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EXPERIENCE

 

2018- PRESENT, Independent Consultant

New Orleans, LA

Focused on communications strategy, organizational growth and development including fundraising, and campaign strategy for small to mid-size organizations, including:

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Community Resource Hub 2020-present

Co-Founder & Trainer, George Jackson School

Developed organizing curriculum for George Jackson School, organizing and campaign training for abolitionist organizers, and serve on training team;

Defund Police Organizing Consultant

Provided support & curriculum development for organizers leading campaigns to defund police in local areas through Defund Police Fellowship;

Supported creation and launch of www.defundpolice.org.

 

Borealis Philanthropy's Communities Transforming Policing Fund  2020-present

Technical Assistance Provider 

Provide technical assistance and support to grantees of the Community Transforming Policing Fund primarily in areas of Strategic Communications, Organizational Development and Campaign Strategy including Poder, Decarcerate Memphis, HEARD, Marijuana Justice, Chainless Change, Cambridge HEART, Young People for Progress, African American Roundtable and more.

(See sample list of organizations supported here)

 

Women on the Rise (Atlanta, GA)   2018-present

Development Consultant

Coach and advise Executive Director on development strategies, including budgeting, understanding finances, and donor/ funder relations;

Manage all aspects of grantwriting and grant reporting for organization;

Manage grassroots fundraising strategies and donor communication.

Communications Consultant

Coach Communications Associate weekly in one hour training and coaching sessions;

Manage Action Network database, website, and advise in other areas of communications technology;

Serve as interim Communications staff managing all aspects of organizational communications;

Created www.womenontherisega.org.

 

Living Legacy Fund  2022

Co-Founder, Consultant

Launched Living Legacy Fund to research strategies for resourcing and sustaining formerly incarcerated movement elders while making way for the next generation of formerly incarcerated leaders.

 

Borealis Philanthropy's Spark Justice Fund  2022

Organizational Development Consultant

          Provide organizational development support to grantees of Spark Justice Fund, including Free Hearts, Texas Jail Project, and more.

 

Racial Justice Action Center (Atlanta, GA)   2018-2020

Communications Consultant

Advise communications strategy for Communities Over Cages: Close the Jail ATL Campaign to close Atlanta’s extra jail, reallocate $32.5 million back into Atlanta communities, and repurpose it into a Center for Wellness & Freedom;

Draft press releases, pitch reporters and journalists on new developments in campaign, create media toolkits, craft talking points with organizers, train and prep spokespeople, draft e-alerts, manage social media, manage Action Network database

Created www.closethejailatl.org and www.rjactioncenter.org 

Served on transition team and consulted on organizational launches of Women on the Rise and Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaPCo)

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Transgender Law Center (Oakland, CA)   2018-2020

Interim Development Director

Served as Interim Development Director on two separate occasions, managing a small Development team and all aspects of organizational fundraising, including annual SPARK! Gala.

National Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Coalition

Grantwriting for emerging national coalition of TGNC organizers.

Recruitment Consultant

Conducted national search for senior management position, Director of People and Organizational Culture.

 

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color

In Our Names Network (Chicago, IL)   2018-2020

Communications Consultant

Website management for 3 websites: Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color, personal website for Author and Consultant Andrea Ritchie, and website for In Our Names Network, a “national network resisting police violence against Black women (trans and not trans), gender nonconforming people, and femmes.”

 

Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (Calabasas, CA)   2018-2020

SEE South Consultant

Launched SEE South, a strategic initiative of the fiscal sponsor organization to invest in Southern movement building and their Southern fiscally-sponsored projects;

Drafted landscape analysis on fiscal sponsorship in the South, including recommendations.

Website Project Management

Drafted text and worked with web developer to create online portal for fiscally sponsored projects.

 

El/La Para Trans Latinas (San Francisco, CA)   2019

Executive Director Recruitment

Conducted national search for Executive Director and consulted on Interim Director’s transition as organization shifted to transgender women of color leadership.

 

Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (Washington, D.C.)   2018-2019

      New Era of Public Safety Consultant (in partnership with Andrea Ritchie)

Drafted content and language for organizing strategies for police reform and accountability for New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing with Andrea Ritchie;

Consultant on development of toolkit website for grassroots organizers.

 

Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (New Orleans, LA)   2018-2019

Development and Communications Consultant

Conducted audit of fundraising and communications strategies at the organization, developed recommendations for greater alignment across communications strategies, grantwriting, and fund development coaching support.

Strategic Planning Consultant

Facilitated day-long organization-wide strategy session and updated organizational strategic plan.

 

The First 72+ (New Orleans, LA)   2018

Communications and Development Technology Consultant

Managed shift to new database and software for effective communications and donor management, trained staff in new systems.

 

BreakOUT! (New Orleans, LA)   2018

Development Consultant

Served as consultant for 3 months following transition from Executive Director position, assisting with grant reporting and other transition-related tasks as needed.

 

2011- 2017, BreakOUT!

New Orleans, LA

 

FOUNDING DIRECTOR

  • Founded and directed youth-led, membership-based organization to build power of LGBTQ youth of color ages 13-26 to end criminalization in New Orleans, LA;

  • Won campaign in partnership with LGBTQ youth members of BreakOUT! that forced the New Orleans Police Department to adopt one of the most extensive LGBTQ policing policies in the country as part of the We Deserve Better Campaign, with strategies including direct action, grassroots organizing, public education, media-making, and civic engagement;

  • Grew organization over 6 years to annual operating budget of over $1,000,000 with 10 full-time staff and over 60 youth members with national recognition and over 7 awards and honors;

  • Oversaw all fundraising efforts, wrote all grants and grant reports for organization, developed grassroots fundraising strategies, and cultivated major donors;

  • Oversaw all communications and campaign strategy in partnership with young people for campaign to end discriminatory policing that resulted in passage of groundbreaking LGBTQ policy in the New Orleans Police Department;

  • Worked in collaboration with partners to co-author the GetYrRights Curriculum, GetYrRights Toolkit and Vice to ICE Toolkit, three resources for sharing lessons learned and wins in areas of: LGBTQ youth-led grassroots organizing, policy advocacy to win policing reforms, and base-building across intersections and language barriers in the South to build movements to end criminalization;

  • Handled all financial and administrative matters of organization and work with Advisory Board and fiscal sponsor, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, to ensure proper oversight, sustainability, and transparent organizational processes.

 

2011 Soros U.S. Justice Fellowship Recipient

New Orleans, LA

  • Received national fellowship of the Open Society Foundation to lead grassroots effort to reform practices regarding the policing, arrest, and incarceration of LGBTQ youth in Louisiana.

 

2007- 2011, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana

New Orleans, LA

 

LGBTQ YOUTH PROJECT DIRECTOR

  • Testified at Department of Justice Prison and Jail Rape Review Panel Hearings on Orleans Parish Prison in Washington, D.C.;

  • Developed and helped implement model policy for LGBTQ youth in detention at local detention center, Youth Study Center;

  • Published Locked Up & Out: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Louisiana’s Juvenile Justice System;

  • Conducted trainings for all levels of juvenile justice system (including judges, public defenders, district attorneys, court staff, and detention centers) on LGBTQ youth to improve conditions of confinement and reduce the number of LGBTQ youth referred to detention;

  • Served as consultant on development of model LGBTQ youth re-entry and GED program in New Orleans;

  • Helped develop model standards for juvenile detention centers in Louisiana and ensured inclusion of mandatory training on LGBTQ youth issues for juvenile detention center staff;

 

LEAD YOUTH ADVOCATE

  • Supervised advocates, attorneys, and interns doing investigation in three juvenile secure care facilities, as well as investigation for ongoing litigation against juvenile detention center, Youth Study Center;

  • Worked in partnership with formerly-detained youth and organizers to launch the Shut It Down Campaign which called on the closure of the Youth Study Center;

  • Helped write model juvenile public defender standards for the state of Louisiana in partnership with Statewide Indigent Juvenile Defender Board;

  • Provided legal advocacy and worked closely with legislators to improve conditions of confinement for incarcerated youth in three Louisiana youth prisons, resulting in the downsizing of Jetson Center for Youth in Baker, LA;

  • Served as an organizational representative on key committees/working groups such as Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative and Statewide Detention Standards Committee to develop “best practices” for youth in detention centers.

 

2005- 2006, Communities United for Action, Power, and Justice

Atlanta, GA

 

JUSTICE ORGANIZING PROGRAM COORDINATOR, ORGANIZING COLLECTIVE MEMBER

  • Managed intensive grassroots organizer training program to teach formerly-incarcerated individuals and students grassroots organizing skills;

  • Conducted street outreach surveys, phone banking, and house visits to mobilize over 500 low-income people of color to lobby at Poor Peoples' Day at the Capitol;

  • Facilitated meetings and lead workshops for criminal justice and anti-poverty organizations across the state on Organizing 101, Campaign Development, and the connections between poverty and the Prison Industrial Complex

  • Maintained relationships with criminal justice organizations across the state and in rural areas by providing technical assistance and leadership development.

 

2004- 2005, Southern Center for Human Rights

Atlanta, GA

 

FAIRNESS FOR PRISONERS’ FAMILIES PROGRAM COORDINATOR

  • Taught family members advocacy skills and how to navigate the Georgia Department of Corrections and the Department of Probation and Parole;

  • Coordinated Family Lobby Days at the Georgia State Capitol for families with loved ones in prison to defeat Prison Labor Bills;

  • Launched Parole Reform Campaign with family members to open parole records for incarcerated people and develop transparent policy for obtaining parole;

  • Conducted interviews with people in jails and prisons in Georgia and Alabama regarding issues of rape/ sexual abuse by guards, in-custody deaths of youth housed with adults, jail conditions, and other civil rights violations of people incarcerated;

  • Supported organization by serving in interim leadership role during hiring process.

 

2001, Georgia Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (GARAL)

Atlanta, GA

 

FAKE CLINIC PROJECT COORDINATOR

  • Coordinated with women to lead undercover investigations into Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC’s), documented findings, and reported to legal team;

  • Organized allies to work on campaign to expose CPC’s for the spread of false information regarding reproductive/ sexual health and abortion;

  • Helped with GARAL’s grassroots fundraising efforts through event planning, phone banking, and outreach.

 

2001, Feminist Health Center

Atlanta, GA

 

PHONE COUNSELOR

  • Provided clients with information on reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and STI’s;

  • Empowered people to make informed decisions regarding sexual and reproductive health.

 

OTHER WORK

 

2006- LaGender, Inc.

  • Advocated on behalf of HIV-positive transgender women in court;

  • Coordinated “Know Your Rights” trainings for HIV-positive transgender women;

  • Coordinated and prepared street outreach materials for sex workers regarding safer sex.

 

2006- Robert Eads Memorial Health Project Coordinator

  • Coordinated health clinic for low-income transgender community;

  • Trained healthcare providers on trans-inclusive healthcare.

 

2005- Atlanta Harm Reduction Center

  • Distributed clean needles and condoms through Needle Exchange;

  • Prepared harm reduction packets and leaflets for street outreach.

 

 

OTHER AFFILIATIONS

 

2022 - Present

Women on the Rise Advisory Board Member

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2019 - Present

SOLID Initiative Advisory Board Member

  • Serve on founding advisory board to new year-long leadership development and training fellowship for LGBTQ+ people of color in entry level positions working in public health in New Orleans, supported by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Louisiana Office of Public Health.

 

2018 – 2019

City of New Orleans Mayor’s LGBTQ+ Taskforce for Human Relations Commission

  • Serve on Taskforce making recommendations to the Human Relations Commission in areas of LGBTQ issues, including policing/ criminalization, homelessness, and healthcare.

 

2018- 2020

Foundation for Louisiana’s Youth Organizing Fund Advisory Board Member

  • Serve on founding Advisory Board for fund designed to support youth organizing in New Orleans, managed by Foundation for Louisiana with support of national foundations.

 

2016 – 2019

National Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Coalition Steering Committee Member

  • Serve on the Founding Steering Committee for emerging coalition anchored by the Transgender Law Center.

 

2008 – 2014

Equity Project Advisory Board Member

  • Served on the Advisory Board for the Equity Project, a national initiative to ensure that LGBTQ youth in juvenile delinquency courts are treated with dignity, respect, and fairness, a partnership with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Legal Services for Children, and the National Juvenile Defender Center.

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EDUCATION

 

BACHELOR OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Gender Studies, African American Studies

Georgia State University, 1999-2004

Area of research- Armed White Allies of the Black Liberation Movement, 1979-1985

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PUBLICATIONS

 

Co-author, contributor, New Era of Public Safety: An Advocacy Toolkit for Fair, Safe, and Effective Community Policing with Andrea Ritchie for Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, 2019.

Co-author, Vice to ICE Toolkit with BreakOUT! and the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, 2017.

Co-author Get Yr Rights: A Toolkit for LGBTQTS Youth and LGBTQTS Serving Organizations with BreakOUT! and Streetwise and Safe, 2015.

Co-author, Editor, We Deserve Better: A Report By and For Queer and Trans Youth of Color with BreakOUT!, 2014.

Authored “Rounding Up the Homosexuals,” in Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex, AK Press, 2010.

Authored Locked Up & Out: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Louisiana’s Juvenile Justice System, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, 2010.

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AWARDS AND HONORS

 

2014 Trans 100

2014 Equality Louisiana Award

2012 Propeller Fellowship Recipient

2011 Soros U.S. Justice Fellowship Recipient

2011 Gambit Weekly’s 40 Under 40

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