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.

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.

Kei Williams (they/them) is The NEW Pride Agenda’s Executive Director as of April 2025, after serving as the organization’s Director of Programs since 2022. As a queer, transmasculine community organizer, artist, and historian, Kei has been shaping movements for over a decade, whether with the People’s Climate Movement, Rhize, or the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.

Their leadership reminds us that trans leadership is expansive, creative, and liberatory.

A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements. Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights. Along with Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera started the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a space to organize and discuss issues facing the trans community in NYC, and later founded Transy House in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

She died in 2002 at the age of 50. In 2015, a portrait of Rivera was added to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., making her the first transgender activist to be included in the gallery.

One of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of 1960s and 1970s New York City, Marsha P. Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those affected by HIV and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights. After fighting on the front lines of the Stonewall uprising in 1969, Marsha became an activist and co-founder (with Sylvia Rivera) of Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR), a place where young transpeople living on the street could feel safe.

She died in 1992 at the age of 46, under suspicious circumstances, a case that remains unsolved. In 2020, New York State named a waterfront park in Brooklyn after Marsha.

Lorena Borjas lived her truth every day of her life, whether it was running the Lorena Borjas Community Fund providing bail assistance to LGBTQ+ immigrants facing arrest, creating and running a mutual aid fund when the COVID-19 pandemic began, or founding Colectivo Intercultural Transgrediendo. Lorena tirelessly worked to ensure that transgender sex workers had access to HIV testing, syringe-exchange programs, and mental health services. Her legacy reminds us of the power of trans leadership and its commitment to community care and liberation.

Lorena’s legacy is one of love, compassion, and unwavering dedication. She saved countless lives, offering not just services, but also hope and support when it was needed most. Though she passed in March 2020 from complications of COVID-19, her work continues to inspire and guide future generations of activists.

A pioneering civil rights leader, Cecilia has dedicated her career to advancing equity for LGBTQ+ communities, people living with HIV, and marginalized populations. She played a key role in shaping groundbreaking policies on healthcare access, transgender rights, and social justice, earning international recognition as a human rights advocate.

With decades of leadership experience, she continues to amplify underrepresented voices, build inclusive coalitions, and champion systemic change that uplifts communities locally, nationally, and globally.