Executive Director

galaei is excited to announce the appointment of Tyrell Brown as Executive Director. The Board of Directors is confident in Tyrell’s abilities to fulfill galaei’s founding mission of serving and providing a space for Philadelphia’s Latinx/o/a/e community while expanding its reach to serve all queer, trans, black, brown, indigenous, and people of color.

After a robust search, the Board of Directors recognized Tyrell as a strong and committed community organizer and unanimously voted for their appointment. During their time at galaei as Deputy Director, Tyrell has led with compassion and helped to cultivate a work environment where people realize their agency to educate and enlighten themselves. Guided by our ancestors and elders, we know Tyrell will encourage our galaei familia to continue building and restoring a just and caring world.

With this appointment, Tyrell joins a rich legacy of galaei leaders who have stewarded this organization for over 30 years. From our founder, David Acosta, to Gloria Casarez, and others, they all strived to ensure our community remained justice-oriented and dedicated to servicing the most vulnerable and marginalized.

Tyrell is a long-time community organizer in Philadelphia, most known for their grassroots political efforts, coordinating children’s programming for the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference, directing summer camp programs for Wynnefield Residents Association, the coordination of pandemic aid efforts, and leadership in last year’s highly successful PRIDE festivities.

Tyrell has overcome many obstacles and uses those experiences to compassionately and genuinely advocate for a world of healing, justice, and equity for all. They exemplify the kindness and thoughtfulness we hope fills the community we belong to, love, and admire with great pride.

With their dedicated service and hard work at galaei, Tyrell has shown insight and leadership that will help galaei continue to thrive. The galaei Board of Directors stands confidently united in promoting Tyrell to the position of Executive Director and remains committed to supporting Tyrell’s continued dedication to galaei’s critical mission of service to Philadelphia’s queer and trans community of color.