the NCEI Team
Executive Board
Matthew Hansley
I was born in the small and rural town of Skippack, located in Eastern Pennsylvania. My first experience with serving the LGBTQ+ Community began in Philadelphia, PA at Penguin Place – once the LGBT Youth center in Philadelphia, PA, and I have been involved with the LGBT+ community now for over four decades. After beginning College at the Penn State University in 2010 I graduated with distinction in earning Bachelors of Science degrees in Sociology and Criminal Justice in 2014 with an additional certificate in Diversity in Community. I pursed my Master’s Degree in Community Psychology and Social Change at Penn State Harrisburg’s and graduated the program with distinction in 2017. Some of my other interests that contribute to my work in the non-profit sector for the LGBTQ+ community include photography, sound collage artistry, and volunteer work.
Over the past decade, I and others have been diligently constructing and expanding the foundations for National Center for Equality and Innovation, through our SafePoint Rural Initiative that has helped many LGBT+ youth in our founding state of Pennsylvania and a throughout the United States.
Jeff Pagliei
Jeff is a Business Systems Analyst specializing in Pharmaceutical/Biotech systems residing in Cambridge Ma. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Art from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Since that time, he has been a tech enthusiast and a geeky gamer. In 2008, he wrote a script for a short film called Looking for: a comedy short about dating, which won several awards, including Audience Award Best Short Film at the Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2009. On the side, he likes Movies, Computers/Technology, Video Games, Reading, and exploring the urban landscape.
Advisory Council
Janelle Crossley
Hi, my name is Janelle Kayla Crossley born and raised in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania Cumberland County. Currently residing in Newville, Pa. for the past 20 years and previously residing in Mechanicsburg for 25 years where I made a home and began raising my family. My career path has always been in Facility Management/Property Management for various commercial, residential, and health care enterprises throughout Central Pa. Currently I am retired. I honestly believe in “equity, equality, and justice for all people and will continue to be a huge part of that every day. As a caring, loving, dedicated parent to my family I will go above and beyond the normal duties of parenting not only for my child, grandchildren, family, friends, but for all of mankind as well. My family consist of my spouse of 44 years, daughter, son in law, 2 wonderful grandchildren and loving furry pets and is the best thing that ever happened in my life. I have four siblings, 1 brother, and 3 sisters. My parents are both deceased.
There have been so many interests throughout my life up to the present day and the most prominent is Model Railroading. It is a wonderful rewarding hobby, past time, and a way to exhibit your imagination, artistic talent, as well as utilizing the different skills in all the different trades. Also enjoy collecting clown dolls, cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks of which I had education on repairing and restoring. Other interests that are especially important to me is, I am a 17-year advocate for Gender Identity in Central Pa. and surrounding areas. It is and has been my goal to bring visibility, awareness, and education to society on Gender Identity issues and to work with those within the gender identity spectrum as well as offer presentations to colleges, universities, schools, businesses, families, and individuals alike. The most rewarding (not that all my advocacy is rewarding) is working with an Amish individual who was in the gender identity spectrum (Transgender) and wanting to transition and remain with her family as well as remain in the Amish Community of which she so loved. My advocacy has extended into advocating for harassed, bullied, and discriminated students of all ages in our schools as well as within our society. I am a person that has always been involved in giving, either to my family, friends, or my community. I had volunteered at the then Carlisle Cares Homeless Shelter in Carlisle Pa. (now Community Cares More Than Shelter) for 3 years before becoming an employee 2 years ago. As a volunteer for Big Brothers big Sisters. I have been given the privilege of becoming a Big Sister for an awesome young girl in need of a mentor, but more important a friend they can count on throughout their everyday lives. Becoming involved with the CASA Organization (Court Appointed Special Advocate) of Cumberland and Perry Counties in Pa. and Children and Youth Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties in Pa. as a liaison for working with children and or parents on gender identity issues has been an especially important turning point in my life and career of community service in so many ways. The rewards are just astounding. CASA appointed me as seat on their advisory board where I can assist staff and clients in any way I can on issues with the gender spectrum. 3 years ago, I was appointed a seat at the Cumberland County Round Table, and I also hold a seat on the Citizens Advisory Board of Safe Harbour another Carlisle Homeless Shelter. Also I am the South Eastern, South Central Pennsylvania Representative for Trans Advocacy of Pennsylvania, the only state wide advocacy organization inclusive to the transgender community in the State of Pa, and also a member of the Citizens Advisory Board of RIGT Research Institute for Gender Therapeutics.
My most recent venture in serving my community was running for Pennsylvania State Representative of the 199TH District of Cumberland County. Although unsuccessful in the election we had made history in the State of Pa. As the first openly transgender woman to run for a state elected office in Pennsylvania and was inducted into the Rainbow Wave of The Library of Congress in Washington, DC. I was also nominated by many to receive the Inaugural Keira Kristine DeSantis Award, which is an award presented by the Pa. Department of Health, Pa. Human Services, Pa. LGBTQA Health Conference, Health Promotion Council, Adagic Health Council, Northwest Tobacco Control Program, Bradbury Sullivan for the top Advocate of Gender Identity in Pennsylvania of which I was presented and is the most prestigious award that has ever been presented to me. ABC NEWS 27 has a Remarkable Woman of the Year Contest for doing remarkable things in our communities and for others, and I had been nominated and been selected as one of the top four candidates to be presented this award sometime in April 2021. In August of 2021, I along with another woman have created a coalition which is statewide here in Pennsylvania. It is called the Pa. Coalition for Trans youth, a statewide coalition for supporting our trans youth and all people inclusively against hate, bigotry, and discrimination from legislators, local leaders, hate groups ,etc.
Liz Viera-Pysher
Hello! My name is Liz Pysher-Viera, I was born and raised in Bangor, Pennsylvania in Northampton County and have resided in the TriValley Area in Schuylkill County for the last 10+ years. I received my Bachelors degree in Psychology with a Minor in Sociology from Penn State. I spent my time out of college working as the Team Lead at Schuylkill County Crisis, and also worked on the Inpatient units at KidsPeace. I have spent the last Eight years working as a Member Services Supervisor with PerformCare, where we work to assist the members of Medicaid with finding Behavioral Health services. DEI is an important cause for me as I am a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and feel that we need to continue to work for equity for all groups. I am a member of the DEI workgroup at PerformCare. I also started the Alliance while attending Penn State Schuylkill. I married my wife Jen in October of 2020 and we have an amazing daughter, Daisha who just started at Albright College and is an elementary education/theater major. In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my wife vintage shopping, and finding those perfect old things to decorate with. I run a small business, Hangin with my Gnomies, making handmade custom gnomes and primitives. I recently began selling my items in two stores, the Williams Valley Pharmacy and Country Meadow Primitives in Lykens. I also sell online via etsy. In my spare time I enjoy quality time at home with my wife and our dogs and cats.
Cathy Fiorillo
Cathy Fiorillo is a Teaching Professor of Theatre and Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University Schuylkill Campus where she also directs the campus’s plays. She is also a director, producer, writer, improviser, and freelance actor and model. She coaches people of all ages for both acting and public speaking. She has also trained and received her certificate from UCB improv, NYC and Second City Training Center Chicago. She uses improv and acting techniques to improve one's public speaking skills. Cathy is passionate, dedicated, and creative in guiding a person to reach his/her best potential in public speaking, acting, and overall confidence.
Eric Souder
Eric Souder lives in Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania (on the border of Berks and Montgomery County) with his wife, Alexandra, two sons – Zachary (3) and Luka (1), and two dogs and a cat. Professionally, he is a financial advisor at Lincoln Investment Planning, LLC, predominantly working with educators, administrators, and nonprofits to clarify their financial goals and priorities and build sustainable and executable plans to help them maintain financial balance in their lives. He currently holds a Certified Tax Specialist™ designation from the Institute of Business and Finance, and is working on attaining an MBA through Eastern University. In his spare time, Eric is involved with the Rotary Club of Boyertown and the Tricounty Area Chamber of Commerce, and serves as Treasurer with STEM YEA (Youth Explorer Academy) – a three-day summer program for middle school students with an interest in the sciences. Additionally, he loves to run, cook, read as often as possible, and is a newfound lover of the Grateful Dead.
W. Keith Duffy
For the past 22 years, I’ve been an Associate Professor of English at the Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus. I was originally interested in studying literature and started teaching post-secondary rhetoric and writing classes in 1992 as a graduate student and never looked back. I obtained my Ph.D. in rhetoric and writing in 1999, and spent time as an instructor in both college and high school settings. I also taught academic writing at a medium-security prison to inmates earning their GEDs.
Beyond my love of writing, I have a knack for making electronic music. I’ve had six CDs of original music distributed globally in both physical and digital formats. My sounds can be heard on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon, Tidal, Rhapsody, Pandora, and Google Play. Perhaps the highlight of my music-making was when one of my tracks was licensed for use in an episode of HBO's The Sopranos. I have also taken my love of music and examined how musical composition intersects with textual composition, and this has led to the publication of multiple peer-reviewed academic articles on the subject.
John “Ski” Sygielski
John “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D. became the seventh president of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, in July 2011. His previous appointments include president of Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore., and president of Lord Fairfax Community College in Middletown, Va. He earned a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and a doctorate, as well as an honorary associate degree. Ski is the past chairman of the board for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and was a member of AACC’s 21st-Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges. He also is a member of Harrisburg Rotary and serves on the boards of the Harrisburg Boys and Girls Club, Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, and Pennsylvania’s Workforce Investment Board and serves on numerous local, regional and national advisory committees including the Governor’s Advisory Board on Education and Workforce Development. Ski, and his husband, Steve Perrault, are residents of Harrisburg, Pa. A native of Cleveland, Ohio. He is the only member of his working-class family to graduate from college.
Irene Paul
Atika Syed
Emissary Council
Research committee
Matthew Hansley
- M.A. Community Psychology and Social Change, (2017). Penn State University, The Capital College, Middletown, Pennsylvania
- Master's of the Arts, Specialization in Marginalized Populations, (2017). Penn State University, The Capital College, Middletown, Pennsylvania
- B.S. Sociology, with Distinction, (2014). Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania
- B.S. Criminal Justice, with Distinction, (2014). Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania
- Certified in Diversity in Community Studies, (2014). Penn State University, The Capital College, Middletown, Pennsylvania.