Our Team & Partners
And You Welcomed Me is led by a U.S.-based board and advisors committed to securing dignity and safety for LGBTQ+ refugees.
We work in coordination with trusted resettlement and advocacy partners, including organizations such as Rainbow Railroad and Episcopal Migration Ministries, as we pursue lawful pathways to protection and provide emergency support abroad.
Leo Nikonov
President
Leo is an Adjunct Professor at the University of the Potomac in Washington, DC. Born in Barnaul, Siberia, he worked and studied philosophy in Denmark and political science in Turkey, before moving to the U.S. in late 2023. He has published works exploring theory of contract and applied ethics. In his teaching, he covers management-related courses, drawing from a rich background of global experiences. His professional journey includes leading an NGO in Russia under an oppressive political environment and managing a program at a U.S. think tank, giving him firsthand experience in advocacy and organizational leadership. As an immigrant himself, Leo understands what it takes to leave a home country to start a new life from scratch elsewhere. Now living in Maryland with his husband and their Russian Blue cat Businka, Leo is ready to put his expertise at the service of LGBTQ+ refugees seeking for a safer place to live.
Joseph Ross
Co-Founder
Board of Directors
Joseph Ross is a poet and teacher who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. He has been an advocate for LGBTQIA+ refugees in Kakuma Camp, Kenya, Block 13, since 2020. As a teacher of more than thirty years, he has taught English, creative writing, and social justice at the college and high school levels. He currently teaches in Washington, D.C. He has taught at Carroll High School, American University, Washington, D.C., the University of Notre Dame, and Montgomery College, Takoma Park, Maryland. Ross holds degrees in English and Divinity from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of five books of poetry: Crushed & Crowned (forthcoming, Fall, 2023) Raising King (2020), Ache (2017), Gospel of Dust (2013), and Meeting Bone Man (2012). His poems have been published in many journals and anthologies including The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Poet Lore, The Langston Hughes Review, and Sojourners.
Ethan Bishop-Henchman
Co-Founder
Executive Director
The Rev. Ethan Bishop-Henchman is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. He is especially passionate about the intersection of social justice and voluntary action, and is a recognized leader across faith communities and charities in Washington, DC. He was a founding co-chair of both the Outreach and Social Justice Committee of Washington National Cathedral and the Refugee Response Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. With their social justice leaders, he also volunteers with and recruits for the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, the latter honoring him with a 2020 Caritas! Award. A native Vermonter, Ethan graduated from St. Lawrence University in upstate New York. In his “day job,” he supports startups and non-profits with their behind-the-scenes operations. He currently resides in the District with his husband, Joe, and their rescue dog Ulysses.
Antonio Baxter
Board of Directors
Rev. Antonio Baxter currently serves at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington in 2025, he brings together experience in both ministry and public service.
Before entering full-time parish ministry, Rev. Baxter spent more than a decade in District of Columbia government, serving as Agency Fiscal Officer for multiple agencies and as Agency Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. His work focused on public finance, fiscal oversight, and policy implementation.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, a Master’s in Public Policy, a Master of Divinity, and a Doctor of Ministry (Howard Thurman Cohort). His background reflects a sustained commitment to justice, stewardship, and community engagement.
Ivy Love
Board of Directors
Ivy Love is a senior advisor in the Center on Education & Labor at New America, where her work focuses on community colleges, their students, and federal and state policies that support them.
Prior to New America, Love worked as a policy analyst for the Association of Community College trustees, as a lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis and Webster University, and as a refugee orientation educator at the International Institute of St. Louis where she also gained experience working with LGBT+ refugees.
Love is a PhD candidate in higher education administration at Saint Louis University. She holds an MA from the University of Sheffield (UK) and a BA from Missouri Southern State University.
Ashley Shade
Board of Directors
Ashley Shade is an elected City Councilor for the city of North Adams, Massachusetts. After graduating from Charles H. McCann Technical High School, she began working and later studying at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts where her interest in politics and civics began. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Her professional career has led her into a position where she is able to help people and continue to advocate.
She served as a Senior Service Support Consultant for Wayfair, where she also led an Employee Resource Group for LGBTQ+ employees and allies, and was appointed to the Corporate Impact Council where she was able to help drive positive culture change within the global organization. Ashley is actively involved in numerous organizations, serving to advocate for marginalized communities. She works in Customer Service and previously worked in healthcare at the hospital, pharmacy, and nursing home settings and understands the complex issues that confront the residents in and around North Adams.
As the Chairwoman of a national non-profit organization, Outright USA, and a former member of the National Transgender Visibility March policy team, Ashley continues to work and offer solutions to serve and represent LGBTQ+ community issues and provide a positive impact on people’s lives. Her election as chair of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts set history, making Ashley the first transgender person in Massachusetts to be elected as the chair of a state political party. She is a staunch advocate for diversity and inclusiveness and uses her platform to increase education and awareness around the issues that face the LGBTQ+ community. Her former work on the Human Services Commission and with the Berkshire Stonewall Community Coalition and current work as Co-Chair of the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Access (I.D.E.A.) Commission has helped further the aim to build a strong, safe, and vibrant community in North Adams. Ashley was elected to her first term as a City Councilor in 2021 and took office in January 2022. In 2022 Ashley left the Libertarian Party and in 2023 she joined the Democratic Party and serves as the Political Director of the Democratic Freedom Caucus.
Being transgender has given her a unique perspective on what it feels like to be marginalized, a perspective that and the vital importance of helping people of all backgrounds and treating them with equal compassion.
Rainbow Railroad
Rainbow Railroad is a global not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk LGTBQI+ people get to safety worldwide. Based in the United States and Canada, we’re an organization that helps LGBTQI+ people facing persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. In a time when there are more displaced people than ever, LGBTQI+ people are uniquely vulnerable due to systemic, state-enabled homophobia and transphobia. These factors either displace them in their own country or prevent them from escaping harm.
Episcopal Migration Ministries
Episcopal Migration Ministries is a ministry of The Episcopal Church and is one of 10 national agencies responsible for resettling refugees in the United States in partnership with the government. Episcopal Migration Ministries currently has 12 affiliate offices in 10 states. In addition to its long-standing work in refugee resettlement ministry, Episcopal Migration Ministries is The Episcopal Church’s convening place for collaboration, education, and information-sharing on migration.
In 2022, EMM helped 1,092 refugees and 547 SIV’s from 30 countries rebuild their lives in peace and security in 12 communities across the United States.
