It’s time to shine the Volunteer Spotlight on Volunteer Coordinator Cielle “Skye” Williams.
Cielle was 15 years old when her mother & Executive Director Emily Prior first started the Center for Positive Sexuality. Cielle grew up in a rare family environment open to talking about sex. In 4th grade Emily gave Cielle a book called “Girl Stuff: A Survival Guide to Growing Up” by Margaret Blackstone which quickly got passed around to her friends at school who were all very curious about their budding sexuality. As she entered middle school classmates had more questions and they often turned to the all-knowing hippie decked out in tye-dye & bright colors for the answers (that’s Cielle). She would bring condoms to school every day to give to friends & credits the book “The Ethical Slut” by Dossie Easton as a huge influence on her lifestyle choices. When she turned 18 Cielle was thrilled she could finally attend events at Threshold, a local dungeon, and she attended her first DomConLA. I think Cielle is a great example of how growing up in a household of open communication about sex actually might help young adults feel less pressure to have sex. This allows them to make smart choices when it comes to sex.
So you might think the volunteer coordinator just coordinates volunteers but Cielle is the first stop for new recruits to our team, reviewing applications and completing initial interviews for new volunteers for the Center. We currently have over 60 volunteers which Cielle is responsible for. She coordinates educator trainings as well as schedules our college panel presentations.
In Cielle we also have a master data cruncher! In 2015 we collected over 350 surveys from students who attended our panels. She took on the task of analyzing the data to reveal our educators are excelling and truly making an impact. Many students noted their perceptions and prejudices of people in the BDSM community and in Poly relationships (our most popular panels) were shattered by our presentations. This feedback is crucial for our organization as it helps us track what’s working and what’s not.
Also on our Development Committee, Cielle was responsible for bringing two of our recent online fundraisers to life with our first Virtual Tea Party and RallyUp Auction. Both events were so successful and we’re planning on doing them again soon!
Cielle not only coordinates the volunteers but she is also an educator herself, presenting on our BDSM, Polyamory Non-Monogamy, and gender spectrum panels. She played an integral role in researching and creating our newest panels: Furries vs. Zoophilia, Age Play, and Body Image: Loving Yourself, premiering this spring! Furs vs. Zoos examines the differences between the two plus stigmas each group faces in society. Our Age Play panel aims to show age play is not pedophilia but play between consenting adults, and our Body Image panel covers the images of beauty throughout history & body dysmorphia.
How Cielle could possibly be doing more is beyond me but she’s currently enrolled in school to become a veterinary technician and would love to work at San Deigo Zoo or Safari Park someday. She’s also planning a wedding to her partner and CPS volunteer Billy Winter for 2018. We’re lucky to have a leader like Cielle on our team and know the Center would be lost without her.