Overview
The LA BOSCOC is pleased to announced that Dylan Waguespack, Weston Schild, and Mariah Stidham Wineski have joined its Board.
Dylan, Weston, and Mariah will be filling designated seats; for more information about their roles, please refer to the LA BOSCOC’s Board list.
About the board members
Dylan Waguespack
Dylan Waguespack is the Public Policy and External Affairs Director at True Colors United, where he develops, directs, and implements their federal, state, and local administrative and legislative public policy agenda. Before joining True Colors United, Waguespack was a political communications and advocacy consultant working in Baton Rouge, La and Washington, D.C. His past clients include the National Center for Transgender Equality, American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Secure and Modern Elections, Louisiana Budget Project, and more.
Before opening his consulting firm, Waguespack served as Executive Director of Louisiana Progress, the progressive movement-building partnership where he started his career as an intern in 2011. While there, he drafted and successfully lobbied for a number of bills to expand opportunity for children, youth, and families impacted by homelessness, including protection from eviction for survivors of domestic abuse, expanded eligibility for child care assistance for families experiencing homelessness, and in-state tuition and campus housing for current and former homeless and foster youth in postsecondary education.
Waguespack is the Board President of Louisiana Trans Advocates, where he has served as a board member since 2011. He was appointed by Governor John Bel Edwards to serve on the Governor's Council on Homelessness from 2016-18, and he served on Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome's Transition Subcommittee on Human Services in 2016-17. Waguespack was appointed by the Louisiana Legislature to serve on the Legislative Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care in 2015, and was a key voice in advancing early conversations to extend the age of foster care to 21. He also currently serves as a member of the Advocacy Advisory Council for the Modern Military Association of America.
Weston Schild
Weston Schild is Executive Director of Capital Area Alliance for the Homeless and the Balance of State System Administrator for the Homeless Management System. His expertise in data collection, management, and reporting makes him a frequently sought voice in understanding homelessness in South Louisiana. As HMIS System Administrator he supervises a staff of four professionals and works to advance the provision of quality services for homeless and at-risk persons, improve data collection, educate the public, and promote responsive policies to prevent and end homelessness in South Louisiana.
In addition, he coordinates service providers and supervises the One Stop Homeless Services Center in Baton Rouge. The One Stop houses 15 programs provided by ten non-profit agencies that address a range of barriers to securing permanent housing. The One Stop provides respite and services for 75-100 homeless persons daily and serves 1800 clients annually. Under Weston’s leadership the One Stop received the Louisiana Housing Corporation’s 2019 Community Connections Champion award for the state of Louisiana.
Weston holds a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelors of Arts in Religious Studies from Centenary College of Louisiana.
Mariah Stidham Wineski
Mariah Stidham Wineski is the executive director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide network of domestic violence advocacy organizations. Ms. Wineski has 15 years of experience working throughout the United States and internationally on social change campaigns and violence prevention. She is the current chair of the Louisiana Domestic Violence Prevention Commission and previously served on the board of directors for Boulder Sister Cities. She also serves on the Victim Services Advisory Board of the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, the Membership Committee of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and the advisory board of the Louisiana Violent Death Reporting System. Ms. Wineski has extensive experience leading legislative policy, public affairs, and media relations for domestic violence, sexual assault, and reproductive health organizations at the statewide and national levels. She has provided international consultation on educational policy and curriculum development, and has managed several regional gang violence prevention initiatives. She has a B.A. in Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies from Louisiana State University and an M.S. in Sociology from Southeastern Louisiana University.
Recording secretary
In addition, Terry Hale has stepping down as the Board’s Recording Secretary, a non-voting position traditionally held by the executive assistant to the Director of Housing and Homeless Services at the Louisiana Housing Corporation. Terry has taken another position within the Corporation, and we wish her well in her exciting new role! The Corporation hopes to identify a new Recording Secretary by the end of 2019.