Meet the Panelists
Johnda Boyce, Esq. (she/her)
Johnda Boyce (she/her) is an attorney and activist in Kansas City. Her work focuses on the intersection of law and poverty, as well as LGBTQ+ issues, including ID/document corrections for transgender and nonbinary people. She has served as a staff attorney at Heartland Center for Jobs and Freedom, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, and Legal Services of Southern Missouri.
The Rev. Mary Margaret Saxon
The Rev. Mary Margaret Saxon has been involved in social justice work through community organizations, non-profits, and the church for most of her life. Raised in Louisiana and Alabama, she participated in the civil rights movement in the southern US and elsewhere, and currently serves on the Diversity and Reconciliation Committee of the West Missouri Diocese of the Episcopal church.
After several years in Honduras as a nurse missionary, she attended seminary at the School of Theology ,University of the South in Tennessee, and was ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal church in 1988. She has participated in GALA choruses in Denver and Kansas City since 1994 and has been active in movements for LGBTQ justice. Rev. Saxon lives in Kansas City with Jeanne, her partner of 33 years, and their dog, Chessi. They enjoy spending time with their two daughters, their spouses, and three grandchildren in Utah and Colorado.
Rev. Dr. Donna Simon
Donna Simon loves Jesus, a good book, and cooking delicious food for her family and friends. She holds a BA in English Literature from San Francisco State University, an MDiv from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and a DMin in Congregational Mission and Leadership from Luther Seminary.
In October of 2000, she was ordained extra ordinem, in violation of church policies preventing gay and lesbian leaders from serving as ordained ELCA clergy. When those policies changed in 2009, Simon was received to the ELCA clergy roster. She served St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church in Kansas City, MO from 2000 until being elected bishop in June of 2025. Bishop Simon is passionate about justice for all people, inclusion of persons pressed to the margins, and her family—wife Colleen, son Dominic, and three cats.