Our Former ED, Gloria Casarez

Gloria Casarez was an American civil rights leader and LGBT activist in Philadelphia. Casarez served as Philadelphia's first director of Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) affairs. During her tenure as director, Philadelphia ranked as the number one city nationwide for LGBT equality. Casarez served as the executive director of Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative (GALAEI) from 1999-2008. Casarez's work demonstrated a continuing interest in constituent led and community organizing efforts, starting with her early participation in social justice and political action movements. An early advocate of harm reduction, Casarez co-chaired the board of directors for Prevention Point Philadelphia, Philadelphia's only syringe exchange, from 1999 to 2003. She served as a longtime board member and leader of the Bread and Roses Community Fund, a public foundation that supports grassroots organizations working for racial and economic justice. Casarez served as an inaugural member of the Fund's Jonathan Lax Scholarship Committee from 2001 until her death in 2014. Bread & Roses Executive Director Casey Cook recalled Casarez as a fierce agent for real change. "Bread & Roses is just one among many communities enriched by Gloria's leadership, courage, and strength," said Casey. "Gloria will be remembered at Bread & Roses as an extraordinary organizer, a brilliant strategist, and a committed board member," said Denise Brown, Bread & Roses board co-chair. "Gloria embodied the mission and intention of this organization with equal parts fierceness and humility." Casarez was a member of the LGBT Research Community Advisory Board of Public Health Management Corporation. Casarez served as an ex-officio member for the Philadelphia LGBT Police Liaison Committee since 2008, working with community leaders and police officials to address LGBT public-safety issues, and taking part in LGBT-sensitivity training sessions for incoming Philadelphia police officers. Casarez was a founding board member of the LGBT Elder Initiative started in 2010. Casarez served on the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau's PHL Diversity board. She was also a founder of the Philadelphia Dyke March, Mr. Philadelphia Drag King, and the House of (Manolo) Blahnik Board of Directors. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Casarez "Engage, Find Your Voice, Expand Your Community"