Metro Philadelphia LGBTQ+ Power Players 2022

Steven Preston (he/him) currently serves as the chief program officer at Share Food Program, the largest-serving hunger relief organization in the Philadelphia Region. Steve’s previous work includes various roles in the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, including deputy chief of staff to the Mayor and first deputy chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. Before his time in the Mayor’s Office, Steve worked for various advocacy organizations and campaigns across Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Steve currently sits on the boards of the Liberty City Democratic Club and the Clean Air Council.   

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
My favorite Pride month event is the Pride festival! I’m very excited for this year’s Pride put on by the new Pride Collective — it’s so exciting to finally have a Pride festival that centers Black and brown trans and queer people.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you? 
I’m really inspired by so many folks that I’ve seen on the ground doing the work for our community. People like Amber Hikes, the former executive director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, who added the black and brown stripes to the Pride Flag, and Deja Alvarez, who works every day as an activist and in service to marginalized communities. I’m also inspired by  the folks running the PHL Pride Collective–it takes a lot of guts to step up and take on such a big event–and to do it with such a wonderful mission.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Equity work! Supporting the LGBTQ+ community isn’t just about one community. Corporations have to walk the walk around equity all year round. That means fighting for equity for people of color, people with disabilities, and immigrants, too. For corporations–what does your pay structure look like? What does your hiring process look like? How are you mitigating bias in those situations? What does your leadership pipeline look like? How are you getting feedback from your employees? And, external to your organization, financially support nonprofits that are on the ground doing the work to fight the inequities that marginalized communities face every day.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
I’d say that step number one is listening. Having spaces for open and honest conversations with people who are often marginalized. Seek help from outside, too. Compensate people for the time they spend giving this feedback because it’s ultimately helping your business operate better.

Marianne Price (she/her) is currently the dean of students and title IX coordinator at Holy Family University, and has dedicated a 15 year professional career to the transformative power of higher education. Marianne works with campus leadership on equitable access in education, and in building campus and university communities that center justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Marianne is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Mazzoni Center. Originally from Arkansas, Marianne lives in Philadelphia with her wife, Rachel, and their miniature dachshund, Jackson.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I have always been drawn to the story and experiences of Marsha P. Johnson, specifically around her work as an activist for pioneering LGBTQ+ youth.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Create space for knowledge sharing. Offer opportunities for education and engagement. Specifically engage with the Greater Philadelphia community–who is doing the work in our city? How are organizations focusing on LGBTQ+ efforts? What work still needs to be done? There is so much power in activism.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
For employers, establish nondiscrimination policies and root your policies in access, equity, and inclusion. I love to patron businesses in our city that host efforts to support others in their community.

Jacqueline C. Romero (she/her) is the assistant US attorney for the US Department of Justice. She represents the US government in defensive and affirmative civil litigation, criminal prosecutions, and appeals. Jacqueline is also the civil rights coordinator for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and supervises all civil rights investigations in the District. She is a board member of The Philadelphia LGBTQ Bar Association.

Valentina Rosario (she/her) is an Afro-Boricua trans activist. Valentina is the program manager for the TINGS program at Galaei, and is the only trans-identified commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Engagement for Women. She is dedicated to lifting the voices of the most marginalized in the Latino community by centering on those most overlooked. Valentina is a proud Philadelphia native. Growing up in the “bad landz”, she understands the lack of resources for the growing Latino communities in Philadelphia.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
I do not have a favorite Pride month event, but this year, Sammy’s Place hosted a Latin Pride, which has been my favorite. It was lovely and focused on Latinx queer Pride; it was full of not just queer folks, but accomplices. Big shout out to Cookie at Sammy’s Place.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
Simple–Sylvia Rivera! It’s extremely cliche and I’m aware. The thing is, she screams resilience. She was orphaned at three and started her journey of self-discovery at 11. Not only did she fight for queer rights, but she was active in the Civil Rights Movement as a teenager and was involved with the Young Lords and Black Panthers, where she made sure she created visibility for queer people. Sylvia spoke up against racism and how underserved queer people of color were and are. I aspire to be as vocal and consistent as she was.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Create more gender-affirming accommodations. Include gender-affirmation surgeries in all your accommodations, change your vocabulary in policies from breastfeeding to chestfeeding, create policies that protect queer folks from harassment or harm, and do your research on the many ways your corporation can be more inclusive and safe for queer folks. For individuals, say sorry when you offended someone when you didn’t mean to, calling queer people slurs is the equivalent of racist slurs, if you don’t know something ask, and most importantly lead with kindness.

Dr. Hussein Safa completed medical school at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. He then returned to his native New York to complete a residency in Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. While there, he completed the Comprehensive HIV Care track, which prepared him to provide full-spectrum HIV primary care. He also provides affirming and sex positive primary care for LGBTQ+ patients, including hormone therapy. Dr. Safa is interested in the impact that social determinants of health have on patient and community health.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
Donating and lobbying for issues that support the LGBTQ+ community and not just displaying rainbow colors during Pride month. Showing support for the community and using their power in that way will always mean more for the community than slapping a rainbow flag on a logo.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Hiring more queer individuals into leadership positions to allow for effective culture change in the work environment, and to allow opportunities for growth and upward mobility for all queer individuals and especially BIPOC identifying queer individuals. Also ensuring that there are policies available for using affirmed names and pronouns, gender-neutral restrooms, and advocating for health insurance inclusive of gender-affirming care and family leave for all types of families.

Naiymah Sanchez (she/her) is a proud trans Philadelphian who has been organizing within the community for over a decade. Throughout her years of work, Naiymah has collaborated with other community leaders to work on an intersectional approach to education and liberation through a lens of gender and racial justice. Naiymah is the current trans rights organizer at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and contributes to the work needed to keep us moving in the right direction, securing civil liberties, and protecting human rights.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
That’s a tricky question. Over the last twelve years, any Pride events or celebrations I attended were as a vendor and not as a “Pride goer”. I will say I enjoy being a vendor at multiple Pride events, because I can see that our work is paying off and that younger folks can be proud and free in their own skin. Before working in the nonprofit sector, I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and celebrating our existence without the stipulations caused by the corporatization of our identities and our struggle.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
So many have paved the way and offered me this opportunity to exist and thrive in my truths. The trans and queer rights movement wouldn’t be if it weren’t for our transcestors such as Sylvia Riveria, Marsha P. Johnson, Charlene Arcila, Jackie Adams, and Naiyma Hickson, or trans elders like Miss Major Griffin, Elizabeth Coffey Williams, Sandra Caldwell, or Kyler Brodus. These are a few of the Icon activists I grew to learn the power I had within my voice.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
I believe corporations must invest in the communities where they promote their products and services, offering opportunities for employment and creating safer work environments free from stigma and discrimination. Please support us, speak out against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and policy pushes, and support local grassroots organizers and initiatives that are meeting the needs and filling the gaps created by a narrowly focused on HIV, which never addresses what we need to be healthy and feel safe.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
I’m a big advocate for several things: policy, training, practices, accountability measures, and most of all, visibility. Talk to us about what we need, Consult us on the training, work with us on putting things into practice, and be willing to hold folks accountable and hire us. We must set a standard for respect and resist any bias or hate-driven actions that cause marginalized folks vulnerable to harm.

Eric Schroeckenthaler (he/him) is an organizer in the Philadelphia LGBTQ+ community who collaborates with peers to build inclusive, joyful spaces. He is one of the founders of a QTBIPOC-focused community project, Qunify, that focuses on creating new spaces and experiences for all LGBTQ+ people to feel safe, comfortable, and visible. Eric also served as the convener of the marketing committee for the inaugural festival of PHL Pride Collective, Philadelphia’s new Pride organization. He and his partner, JeVon, reside in North Philadelphia.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
My favorite Pride month celebrations are the personal ones. Every opportunity for people to be free, dress in a loud rainbow, gender-bend, or explore the beauty of being queer is a celebration. I love safer spaces where those gathered can explore something new and discover the euphoria of expressing their true selves.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
I am inspired by my high school Spanish teacher, who vocally held safer space; the Black and Brown Workers Cooperative for holding institutions accountable; and the performers building The Painted Mug Cafe as a queer and trans focused performance space. To me, these people represent a more positive future, and demonstrate our power to make positive change every day. More traditionally, James Baldwin showed me the importance of finding ourselves, Kate Bornstein taught me how to explore myself, Susan Stryker highlighted the importance of our early history, and Dean Spade framed my style of activism.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
People and corporations cannot claim to support the LGBTQ+ community until internal culture and external activities are safe, affirming, and welcoming to queer and trans people of color, particularly Black trans women. Work and activism that is not inclusive of the whole LGBTQ+ community does not support the LGBTQ+ community. Allyship and support is a practice that requires constant work and improvement.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Businesses must make the investment to become a more inclusive environment. Best practices exist, but nobody knows them all. Businesses must use the resources available to them to make improvements. Every part of the business needs to learn what others consider respectful, including in signage, policy, culture, etc. Consultants can help with both the review process and employee training. In addition, businesses must be open to feedback and act on the feedback received.

From pioneering history as a participant at the Stonewall Riots to being a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front in New York from 1969 to 1970, Mark Segal (he/him) has been involved in LGBTQ+ civil rights since he moved to New York in May 1969. Mark is also the founder of Gay Youth, the nation’s first organizzation to deal with bullying and suicide of LGBTQ+ youth, and a marshal and member of the Christopher Street Gay Liberation Day Committe, which created the world’s first gay Pride in 1970. He founded Philadelphia Gay News, and was a past president of both the National LGBT Press Association and the Nationalk Gay Newspaper Guild. Mark’s memoir, And Then I Danced: Traveling the road to LGBT Equality, was named best book by the National LGBT Journalists Association.  

Sultan Shakir (he/him) is the president and executive officer of Mazzoni Center, which has been serving the LGBTQ+ community since 1979. Sultan came to Mazzoni Center from SMYAL, an organization dedicated to the well-being, support, and empowerment of LGBTQ+ youth. Born and raised in North Philadelphia, he lives with his husband, Mark, and their two dogs, Blanche and Manny. Sultan is an avid artist and musician and enjoys the vibrancy and creativity of the queer and trans communities.

Reggie Shuford (he/him) became executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania in September 2011. From 1995 to 2010, he served as senior staff counsel in the national ACLU’s Racial Justice Program. Among his many honors, Reggie received UNC Law School’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, is a former Harvard Law School Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow, and a current Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity. In 2018, he was named one of The Advocate Magazine’s Icons, Innovators, and Disruptors in the category of Judicial Warrior.

What is your favorite Pride month event or celebration?
Probably all the Pride parades, which bring together young and old, individuals and couples, friends and families, and people from all backgrounds, races and ethnicities, and walks of life, for the sole purpose of celebrating. The energy is electric, and happiness and joy abound. Given the current backlash against members of LGBTQ+ communities, these moments of celebration, resilience, and resistance are essential.

What LGBTQ+ icons or activists have inspired you?
There are many, but I will identify one: Bayard Rustin.

What can people and corporations do to support the LGBTQ+ community year-round, not just during Pride month?
People and corporations should support LGBTQ+ individuals, relatives, colleagues and communities year-round, not just in June. Our humanity does not exist only during Pride month, nor do the challenges we face.

How can businesses create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons?
Businesses can create more inclusive environments for their employees and patrons by curating safe spaces for the full range of diverse individuals in their organizations. They should make meaningful investments in programs and trainings that allow everyone to be their authentic selves and to thrive. That’s not just good for individuals but for the bottom line, as well.