Creating Change Conference, Houston, TX January 31, 2014

 MEET ME AT THE CROSSROADS:
EXPLORING LGBTQ IDENTITIES, GEOGRAPHIES AND EXPERIENCES
Creating Change Conference, Houston, TX
January 31, 2014
Southerners on New Ground
SONG is a home for LGBTQ liberation across all lines of race, class, abilities, age, culture, gender, and sexuality in
the South. We build, sustain, and connect a southern regional base of LBGTQ people in order to transform the
region through strategic projects and campaigns developed in response to the current conditions in our
communities. SONG builds this movement through leadership development, intersectional analysis, and
organizing. www.southernersonnewground.org
Suzanne Pharr, Political Education Coordinator
Suzanne Pharr is an old school lesbian/feminist who was born the youngest of eight children on a farm in Hog
Mountain, Georgia. She believes that racism, sexism and economic injustice are inextricably connected and we
must work on their dismantlement simultaneously— radically, going right to their roots. Pharr founded the
Women’s Project in Arkansas in 1981, was a co-founder of Southerners on New Ground in 1982, and was the
director of the Highlander Center 1999-2004. She is an organizer and political strategist who has spent her adult
life working to build a broad-based social and economic justice movement. When not organizing and doing
strategic thinking with hellraisers, Pharr works in her big yard and garden, reads books like others eat chocolate,
and pals with her dogs and cats. She is the author of Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, and In the Time of the
Right: Reflections on Liberation.
FIERCE
FIERCE is a membership-based organization building the leadership and power of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color in New York City. We develop politically conscious leaders who
are invested in improving ourselves and our communities through youth-led campaigns, leadership development
programs, and cultural expression through arts and media. FIERCE is dedicated to cultivating the next generation
of social justice movement leaders who are dedicated to ending all forms of oppression. www.fiercenyc.org
Ana Conner, FIERCE Member
Ana has been a member of FIERCE since 2010 and was introduced to FIERCE through an LGBTQ group at
school. Ana is a major nerd for the movement, dedicating both her school life and activist mischief to social justice
and liberation of all peoples! This year, Ana was the National Fellow at FIERCE and took up leadership to organize
the Connect Our Roots Summit along with the National Team! Ana is also interested in education reform and
organizing around student issues. Ana likes camping, socks, books and coffee.
Jai Dulani, FIERCE Co-Director
Dulani joined the FIERCE staff in June 2011 as Co-Director. A long-time FIERCE ally, he brings over 11 years of
experience working at the intersections of LGBTQ, youth, immigrant Justice and anti-Violence Movements. He
has worked with young people in NYC facilitating youth leadership programs with an anti-oppression framework
at organizations including Global Action Project, Sadie Nash Leadership Institute, and South Asian Youth Action.
Dulani was instrumental in the growth of SupaFriends, an LGBTQ youth media program at Global Action Project,
from 2007—2011. Dulani is also the Co-Editor of the anthology, The Revolution Starts At Home: Confronting Intimate
Violence in Activist Communities and has worked as a consultant, trainer, and collaborator in local and national
transformative justice efforts.
Meet Me at the Crossroads:
Exploring LGBTQ identities, geographies and experiences
Fred Ginyard, National Program Coordinator
Frederick Ginyard joined FIERCE staff in 2013 as the National Program Coordinator. Born and raised in North
Philadelphia, Fred attended Edison High School where he joined Youth United for Change in his freshman year. As
a youth member of the organization, Fred participated in many campaigns and gained many valuable skills. One of
the most significant campaigns occurred during his senior year of high school when Fred organized to stop private
companies from privatizing his school and other high schools across Philadelphia. At age 19, Fred joined the staff
of Youth United for Change as a Youth Organizer. During his tenure, Fred worked on campaigns that included
the creation of Small Schools at Olney High School located in Philadelphia and ending the school to prison pipeline
in Philadelphia by reforming the School District of Philadelphia discipline policies.
ASTRAEA LESBIAN FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is the only philanthropic organization working exclusively to advance
LGBTQI human rights around the globe. We support hundreds of brilliant and brave grantee partners in the U.S.
and internationally who challenge oppression and seed change. We work for racial, economic, social, and gender
justice, because we all deserve to live our lives freely, without fear, and with dignity. www.astraeafoundation.org
J. Bob Alotta, Executive Director
J. Bob Alotta is the Executive Director at the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a global foundation based in
NYC that provides critical resources to LGBTQI organizations and individuals around the world. Bob is a lifelong
activist and an accomplished filmmaker with a track record of leading exponential organizational growth and
capacity building through visionary management and fundraising. She builds strong partnerships with diverse
communities, grantee partners, donors, institutional funders, and corporate stakeholders. Bob served for four
years as Board Chair of FIERCE, a longtime Astraea grantee partner, helping to build the leadership and power of
LGBTQ youth of color. On behalf of the FIERCE Board of Directors, Bob was awarded the Stonewall
Foundation's 2009 Alan Morrow Prize for Excellence in Board Leadership. Bob also served for six years as grant
reviewer for Open Square Foundations' Community Fellowship Program, and has consulted for Swarthmore
College, Williams College, WITNESS, and the Prison Moratorium Project. Prior to joining Astraea, Bob served as
Director of Digital Media and Content for Zeitbyte Digital Media and as Director of Digital Technology for Film at
the Columbia University School of the Arts. Bob's documentary and narrative films have aired on Democracy
Now, GRITtv, and PBS, and have screened at festivals in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.