Porsche Jones is an inspiring advocate, speaker, and community leader who embodies resilience and service every day. Featured in HBO’s The Stroll and honored by the New York Historical, she uses her voice to amplify the stories of transgender women and sex workers while championing animal welfare and community empowerment. As a Community Health Outreach Worker at Amida Care, she helps members of the health plan optimize their care and support.

A two-time The Generations Project Genny Award winner, Porsche continues to uplift others and create lasting change wherever she goes.

A lifelong New Yorker, Elisa Crespo is a trans Latina leader whose work has consistently centered the needs and voices of TGNCNB people. In addition to serving as the current Executive Director of the Stonewall Community Foundation, she helped build the NEW Pride Agenda into the force it is today as its former Executive Director and played a key role in advancing NY’s Lorena Borjas Transgender and Nonbinary Wellness & Equity Fund.

Her organizing and public leadership have been covered by outlets like them, LGBTQ Nation, Marie Claire, and OUT Magazine as well as recognized by partners across New York. At every step of her career, Elisa’s advocacy and public leadership have created real opportunities and support for our communities.

For more than five decades, Miss Major shaped generations of trans leadership through her fierce commitment to trans rights, which included uplifting the voices of Black trans women and incarcerated or formerly incarcerated trans people. Her work at Stonewall, in the streets, and inside prisons, as well as her creation of healing spaces like the House of gg, will forever transform trans rights movements.

Her impact lives in every act of trans resistance, every moment of collective care, and every leader she helped raise. We feel her absence every day, and we carry her wisdom and love forward.

Mila is the Vice President of the Equality Empowerment Center, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of LGBTQ communities, particularly those who have experienced discrimination and systemic barriers. As she earns her Master’s in Human Rights at the University of Minnesota, Mila continues working nationally to advance LGBTQ+ rights and health equity. She collaborates closely with Latine and trans communities across the U.S., with a particular focus on Minnesota, Puerto Rico, and Florida, building coalitions alongside organizations like the Human Rights Campaign, NMAC, and Ariannas Center.

Her vision and courage help build a future where trans rights are fully recognized as human rights and future generations can live free of fear.

Since coming to the US at 15 to escape transphobia in Mexico, Bianey García has dedicated herself to uplifting and mobilizing the TGNCNB community. By 19, she was active in transgender support groups and working with community leaders on STD prevention. After witnessing police discrimination against TGNC+ community members, she joined Make the Road NY to confront injustice, build trans leadership, and educate community members about their rights.

She helped launch the TransLatina March in Jackson Heights—the largest of its kind!—and continues to organize against anti-trans violence in Queens. Her advocacy, leadership, and community care strengthen and sustain our movement.

Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga is Director of Crystal La’Beija Organizing Fellowship, Commissioner of the NYC Commission on Gender Equity, and a Senior pursuing a BA in Political Science/Sociology Minor in Law and Policy at Baruch College. A nationally-recognized community leader, Jennifer’s advocacy has spanned Atlanta—where she was the city’s first LGBTQ+ liaison—to New York City, where she continues her work in civic leadership, education, and the illustrious House of Balenciaga. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, Harvard Public Health, The New York Times, POSE FX, and more. Barnes-Balenciaga’s strategic policy engagement, community organizing, and collegiate pursuits are rooted in a legacy forged by elders and ancestors.

Her powerful leadership clears the path for a joyful, powerful, and liberated future.

Mateo is a trans queer man of color, immigrant, and advocate with over a decade of community organizing experience. At Make the Road New York, he leads the Trans Justice and Leadership Program, creating pathways for trans, queer, and migrant communities to thrive and lead. He also teaches Spanish for Lawyers at NYU School of Law, preparing the next generation of attorneys to serve migrant clients with care and dignity.

His work is rooted in resilience, collective power, and the belief that trans futures will shape a more just and joyful world.

Cultural worker, community strategist, and proud trans Latina organizer, Jocelyn Bulas (she/her) works at the intersection of justice and trans visibility. As the Community Engagement and Programs Coordinator at The NEW Pride Agenda, she leads dynamic statewide initiatives centering the rights and autonomy of BIPOC, transgender, nonbinary, and Two-Spirit communities. The Mother of House of Milan in NYC’s ballroom scene, Bula cares fiercely for chosen family while organizing events that fuse education, advocacy, and storytelling.

Her expansive vision is deeply rooted in lived experience and authenticity, building collective strength through community care.

For over 30 years, Diana Feliz Oliva has worked towards health justice for LGBTQ+ people and communities impacted by HIV. She was the first openly transgender/HIV+ person to graduate from Columbia University, work at Gilead Sciences, and lead an LGBTQ+ center in Fresno, California. As the leader of Casita Feliz and the creator of initiatives like Gilead Sciences’ TRANScend Community Impact Fund, the spaces she builds expand access and increase support for TGNB people.

Her leadership and care have transformed communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

Cecilia Gentili was a force like no other—a visionary, a fighter, and an unwavering advocate. She dedicated her life to uplifting trans immigrants, sex workers, people experiencing homelessness, and those facing addiction, always standing up for the most vulnerable. Cecilia was a mother to many and a true community powerhouse for TGNB and sex workers’ rights, touching countless lives through her work at GMHC, Apicha Community Health Clinic, a clinic for sex workers at Callen-Lorde Community Health, Decrim NY, and Trans Equity. With sheer grit and creative vision, Cecilia raised millions for trans public health, pioneered policies to protect the trans community, and even created the first-ever Trans Music Festival.

A writer, performer on the iconic show Pose, and a true icon herself, Cecilia had an impact that extended far beyond what words can express.