equitable place through education, therapy, and community organizing. Hailing from Puerto Rico with over a decade of activism under their belt, they have presented across North America on a variety of sexuality topics and their intersections with issues such as digital literacy and racial justice. Manduley completed their Master's of Social Work at Boston University—with a focus on aging populations—and holds a B.A. in Gender and Sexuality Studies from Brown University, where they won awards for leadership and fostering diversity. Past projects include sexual health and LGBTQ work at a domestic violence agency, crisis-response with victims of sexual assault, and leadership on a number of national and regional coalitions on HIV prevention, comprehensive sexuality education, and LGBTQ anti-violence. Their other areas of expertise include organizational development, sexual stigma, non-monogamy, kink/BDSM, and youth education.
J Mase III (jmaseiii.com / IG @jmaseiii) he/him; 2020-2021
J Mase III is a Black/Trans/queer poet & educator based in Seattle by way of Philly. As an educator, Mase has worked with community members in the US, UK, and Canada on the needs of LGBTQIA+ folks and racial justice in spaces such as K-12 schools, universities, faith communities and restricted care facilities. He is founder of awQward, the first trans and queer people of color talent agency.
J Mase is author of And Then I Got Fired: One Transqueer’s Reflections on Grief, Unemployment & Inappropriate Jokes About Death as well as White Folks Be Trippin’: An Ethnography Through Poetry & Prose.
Currently, he is head writer for the theatrical production Black Bois and is co-editor of The Black Trans Prayer Book.
Carlton Perry he/him; 2017-2019
After serving on the Advisory Council and the Board of Directors, Carlton is now our Executive Director.
Wendy Phillips (thewenchworks.com / @thewenchworks) she/her; 2020-2022
Wendy Phillips is a twenty-something sex educator, sex toy reviewer, and advocate for mental health. She is a kinky, polyamorous, lesbian who sometimes questions her sexuality when men like Jason Mamoa come into play.
Wendy founded her sex-centric blog The Wench Works in 2018 and has reviewed countless toys to help others find toys that are great for play and great for the body. She often finds herself advocating for affordable body-safe toys for all folks.
She has been featured in Kinkly’s Top 100 Sex Blogs, along with being Sex Blogger of The Month for their series. Wendy has written many posts about allyship, orgasms, and sex toys for the Spectrum Journal, and hopes to continue to help and reach others with her articles.
Robin Wilson-Beattie (sexAbledWithRobinWB.com / @sexAbled / sexAbled on Facebook) she/her; 2017-2019
Robin Wilson-Beattie is a disability and sexuality health educator and writer, teaching the world to embrace and explore your sexuality, regardless of ability. She is a member of the Association of American Sexual Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), and a certified graduate and member of the San Francisco Sexuality Information Training (SFSI). Robin has been involved in sexuality education and awareness since high school. After acquiring a physical disability, she began in 2008 speaking on sexuality and disability topics and issues. She consults with individuals and organizations on issues of adaptive sexual support, and has had written articles and curriculum on this subject. Robin is a nationally recognized self and systems disability advocate. She is a deep-fried Southern girl, Sex Geek, comic book nerd, mid-century buff, and proud Mama of one amazing daughter.
Leila Zainab (www.leilazainab.com / @QueerDesiFemme) she/they; 2019
Leila Zainab is a queer Muslim immigrant, South Asian-American scholar, activist, and organizer. Leila works at the intersections of reproductive health & justice, racial justice, gender equity & healing justice. Their research and trainings focus on transnational solidarity, intergenerational diasporic trauma & healing, systemic sexual violence, critical race, gender & queer theories. Leila is grounded in an intersectional, transformative justice model of organizing and co-creation. As a Leadership Team member of the Survivor Theatre Project, Leila advocates for survivors of sexual violence to thrive in a heavily silenced and trauma-stigmatized world. Leila holds a M.A in Gender/Cultural Studies from Simmons University & B.A from Clark University in Sociology and Gender Studies. She is currently attending law school at Western New England University School of Law. In their spare time, Leila enjoys dabbling in expressive arts, practicing spiritual nourishment, and loving up her feline comrade, Lily.