ANNE E.'S JOURNAL -August 3, 2008 - Brynna Fish Bio
	Brynna Fish, MSW Biographical Sketch Brynna Fish has been a social activist and rabble rouser all of her life and has been working professionally in the field of social service for 30 years. Always a community organizer and advocate, Ms. Fish "came out of the closet" in college, after having what she thought then was a 'secret' relationship with Nancy, her high school sweet heart in high school. Landing in Cleveland in 1979, Brynna sought out the lesbian and women's community and has invested three decades of strengthening the LGBT community in the Greater Cleveland area. As a member of Oven Productions, one of the countries oldest running women's music collectives, a founding member of Chevrei Tikva, Cleveland's LGBT synagogue, and the coordinator of Cleveland Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Pride Festival, Brynna's service to community reflects the communities respect for her involvement and influence. On a national level Ms. Fish was a founding board member of the now defunct Association of Women's Music and Culture which provided resources to women's music festivals and local women's production companies representing predominantly lesbian performers. Brynna has worked on the stage crew of the Michigan Women's Music Festival for 23 years. A career "networker," Ms. Fish is highly regarded for her ability to bring together people and build bridges on tough issues. More recently Brynna became a founding influence and member of the Jewish Community Federation's Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Task Force with a mission to help the Jewish Community fully integrate a strong LGBT sensitivity. This past Spring Brynna participated in a national 3 day training for Jewish educators, clergy and youth group advisor on incorporating LGBT inclusion into their synagogues, Jewish schools and youth groups sponsored by Keshet (Rainbow in Hebrew) an organization based in Boston with a mission for full LGBT inclusion in the Jewish community. Brynna coordinated and served as host for Keshet's second training conference held her in Cleveland. Brynna's passion for the LGBT community, her vision and creativity has left its mark in many ways, the largest being the annual Cleveland LGBT Parade and Festival. Both as a volunteer and then as the paid coordinator, Brynna is the single consistent thread that has held Pride together. She took Pride out of the closet w. 29th street location to Public Square at a time when Pride committees were concerned about being scene in public. Her touches on the current version of the Pride Festival include creating the Beer Garden and 3 entertainment stages. Her work in the women's music scene, as an independent producer with her Bluefish Productions, her festival work and her work booking nationally touring recording artists Brynna's influence has also been evident each year in the Pride stage performance line ups. This past June the Pride Board honored Brynna's 20 years with Pride by bestowing her with the singular honor of the 2008 Pride Parade and Festival Grand Marshall. This is the first time in Pride's history of having Grand Marshalls that the Board felt compelled to not only honor Brynna but to have only one such honoree. After Brynna's acceptance she immediately asked to have the name changed to Grand Dame and she took advantage of this honor by planning Fish & Bitch, a roast and toast to herself as a Pride fundraiser. Ever pushing the envelop, this says it all. Brynna's commitment to and passion for social justice expands beyond the LBGT community. Brynna's first decade as social worker was invested in community planning, administration and program development in the field of Jewish communal work. In 1987, a distress call from her long troubled younger sister resulted in both tremendous personal and professional change. As result of her sister's and then 18 month old nephew's domestic violence victimization, she became his permanent legal guardian. That began a shift in her professional direction leading to her to decades of family violence work. She is a recipient of the Community Health Advocate Award from the Academy of Medicine of Cleveland Alliance in recognition of her accomplishments in providing domestic violence training to physicians, nurses, counselors and other health care providers. Sought after to conduct local professional trainings and community education events Brynna has presented hundreds of workshops. She has also presented at national and international conferences and consulted with and trained staff around the country establishing their own domestic violence programs. Her efforts have garnered commendations from Mayor Jane Campbell and former State Attorney General Lee Fisher and most recently have resulted in JFSA's Family Violence Program receiving the Mary Byron Celebrating Solutions Award and in the personal accomplishment of being a recipient of the Doris Buffet's (yes Warrens' sister) Sunshine Peace Award. Born Jewish and a singer, active in her synagogue youth group, a decent guitar player, Brynna made herself into a versatile song leader working Jewish summer camps and teaching religious school. For over 30 years she has taught in area congregations and serves as para-cantor leading services for all ages. She especially loves teaching ritual, family history, American Jewish History and working with families in the classroom as well as informally and on retreats. Not just an educator, Ms. Fish exudes passion about living as a Jewish lesbian, the Jewish values of Tikkun Olam, healing the world, and about making Judaism accessible to her students. A native Ohioan, Ms. Fish resides in Cleveland Heights with dog and 2 cats and her mother who has 6 cats.