Milo Obourn, Director

Milo Obourn completed the Opening Doors Institute Workshop Retreat in 2015 and has been a champion of the Institute’s work ever since. Milo is an academic with interests in racial equity work, social justice movement histories, gender and sexuality studies, and disability studies. Currently serving as both Professor of English and Chair of Women & Gender Studies at SUNY Brockport, they have worked extensively to bring the personal identity development tools and analytical frameworks offered by Opening Doors to students, faculty, and staff. 

Milo brings a range of experience in DEI work, including serving as Interim Chief Diversity Office and Chair of the DEI Professional Development Committee at SUNY Brockport. They are currently a SUNY DEISJ Fellow and have developed numerous workshops in gender and sexuality justice, racial equity, and understanding and ableism and accessibility. They are the author of Reconstituting Americans: Liberal Multiculturalism and Identity Difference in Post-1960s US Literature and Disabled Futures: A Framework for Radical Inclusion.

Milo has served on the board of LEGION, a Rochester nonprofit focused on transgender rights and empowerment and Center for Dispute Settlement. Milo has also served on the education committee for SURJ Rochester. Milo holds a B.A. in English from Tufts University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Literary Studies from New York University. Milo also teaches Queer & Trans Yoga and ASL Interpreted Yoga at Tru Yoga in Rochester, NY.