LGBTQ+ Power Players

Lanaya Irvin is the chief executive officer of Coqual, a global nonprofit think tank dedicated to addressing biases and furthering advancement for underrepresented populations in the workforce. Prior to joining Coqual, Irvin headed the business development team for the millennial-focused news media company theSkimm. Before this, Irvin led strategic initiatives at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for over a decade. Ms. Irvin also works extensively with numerous nonprofits and charitable organizations, including OutRight Action International. Since 2013, she has co-chaired the Human Rights Campaign’s Business Advisory Council. 

Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Jordyn Jay (she/her) is an arts advocate and producer based in Brooklyn, New York. She is the founder and executive director of the Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Collective. Before founding BTFA, Jordyn received her Master’s degree in Art Politics from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Jordyn is a firm believer in the power of art to inspire radical sociopolitical change and is dedicated to using that power for Black trans liberation.

What is your favorite Pride Month event or celebration?
My favorite Pride Month event is the Latex Ball. It’s the biggest ball in New York City, and the site of so much ballroom history. Since it was created in 1990, the Latex Ball has been the host of some of ballroom’s greatest moments. It’s where the ballroom community shows off some of the best they have to offer, and it’s always exciting to see.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I am constantly inspired by the iconic fem queens of the ballroom scene, like Tracey Africa, Octavia St. Laurent, Sinia Alaia, Shanice Ebony, and many more. These women carved out a place for themselves in history and created a new standard of beauty and femininity that continues to inspire generations of trans women to shine. They remind me of the power and creativity of trans people to forge their own path and demand respect along the way.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride Month?
They can donate their money, time, and resources to organizations that are community-led. Many organizations have an option for donors to set up a recurring monthly donation. They can share the work of community-led organizations on social media and in real life with friends, colleagues, and family. To me, the best way is to find an organization whose mission you connect to, build a relationship with that organization, and find out what they need.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
An important first step that businesses should take to create more inclusive environments is thinking critically about the way that notions of what makes a good employee have been structured by white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism, and who has been excluded from or ostracized in the workplace because of that structuring. They should also talk to their employees and customers about how they feel in the environment and how the business can improve.

Kevin Jennings (he/him) is the CEO of Lambda Legal which, for 49 years, has been America’s foremost legal advocacy group for the LGBTQ+ community and everyone living with HIV. A former high school teacher, Kevin helped students start the nation’s first GSA in 1988, founded GLSEN in 1990, and was assistant secretary for safe and drug-free schools in the Obama Administration’s Education Department in 2009. At Lambda Legal, he has crafted a new strategic direction as it continues to serve as the community’s “last line of defense” against anti-LGBTQ+ attacks.

What is your favorite Pride Month event or celebration?
This year I am helping with the first-ever gala for QDEP, the Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, which provides direct aid to LGBTQIA+ and HIV+ immigrants who are in, or have been recently released, from detention. I am very proud of the work that they do and proud to support it.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
One would be Urvashi Vaid, who died of cancer last month at the far-too-young age of 63. Urvashi was doing intersectionality before the term had been coined, weaving together in her analysis how factors like race, class, gender, and ability intersect with those of sexual orientation and gender identity and coming up with innovative ways to develop and implement a multifactoral approach to liberation.

Another would be Masha Gessen, the unbelievably brilliant Russian-American writer and journalist. They have literally risked their life in being one of the most visible opponents of the Putin regime. Their courage simply astounds me.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride Month?
The community needs two things: your time and your money. By “your time” I mean time spent volunteering with queer organizations, taking part in political actions, and getting more involved with the causes and organizations that inspire you. By “your money” I mean providing financial resources. The amount of support LGBTQ+ organizations get from mainstream sources like foundations and the government is paltry. We — and our allies — will have to fund our own liberation.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Put your money where your mouth is. Support LGBTQ+ community organizations financially, invest in LGBTQ+ employee initiatives like ERG’s (Employee Resource Groups), build pipelines for career advancement within the company that prioritize the inclusion of LGBTQ+ and other underrepresented groups in management. Make a real commitment and put time and money into making the climate in your communities and within your companies better.

Mondaire Jones (he/him) is the congressman currently serving New York’s 17th Congressional District. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Representative Jones previously worked as a litigator in private practice, as well as in the Westchester County Law Department. As the Freshman Representative to Leadership in the 177th Congress, he is the youngest member of the Democratic House leadership team. He is also the deputy whip for the Congressional Progressive Caucus and co-chair of the LGBTQ Equality Caucus. Representative Jones is running for reelection in New York’s newly redrawn 10th Congressional District.

Kristin Richardson Jordan is the New York City councilmember representing New York’s 9th City Council District. She currently serves as a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Caucus. In addition to her public service career, Richardson Jordan also works as a writer, activist, book printer, and teaching artist. She founded the independent publishing company Pens Up Press, which primarily publishes the work of Black and Latino literary activists. A passionate activist herself, Richardson Jordan has participated in Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street mass movements, as well as many other movements and coalitions fighting for social justice.

Dr. Mitchell Katz is the president and chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health care system in the United States, with 11 acute care hospitals, five skilled nursing facilities, dozens of community health centers, a home care agency and an insurance plan, MetroPlus Health. 

Since his appointment in 2018, the health system has significantly expanded access to health care, including the creation of NYC Care, a universal health access program that provides care to more than 80,000 uninsured New Yorkers. He oversaw the creation of a modern electronic health record system, increased the number of nurses working in the system, developed a modern ambulance transport system, and launched new street outreach programs to improve the health of homeless New Yorkers. He also led the financial turn-around of NYC Health + Hospitals by eliminating the deficit through enrolling more New Yorkers into health insurance and appropriately billing insurance plans.

Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Katz provided strategic guidance to Mayor Bill de Blasio, while directing the public health system’s response to the surge of patients that peaked to a maximum of 3,700 patients, requiring the tripling of ICU capacity at its 11 hospitals to save New Yorkers. As the epicenter of the epicenter, NYC Health + Hospitals became the trusted care provider for thousands of New Yorkers, led the city’s Test and Trace operation, and administered more than 1.3 million COVID-19 vaccines.

Previously, Dr. Katz served as director of the Los Angeles County Health Agency, which combines the departments of Health Services, Public Health, and Mental Health into a single entity to provide integrated care and programming within Los Angeles. The Agency has a budget of $7 billion, 28,000 employees, and a large number of community partners. Dr. Katz served as the director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the second largest public safety net system in the United States. 

He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School. He completed an internal medicine residency at UCSF Medical School and was an RWJ Clinical Scholar.  Dr. Katz continues to practice as a primary care physician and sees patients at NYC Health + Hospitals/Gouverneur on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. 

He is the deputy editor of JAMA Internal Medicine, an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (previously the Institute of Medicine) and the recipient of the Los Angeles County Medical Association 2015 Healthcare Champion of the year.

David Kilmnick (he/him), Ph.D., is a leading national LGBT advocate and the founder and president of the New York LGBT Network. Over the last 30 years, he has worked to end homophobia and transphobia by building successful nonprofits in New York. A national voice on LGBT issues, David was the keynote speaker for New Zealand’s U.S. Embassy at its national conference. David frequently appears on major news outlets as a voice for suburban and underserved communities on advocacy and policy, and with many leading corporations and the MLB and NHL on diversity, equity and inclusion.

What is your favorite Pride Month event or celebration?
Pride events are amazing and uplifting especially Long Island and Queens Pride and LGBT Youth Prom. These produce a tremendous impact on the lives of tens of thousands. Seeing the smiles, love, and authenticity that are on display is moving and meaningful, both for those that attend and those that may not be ready to. These events show the power of Pride in visibility, community, hope, and love and send a strong message that no one is alone, that you have the support of thousands and that you can achieve your fullest potential in life being unapologetically your true authentic self.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
The late Harvey Milk brings great inspiration. Milk, a native Long Islander, said, “I know you can’t live on hope alone. But without hope, life is not worth living . . . you got to give them hope.” Hope is powerful; it’s what drives me to fight every day over the last three decades for safer spaces. Starting GSA’s in hundreds of schools, organizing the first Pride Nights with the Mets and Islanders, executing the first LGBT Youth Prom and first LGBT Senior Affordable Housing in the nation’s suburbs gives our community not only the hope to dream, but the freedom to live and be.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride Month?
Visibility remains key to advancing the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. People and corporations can serve as visible allies and champions of LGBTQ+ advocacy by participating in Pride celebrations, participating in and supporting local LGBTQ+ serving organizations, and standing up and speaking out against discrimination and injustices against LGBTQ+ people. To support and strengthen local organizations, like LGBT Network, people and companies can make a financial gift to support programs and services for the LGBT community throughout the year.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Businesses can create more inclusive environments by implementing a variety of workplace strategies. These strategies include recruiting from within the LGBTQ+ community, supporting an LGBTQ+ employee resource group, and implementing policies that are affirming of LGBTQ+ employees, such as mandating the availability of All Gender Restrooms. Companies can join the LGBT Network’s Workplace Initiative and benefit from LGBTQ workplace education programs and technical assistance.

Charles King is the chief executive officer of Housing Works, a stalwart New York City-based nonprofit founded in 1990 to find housing for the HIV+ homeless population. King helped to co-found the organization alongside fellow members of the AIDS activism group ACT UP. Mr. King is currently the co-chair of the Ending the Epidemic Subcommittee of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council, ACT Now: End AIDS, and the Visioning Committee of the National AIDS Housing Coalition.

Ross Levi (he/him) leads New York State’s efforts to grow tourism and position New York as a premier global destination. In 2013, he conceptualized and helped launch the I LOVE NY LGBTQ tourism initiative. Ross has also served as executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York’s statewide LGBTQ equality and justice organization, where he helped lead advocacy efforts to achieve marriage equality, the Dignity for All Students Act, and state funding for LGBTQ health and human services.

What is your favorite Pride Month event or celebration?
I love how all the different Pride events across New York State show off each community’s unique personality. I was training coordinator for the NYC Pride March for many years, so I have lots of special memories connected to that event. And there is a particularly warm spot in my heart for Pride Day at the Great New York State Fair, which was the first such event in the nation.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I am blessed to have worked alongside so many wonderful leaders in our LGBTQ community. Three who have left us come quickly to mind: Paula Ettelbrick, Carmen Vazquez, and Urvashi Vaid. The theater lover in me continues finding wisdom and inspiration in the words of so many LGTBQ playwrights, including Harvey Fierstein, Terrence McNally, and Tony Kushner.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Greater representation and being seen continues to be important. In the tourism and hospitality world, it’s important for marketing to show LGBTQ people in all our diversity, and for businesses to treat us respectfully. For example, when checking a guest into a hotel, don’t make assumptions about that person’s gender or sexual orientation.

Jayson Littman (he/him) currently manages the special events team that produces celebrations and receptions for Mayor Eric Adams. Prior to this role, Jayson served in the same capacity for former Mayor Bill de Blasio. When the pandemic put events to a halt at Gracie Mansion, Jayson served as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s senior advisor to the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to his government work, Jayson sits on the Board of Directors at the LGBTQ+ synagogue, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, and was recently appointed as a board member of Manhattan Community Board 6.

What is your favorite Pride Month event or celebration?
I had the opportunity to attend GMHC’s Latex Ball and it was amazing to see the creativity, fashion and dancing that is produced for this event, which has a large impact on pop culture today. The raw talent by the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ House and Ball community that produces this event and promotes sexual health should really get the credit of shaping much of LGBTQ+ culture today — and it’s a cause that saves lives too.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I’m inspired by many queer Jewish icons. Namely, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, the Senior Rabbi of NYC’s LGBTQ+ synagogue, Beit Simchat Torah. These icons and others have exemplified the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam, or “repairing the world” by making it a better place than when we arrived.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride Month?
I believe people should be active in LGBTQ advocacy year-round by joining boards and committees, volunteering or even just being socially active in their LGBTQ communities. Corporations should ensure they are fighting for our rights and equality both in the workplace and in our communities.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Inclusion comes from top down. I recall being comfortable coming out in the private sector when our CEO talked about the importance of being one’s true self. He mentioned that when we are 100% of ourselves at the workplace, we contribute 100% of ourselves to our work — this needs to be communicated regularly to a workforce, especially from allies.