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About
Cathy Busha
I grew up in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania (the heart of Amish country). I attended
Millersville University, a state school, earned
my Bachelors of Science in Secondary Education,
English, and played Division II Basketball for
four years. I am a first generation college graduate.
From 1993
to 1997, I taught 8th grade English. During my
third year of teaching, I came out to myself as
a lesbian. In conservative Lancaster County, had
I come out on the job or been ‘outed’
I would have been fired. Rather than remain in
the closet or come out and lose my job, I made
the painful decision to leave teaching.
After
I left teaching, I was accepted into the Master’s
of Journalism Program at Temple University in
Philadelphia. I worked as a GA in the Graduate
School, and participated in the Temple University
Student LGBT group. After a year in Philadelphia,
I decided that I wanted to live in wide open Western
spaces. After months of research, I moved to Tucson,
sight unseen. I sold most of what I owned, packed
up the car, and camped my way across the Northern
US and Canada for four months.
When I
arrived in Tucson in 1998, I began volunteering
as a youth group facilitator with Wingspan,
Southern Arizona’s LGBT Community Center.
A few months after I began volunteering, I applied
for the position of Advocate with the Wingspan
Domestic Violence Project and was hired. In 2001,
I was promoted to Domestic Violence Project Coordinator,
and in 2004, I was again promoted to a new position
at Wingspan -- Director of Programs.
From my
nine years at Wingspan, I have significant experience
and skills in community organizing, coalition-building,
program development and evaluation, training and
presentations, research, supervision, media and
community relations, grant writing, fundraising,
and LGBTQ policy and advocacy work.
While
working full-time at Wingspan, I attended ASU’s
Social Work program, and graduated in 2006 with
my MSW. This past spring, I served as Adjunct
Faculty at ASU.
It is wonderful to return to my first love –
Education – while also working for the LGBTQ
community. |
