Molly Quinn, OUT Memphis
Molly Quinn has served as the CEO of OUTMemphis since 2019 and is the first woman-identifying leader in the organization's history. Founded in 1989, OUTMemphis is the largest and longest-running LGBTQ+ organization in Tennessee, providing direct services to the Mid-South region and supporting statewide policy and advocacy initiatives. Under Molly’s leadership, OUTMemphis has more than doubled the size of its facilities, operating budget, and staff, including opening a youth transitional shelter in 2022.
On Episode #3 of Just Bluffin’, we chatted with Molly about her role at OUTMemphis and how the organization is working against the new state legislation here in Tennessee. She also gave us a glimpse into her former life in New York and talked about how her love of writing translated into a love for helping people.
Molly has been a writer for as long as she can remember. After college, she lived in New York City, where she continued her education by earning her Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College.
Literature, writing, and storytelling are some of the ways that Molly learned about who she was. Writing in particular has been instrumental to her identity, values, and the way she expresses herself. And working to uplift writers whose work intersected with social issues led her indirectly to her job at OUTMemphis.
“All aspects of my identity as a leader, a queer person, and a woman came through my experience of reading and writing,” Molly said. “And I take that with me into all aspects of my work today.”
Before joining OUTMemphis, Molly worked in the nonprofit arts sector for over a decade in both New York City and Memphis, including as Director of Public Programs at Housing Works, Inc. from 2014 - 2017.
“My job at Housing Works was to host cultural events that would bring awareness, visibility, and connection between their social service mission and their arts and culture mission. In that role, I got more deeply involved in the organization's work around HIV, housing, and the injustices that lead to those determinants of health. I got so passionate about the ways that I could contribute,” she said.
Molly found her way to nonprofit work as she looked for a way to contribute to the community. She told us that the nonprofit sector offered her the opportunity to use her organizational, leadership, and communication skills to build awareness and community around the things that she loved and cared about.
When Molly came to Memphis to direct the Memphis Literary Arts Festival in 2018, she intended to stay for less than a year. “But the Executive Director position at OUTMemphis opened up, and then I met the person who is now my wife,” she said. “At the time, I had no plans to stay in Memphis long term, but all of a sudden I was getting engaged and starting this job that would be really long term for me.”
Through her role at OUTMemphis, Molly has spoken across the country on LGBTQ+ issues facing the South, and served on several projects including the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis’s Forever Fund Steering Committee and the Tennessee HIV/AIDS Providers Coalition.
“At OUTMemphis, we do a lot of public advocacy around the injustices that lead to our community members not having access to the things that they need to live and survive,” Molly said. “And for me, it all comes back to, how can I help share important stories and build important audiences and create communities around what I think we should all be paying more attention to?”
To listen to our full conversation with Molly Quinn, click here. To listen to all of our conversations with Memphis leaders, subscribe to Just Bluffin’ wherever you get your podcasts. You can learn more about the team behind the mic at buildacampfire.com.
