Current Board Members of Team Chicago

Paul Oostenbrug

Paul Oostenbrug is the President of East Bridge Consultants, where he provides grant writing, program planning, and evaluation assistance to non-profit organizations. He focuses on helping health care and social services agencies improve their ability to serve clients. A former resident of Boston and Washington, D.C., Paul has been an active member of Frontrunners in each city and he won gold medals in the marathon at the 2006 Gay Games in Chicago, the 2002 Gay Games in Sydney, and the 1998 Gay Games in Amsterdam. He won three track & field medals in 2006. Paul serves as Team Chicago's male delegate to the Federation of Gay Games and is Vice President of Membership, heading efforts to recruit new member organizations. He also serves on the board of Team Chicago board since returning from Gay Games V in 1998. He has been Co-Chair of Team Chicago for five years.

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Israel Wright

Marketing chair - Israel is the president and founder of Israel Wright Photographs, Inc., a photography company that provides portrait photographs, event photography, fine art artistic impressions, and photojournalism to individuals and businesses. He is one of Chicago's best-known gay photographers. His photos have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Vibe, Jet, Arise, Venus and other publications. Israel was involved with Chicago's initial bid to host Gay Games VII.

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Wayne Hussey

Wayne is an instructor at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy, where he has taught for the last 5 years. He is a Licensed Massage Therapist and also has a private practice. Wayne has worked to coordinate the massage and medical tents at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and Accenture Triathlon since 2000. He is also a co-chair for the massage support team for Gay Games VII in July of 2006.

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Susan Levin

Susan is a Senior Operations Analyst at Orbitz.com. She has held various positions with non-profit and civic organizations, including Treasurer for Charis, the St. Louis Women's Chorus; President of Cambridge Homeowners Association in St. Louis; Chorus Manager for Aria, the women's ensemble of Windy City Performing Arts; as well as Volunteer Manager for Arts Commandos in St. Louis and Volunteer Manager in the Registration area for the Gay Games VII.

She has been a Board Member for Team Chicago Athletics since September 2007 and is currently the Acting Treasurer.

In St. Louis, Susan was also active with Team St. Louis and bowled with the Monday Night Moaners IGBO league. She played ice hockey for two seasons with the St. Louis Surge women’s hockey team and currently bicycles as much as her schedule allows.

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Liz Valenti

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Kyle Chang

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Jonathon Israel

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Advisory Board

Michael Syrjanen

Culture chair - Michael has owned and operated an interior design firm in Chicago for 20 years. Michael has chaired Team Chicago's Cultural Committee since 1994. He produced the 1998 Team Chicago calendar and the Spirit variety show. A member of Frontrunners and Frontwalkers, Michael competed in the 10k run at the 1998 Gay Games in Amsterdam. Michael serves as Volunteer Coordinator for the Center on Halsted and served on the board of Chicago 2006, the group leading the city's bid for Gay Games VII.

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John Lewis

John Lewis is a retired high school track & field and cross country coach. During his 30 years in these roles he organized numerous competitions. He helped organize invitational track meets in Michigan, coached teams that won conference and regional championships, and coached Illinois cross country teams that have won invitationals and have qualified for regional sectional meets. John was on his college's track and field team for 4 years.

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Dr. Daniel S. Berger

For the important work Dr. Berger and NorthStar Medical Center do to support Chicago’s HIV+ athletes and artists he was invited to join the Advisory Board on December 6, 2004.

Robbin Burr

Through Horizons’ work providing youth programming, mental health services, and community programming, as well as her leadership in developing a community center for the entire Chicago GLBT community – the Center on Halsted – Robbin was invited to join the Advisory Board on December 6, 2004.

Denise Lesiak

Denise clothed us for Gay Games V and VI, nurtured us, cheered us, and helped connect us to the Lakeview community. She attended our meetings, advised us on promoting Team Chicago, and helped with fundraising and events. She was invited to join the Advisory Board on December 6, 2004.

Honorary Lifetime Board Member

Peg Grey

Peg founded Team Chicago Arts and Athletics in 1983 and led delegations of athletes and cultural participants to Gay Games I, II, and III. Under her leadership, Team Chicago established itself and grew. She rejoined the board in 2000 and continued on the board until her death in February of 2007. Peg was active in developing many of Chicago's gay and lesbian sports organizations. She was one of the founders of Frontrunners, also in 1983. Peg was the first co-president of the Federation of Gay Games and participated in the torch run for Gay Games I. She participated in every Games including Gay Games VII in Chicago in 2007, for which she appeared in the promotional video. Over the years she competed in marathon, softball, track and field, and volleyball. Peg was one of Team Chicago's delegates to the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) from 2000 to 2006.

Peg Grey's passion was sports, and through sports she helped unite the gay male and lesbian communities, raised funds for AIDS and other causes, and worked internationally to build bridges in the GLBT community across racial and economic lines. At the FGG Annual Meeting in 2001she spearheaded the movement to raise funds for the Rainbow Warriors, a Namibian lesbian soccer team. There is a scholarship program in Peg's name that supports lesbian sport in Southern Africa and brings lesbians from that region to the Gay Games.

Dick Uyvari

Dick led the delegation of athletes and cultural participants to Gay Games II and helped get the organization well-established. He and his partner Joe LaPat donated funds to Team Chicago's uniform scholarship program, some of which will be available for Gay Games VIII in 2010. Dick loves to bowl and was sport captain of bowling at Gay Games VII. He was inducted as an Honorary Lifetime Member on December 6, 2004.

Dick has been involved in the Gay and Lesbian sports scene in Chicago since 1979. He has been President, Secretary and/or Treasurer for over a dozen LPL and MSA (now CMSA) bowling leagues since that time. He has been an IGBO rep and served on the boards of IGBO, MSA and LPL. In 1983 he was Co-director of IGBO 83 CHICAGO, IGBO's third Annual Tournament, which took place at Waveland Bowl and maxed out at 576 participants. In 1988 he founded the Chicago Pride-Week Invitational, now CPI, and served as its Director in '88 and '89.

Dave Irvin

Dave led the delegation of athletes and cultural participants to Gay Games III and helped sustain Team Chicago in the 1990s. He rejoined the Team Chicago board in 2004, shortly after being inducted as an Honorary Lifetime Member on December 6, 2004

Karla Shelton

Karla led delegations of athletes and cultural participants to Gay Games IV in New York in 1994 and to Gay Games V in Amsterdam in 1998. She expanded Team Chicago's capabilities by implementing new programs, new bylaws, and new policies and procedures. Under her leadership in the 1990s, Team Chicago prospered. She was inducted as an Honorary Lifetime Member on December 6, 2004.