Our Leadership
Image Descriptions: Each person named below has a headshot of themself above their description.
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Ani Cassellius (she/ her)
Ani Cassellius (she/her) is a co-founder of People's Pride and the vendor/artist coordinator. She is a high school art teacher and loves time off in the summer to be an artist and organizer. She has a passion for cultivating queer community and believes anytime is a good time for a big gay party.
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Luna Zeidner (she/her)
Luna Zeidner (she/her) is a NE Minneapolis resident, semi pro-gardener, and a former political organizer. She got tired and these days, just wants to grill. Making people happy with a free meal is one of her favorite pastimes, so she's excited to be running the food program for People’s Pride in 2024!
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Nasreen Sajady (she/they)
Nasreen Sajady (she/they) organizes the entertainment for the No Borders stages for People's Pride. A former microbiologist, teacher, and now executive director of a non-profit advocating for the safety of refugees displaced to MN, they have a passion for advocating for and creating safe spaces for community. They are a music lover and have been dancing on Minneapolis dance floors for over 27 years. Come dance with us!
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Chelsea McKinney (she/her)
Chelsey McKinney (she/her) is the Floater extreme; She’s ready to help out with pick ups, flyer posting, snacks, and wherever else help is needed at the time . During the day, she is a software engineer for a local tech company. At night, you can find her skateboarding, watching various women’s sports games, or reading. Excited to be a part of organizing People’s Pride this year!!
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Mik Finnegan (they/she)
Mik Finn (they/she) is the Music and Sound coordinator for Peoples Pride. They are a sound engineer and podcast producer. As much fun as producing a good story is, nothing beats community formed dancing to live music! Can’t wait for another year of watching cute queer people move to the music!
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Gabriel Van de Water (he/him)
Gabriel Van de Water (he/him) is a visual artist and organizer within groups like Dykes 2 Watch Out 4 and No Borders, and he’s very excited to be booking performing artists for People’s Pride for the second time in 2025. When he is not doing freelance design work he’s probably reading, gardening or sculpting.
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Elise Swenson (she/they)
Elise Swenson (she/they) is the volunteer coordinator for Mpls People’s Pride. She is a law student at Wisconsin Law with a particular interest in restorative justice and juvenile justice. They are also an amateur aerialist in their free time and love being part of the circus community! She is excited to meet all of the amazing volunteers :)
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Lake Owens (they/them)
Lake Owens (they/them) is one of the founders of Mpls People's Pride and currently runs the website/social media, communications, and the free closet clothing exchange that happens during the event. They have a passion for fashion, art and crafts, and seeing all the cuties who pop out at Powderhorn each year <3 Sadly 2025 will be their last year as a direct organizer.