Meet Our Scholars

Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Zach attended Lakeside School, a prestigious college preparatory high school. Coming out as a freshman, he spent a significant amount of his high school career struggling to establish his own identity in a community where anything other than the status quo is either a novelty or an undesirable. As a result of this latently homophobic environment, Zach began working as a student organizer with The Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an endeavor for which he garnered GLSEN Washington State's 2005-2006 GSA Leader of the Year Award. His years as an activist and his academic excellence have led him to Columbia University, where he studied theatre. As education has always been Zach's greatest passion, he hopes to work toward understanding and combating homophobia through teaching.