Spencer Pride at 20: New director, same mission

A lot can happen in 20 years, and for Spencer Pride, it’s hardly an exception. The Spencer Pride commUnity center moved from the south side of the square to the north side. The center expanded into the building next door and added an elevator, a library, and a meeting room. The Pride Festival that once took place on the Owen County Courthouse lawn in June, now wraps around the Spencer town square on Main, Franklin, Market, and Washington streets and takes place in October. In 2026, the Pride Festival brought with it Spencer Pride’s first-ever executive director in Jake Taylor.

Taylor has had a long career working in nonprofit organizations, starting after they graduated from Bloomington High School South and attended Indiana University where they studied journalism and gender studies.

“I interned at several nonprofits and then after college, I think I was frustrated with how hard nonprofits work, with what can feel like small potatoes, like you’re working really hard for small wins,” Taylor said.

After college Taylor joined AmeriCorps NCCC, and led a team of seven that assisted the U.S. government with COVID relief and flood relief in Queens, NY among other things. This experience led them to eventually join the Peace Corps and move to Togo, West Africa where they continued their efforts to improve quality of life.

“I felt really honored to work in that space,” Taylor said. “[I made] really unique friendships and worked on different community projects, including a women’s gardening cooperative initiative. I worked with the middle school [where] I taught many, many, many students.
[I helped with a] gardening club, English learning groups, [and] lots of farming, cooperative work.”

Taylor sees their work in West Africa as broadly similar to what their duties will be as executive director of Spencer Pride, namely, reaching out to local community aid organizations and bringing people together in order to improve the community for everyone.

While working in West Africa, Taylor rediscovered their interest in queer and gender studies issues and began additional study in Helsinki, Finland where they earned a master’s degree in intercultural encounters. By then, a desire to be closer to family and the opportunity to work as the executive director of Spencer Pride brought them back to the area.

“I was in Finland, and I was looking through jobs, four jobs in Finland, in Europe, in D.C., in bigger cities in the states. And then obviously here in Indiana, just because I had that experience and family was here,” Taylor said. “And so I moved for it. I was looking everywhere, but I think the main draw was the work, but another draw was certainly that I’m from here.”

Taylor is excited to work with Spencer Pride on what they see as a group that has established itself as an integral part of the community.

“I think it’s really important for queer kids, LGBTQ folk, especially rural folk, to have representation, and one thing [Spencer Pride has] done especially well is being visible. You are right on the square, if you become a part of a community where you’re watering the plants, where you are volunteering for other organizations, like [Spencer] Main Street, when you’re working with the Chamber, with the Owen County Community Foundation, it just really shows that you’re not, you’re not [just] in this for the LGBTQ folk. You’re in this for the community,” Taylor said. “We’re making it a space where everyone feels welcomed and included.”

Taylor sees the transition from a fully volunteer-led organization to one led by a paid employee as being a potential challenge on the horizon for Spencer Pride, comparing it to the challenges of growing up.

“I think we are in a really special moment for Spencer Pride’s history. If you think about the development of nonprofits, it normally starts with a few people and a really good idea,” Taylor explained. “So that’s like conception, and then you get into infancy or childhood, where you are learning a lot and growing a lot . . . but then you get to a point where a lot of leaders are taking on so much responsibility. We’re at this time that’s exciting because they’re going from all-volunteer, to having a staff person who isn’t working full-time on anything else. So it can invest the time and energy into [its] goals. It’s a really interesting transition to go from something volunteer led to staff led . . . [sometimes] it’s a little bit awkward, as we redefine what roles look like and how we can best support each other.”

Coming into Spencer Pride with a 20-year legacy behind it, Taylor hopes that they can take what Spencer Pride has done and add their own skills to help the organization thrive in the future.

“I feel really honored [and] I think often fearful. A lot of LGBTQ folk, we have this idea of elders. These are people who kind of created the landscape for the current youth to survive. I think I have directly benefited from others who have paved a way for me,” Taylor explained. “I’m 27, so 20 years ago I was seven years old, and I recognize how every generation has kind of built on each other, and I’ve been really lucky to get to know some older professionals, retired folk, and people who’ve been in this community to tell me what has happened, [and] share their histories and their experiences. I feel really lucky that they have worked this hard for themselves, but also for me. I think stepping in, I come humble, but also with some confidence. I want to continue the fight and I think I have the skill set and the means to do so. My dream is to be [that] elder for some little kid. So I’m excited to continue on with that legacy.”

The 2026 Spencer Pride Festival on Oct. 2 brought its usual crowd, from local vendors and artists to other charitable organizations from around the area to visitors from all over the state. Their theme, Changed for Good, is meant to represent their commitment to changing things for the better, something Taylor hopes is in store for Spencer Pride and the community as a whole.

“I want [people] to know, you’re welcome with us,” Taylor said. “Joy is a real power and a real strength and I think, especially right now, I’ve been focusing on how I can exhibit that joy and welcome people in . . . we want to know you, to understand your concerns, and [we] move forward together because the mission of Spencer Pride is to improve the quality of life for LGBTQ people and rural people. That includes all of us.”

Get to know Spencer Pride’s Jake Taylor (they/them)

• Favorite movie: Currently, “9 to 5”
• Favorite TV show: “Parks and Recreation” (love Amy Poehler)
• Favorite book: “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
• Favorite thing to do outside of work: Hiking
• Favorite band or musician: Beyoncé, all the way back to the Destiny’s Child days