Accomplishing
Our Mission
At least 80% of musical acts hired to perform at LYR events or whose works appear in the LYR Zine Archive self-identify as women, immigrants, people of color, people from queer and trans communities, people from low-income communities, and/or people with disabilities.
Supporting Our Community
LYR has helped Southwest Florida organizations that support people from marginalized groups raise thousands of dollars via partnerships and collaborations, including Showing Up for Racial Justice SWFL, Planned Parenthood of Central and Southwest Florida, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and the McGregor Clinic.
Founder Angela Page talks about LYR's Diversity First mission:
Origin Story
Love Your Rebellion founder Angela Page has been fostering the arts through Love Your Rebellion since 2011. Page began by making do-it-yourself magazines, or zines, that featured art and creative writing from all over the world. By 2014, Page had self-published 4 issues of the Love Your Rebellion zine.
In 2015, Page started an all women’s writing group in Fort Myers. From this collective emerged a small group of women who were interested in working with Page on developing the next issue of Love Your Rebellion. The team decided to host a release party to mark the completion of Issue #5. After the success of the Issue #5 release party (which included a female-fronted musical lineup and an all-female group art show), Love Your Rebellion grew into more than just a zine.
Love Your Rebellion began to host events throughout Lee County that had empowerment in mind. The organization found its footing in early 2016 with the First Annual LYR’s Babefest. In 2017, the festival moved north to Hillsborough County. The following year, LYR began hosting Babefest in both counties. With the help of LYR’s Vice Chairperson Michelle Caraway, Love Your Rebellion, Inc. became a 501(c)3 in 2018.
Now, LYR produces several arts programs including Sonic Masquerade, Fort Myers Zine Fest, LYR Presents, and LYR's Zine Archive. It’s through these cultural products, experiences, and events that LYR works to leave a lasting impact. Support for LYR’s interdisciplinary arts programs serves Florida’s marginalized artists, writers, and musicians.
Board of Directors
Angela Page (Chair)
Angela Page is the founder of Love Your Rebellion, the Chair of the Board of Directors, and the Treasurer. Angela is a musician and writer based in SWFL. In 2019, she published her first poetry collection, Speaking with My Second Mouth. Angela holds a Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Goddard College.
Michelle Caraway (Vice Chair)
Michelle Caraway is an FGCU graduate and her field of expertise is in Marketing and Graphic Design. Since 2015, she has been actively involved in the making of the Love Your Rebellion zine. She is the current vice chair on the Board of Directors, and her mission is to make the arts not only more inclusive of diversity but also more accessible to the marginalized communities the organization serves.
Jesi Carson (Treasurer)
Jesi Cason is a commercial photographer and long-time LYR collaborator, having contributed to the cover art and design of several LYR zines and photographed events for LYR since 2015. She has served as an activist and volunteer dedicated to the advancement of causes and non-profit organizations that make Florida a better place. She has a strong passion for helping women, LGBTQIA+, and People of Color establish creative businesses that are profitable and sustainable.
Ambrose Isaac Sullivan (Secretary)
Ambrose (He/They) is an artist, Autistic advocate, and TTRPG live-gamer with Vorpal Tales. He's a native Floridian with a B.A. in Visual Arts with passions for mental health, disability culture, LGBTQ+ identity and community, and ASL. Find them as @AmChangeling or on Etsy at ThornKind.
Danielle Branchaud
Danielle Branchaud is a fine artist specializing in portraits and acrylic painting. She is also the co-founder of the Syzygy Collaborative Art Project which hosts art exhibitions to feature emerging artists and encourage collaborative works.
Tara Calligan
Tara Calligan is an award-winning journalist and a public media producer, writer and online content creator at WGCU Public Media. She is one of the hosts and producers for the podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music, which brings out the guests’ personalities, and personal histories, by mining the connections music has made during their lifetimes. She is also a producer for WGCU's radio talk show Gulf Coast Life.
Annie Pritchard
Annie Pritchard is a visual designer based in SWFL and has been a member of the LYR behind-the-scenes production team since 2016. Annie holds a passion for the arts, mental health, and the LGBTQ+ community. Her goal is to create accessible therapeutic art resources and tools to empower others.
Jason Teeters
Jason Teeters has spent the past decade designing customized training and educational programs and developing solutions for digital deployment for companies across the U.S. and parts of Europe. He enjoys helping people build the structure and behavior needed to innovate in an increasingly automated and mostly digital economy. When not engaged in the community, Jason enjoys traveling the world with his wife and his two children. And learning how to live a life by design, not by default.
Join our Board of Directors!
We're on the search for professionals looking to make a positive impact on our community. Are you up for the challenge?
Board of Directors
Angela Page (Chair)
Angela Page is the founder of Love Your Rebellion, the Chair of the Board of Directors, and the Treasurer. Angela is a musician and writer based in SWFL. In 2019, she published her first poetry collection, Speaking with My Second Mouth. Angela holds a Bachelor of Arts in English/Creative Writing from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Goddard College.
Michelle Caraway (Vice Chair)
Michelle Caraway is an FGCU graduate and her field of expertise is in Marketing and Graphic Design. Since 2015, she has been actively involved in the making of the Love Your Rebellion zine. She is the current vice chair on the Board of Directors, and her mission is to make the arts not only more inclusive of diversity but also more accessible to the marginalized communities the organization serves.
Jesi Carson (Treasurer)
Jesi Cason is a commercial photographer and long-time LYR collaborator, having contributed to the cover art and design of several LYR zines and photographed events for LYR since 2015. She has served as an activist and volunteer dedicated to the advancement of causes and non-profit organizations that make Florida a better place. She has a strong passion for helping women, LGBTQIA+, and People of Color establish creative businesses that are profitable and sustainable.
Ambrose Isaac Sullivan (Secretary)
Ambrose (He/They) is an artist, Autistic advocate, and TTRPG live-gamer with Vorpal Tales. He's a native Floridian with a B.A. in Visual Arts with passions for mental health, disability culture, LGBTQ+ identity and community, and ASL. Find them as @AmChangeling or on Etsy at ThornKind.
Danielle Branchaud
Danielle Branchaud is a fine artist specializing in portraits and acrylic painting. She is also the co-founder of the Syzygy Collaborative Art Project which hosts art exhibitions to feature emerging artists and encourage collaborative works.
Tara Calligan
Tara Calligan is an award-winning journalist and a public media producer, writer and online content creator at WGCU Public Media. She is one of the hosts and producers for the podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music, which brings out the guests’ personalities, and personal histories, by mining the connections music has made during their lifetimes. She is also a producer for WGCU's radio talk show Gulf Coast Life.
Annie Pritchard
Annie Pritchard is a visual designer based in SWFL and has been a member of the LYR behind-the-scenes production team since 2016. Annie holds a passion for the arts, mental health, and the LGBTQ+ community. Her goal is to create accessible therapeutic art resources and tools to empower others.
Jason Teeters
Jason Teeters has spent the past decade designing customized training and educational programs and developing solutions for digital deployment for companies across the U.S. and parts of Europe. He enjoys helping people build the structure and behavior needed to innovate in an increasingly automated and mostly digital economy. When not engaged in the community, Jason enjoys traveling the world with his wife and his two children. And learning how to live a life by design, not by default.
Join our Board of Directors!
We're on the search for professionals looking to make a positive impact on our community. Are you up for the challenge?
A note on accessibility
Love Your Rebellion works to ensure that programming is accessible to people with disabilities, including working with venues that are ADA compliant and making updates to our website in compliance with WCAG 2.0. If there’s any trouble accessing our programing or anything on the website, please fill out this form with your name and contact information. Someone from the Love Your Rebellion team will get back to you within 3-5 business days.
