Anan Bouapha

Anan Bouapha, who is referred by the HuffingtonPost as the leader of the country’s nascent LGBTI movement. In 2012, he founded Proud to Be Us Laos, the nation’s first civil society network promoting equal rights for people with sexual and gender diversity communities. As President/Founder, he was instrumental in organising the first Pride event in Laos. Anan was honored with the Asian Pink Awards (Asia LGBTI Rights Awards) in Singapore in 2014 and praised for his work in combating HIV and initiated the LGBT rights movement. His organisation “Proud to be us Laos” was ranked in the Top 9 World LGBT Change Heroes by The Guardian in 2016. In 2019, he was selected as one of the Grand Marshalls of Montreal Pride along with Steve Cruz of Star Trek and Monica Helms – The creator of Transgender Flag. 


Cristina Rodríguez

Cristina Rodriguez is a Colombian social communicator-journalist, proud trans woman, transfeminist and defender of human rights. She is currently Coordinator of the LBTI Young Women’s program of Fondo Lunaria, a counterpart of Inter Pares. Fondo Lunaria is a Colombian feminist organization that promotes and strengthens locally-designed initiatives for the political participation of youth as agents of change. The direct beneficiaries supported by Fondo Lunaria often face multiple discriminations due to their social class, gender, age, race/ethnicity (Afro-Colombian/Indigenous), sexual orientation/gender identity (lesbian, trans), and/or urban/rural origin. Cristina studied social communication-journalism at the University of Quindío. As a student, she transitioned and subsequently continued at the University of Quindío as a workshop teacher and later as a full professor, in the areas of photography, documentary production and social networks. She was the first trans professor at her university – a milestone in the institution. As a trans activist, Cristina has denounced abuses of the municipal administration and police directed against sex workers, mainly trans women, in the region of Colombia known as the Eje Cafetero.


Danilo Manzano

Danilo Manzano is Director of the Dialogo Diverso in Ecuador, which works in the promotion, protection and defense of human rights, with emphasis on LGBTI people, gender and democracy. Since the creation of the protection program “Mi Casa Fuera de Casa”, Dialogo Diverso has supported more than 15.000 LGBTIQ + refugees and migrants from Venezuela in Ecuador. Danilo is the producer of “Dialogando Ando”, a YouTube and Facebook alternative communication platform that promotes youth leaders and social issues in Latin America. Danilo Manzano started his studies in public relations, has a diploma in marketing, and is a mediator in conflict resolution (Chamber of Commerce of Quito). He is also an international lecturer and TEDx speaker who has been involved in representing LGBTIQ communities at  the General Assembly of Allies of Habitat III, United Nations.


Fernando Us Alvarez

Fernando Us Alvarez is a Maya K’ichè Indigenous person, a survivor of Guatemala’s civil war, and a sexual dissident. Fernando uses the pronouns she/he. For the past four years, Fernando has been working with the Pan American Development Foundation with responsibilities for supporting LGBTI groups in the Mesoamerican region (Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras). Prior to that, Fernando worked as a popular educator with UDEFEGUA – the Unit for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders – an organization that defends the political space for human rights organizations and provides support to human rights defenders under threat. In UDEFEGUA, among other responsibilities, Fernando was the liaison with feminist and LGBTI groups in Guatemala and throughout the Central American region, helping activists and organizations develop safety and security plans so they can significantly minimize the risk of attacks. From 2010-2013, Fernando served as Project Officer with Project Counseling Service (PCS), a regional Latin American organization, partnered with DNC Member Inter Pares. At PCS, Fernando worked on the Dignity Network Canada Global Advisory Board program dealing with issues of migration or “forced uprooting”, connecting with grassroots groups throughout the “northern triangle” region and Mexico. She/he is a founding member of REDMMUTRANS – the Red Multicultural de Mujeres Trans (Multicultural Network of Trans Women), a grassroots group comprised in large part by Indigenous trans women from several rural departments of Guatemala. Fernando is also a member of REDNAS – the Red Nacional de Diversidad Sexual y VIH de Guatemala (National Network on Sexual Diversity and HIV of Guatemala).


Hetera EstimphilHetera Estimphil

Hetera Estimphil, a 26-year-old trans Haitian woman and activist. Hetera is a psychosocial support worker, human rights educator and gender specialist. She is currently the President of a human rights organisation specifically for the promotion of LGBTI rights called Kouraj Pou Pwoteje Dwa Moun, located in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.


J. Ian Burchett

J. Ian Burchett

Prior to his retirement from the Canadian public service in April 2020, Mr. Burchett was director general for South East Asia, ASEAN and APEC at Global Affairs Canada based in Ottawa. During this period, he also headed the Government of Canada’s Rohingya Crisis Taskforce supporting the work of the Special Envoy, the Honourable Bob Rae. Between 2012 and 2016, he was Consul General of Canada to Hong Kong and Macau. During this assignment, the NGO, Community Business recognized him for his leadership relayed to local and regional LGBTI issues. Mr. Burchett has served abroad as trade commissioner in Kingston, head of the Investment Promotion Program at the Canadian consulate general in New York City, counsellor (public and cultural affairs) at the Canadian embassy in Beijing, and minister-counsellor (congressional and legal affairs) and deputy head of the Washington Secretariat at the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C. He also opened the Canadian consulate in Monterrey, Mexico. At headquarters, he has worked in divisions responsible for further advancing Canadian trade and economic interests with the Middle East and Gulf states, China, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea. In 1994, he received the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers award. He has also received Public Service Awards of Excellence for support to the Government of Canada’s response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, for the Canadian response to high profile consular emergencies in 2009, as a member of the Rohingya Taskforce in 2019 and in 2020 for his efforts to resolving the Canadian Filipino waste issue. Mr. Burchett has a BA Honours [Political Science], Queen’s University, 1982 and MA [Public Administration], Carleton University, 1985).


Kenita M. PlacideKenita M. Placide

Kenita M. Placide is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE). ECADE, is an independent umbrella organisation, inclusive of organisations operating in the small islands in the eastern Caribbean from the Virgin Islands to Grenada. Placide has advocated around HIV and human rights inclusive of women, youth and LGBTI issues, for over 15 years and has worn many hats to bring attention and funding to the smaller islands in the eastern part of the Caribbean. The former Executive Director of United and Strong in St Lucia, Placide led the first presentation by United and Strong to Saint Lucia’s Constitution Reform Commission in 2009 and to the Universal Periodic Review process at the United Nations in 2010. She is founder and organiser of the only Caribbean Women and Sexual Diversity Conference from 2013 to present. Placide is a member of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund, the Americas Representative for the Commonwealth Equality Network, the Caribbean Advisor Emergency Response with the Freedom House Dignity for All LGBTI Assistance Program, and on the Management Committee of the Caribbean Forum for Liberation and Acceptance of Genders and Sexualities. Placide is a member of the UN Women LGBTI Informal Reference Group.


Midnight PoonkasetwattanaMidnight Poonkasetwattana

Based in Bangkok, Midnight has been Executive Director of APCOM since 2011. APCOM is an organization working with a network of individuals and community-based organizations across 35 countries in Asia and the Pacific. With years of experience working in multi-sectorial partnerships with governments, donors and the United Nations, Midnight particularly enjoys working with community groups and civil society organisations to build their capacity to better promote the rights of gender and sexual minorities. Midnight’s work as APCOM Executive Director has been globally recognised through various awards and honors, such as Mark King’s MyFabulousDisease.com’s 16 HIV Advocates to Watch in 2016, “IAPAC 150” Pioneers in AIDS Response and AVAC’s Omololu Falobi Award for excellence in HIV prevention research community advocacy. Besides his work in APCOM, Midnight is a member of various advisory and steering committees, including the global IDAHOT committee and the Freedom House’s “Dignity for All”; as well as a civil society International Steering Committee member of the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund. Before joining APCOM, Midnight worked for Purple Sky Network where he engaged with MSM and transgender communities in the Greater Mekong areas. He previously supported the implementation of HIV and human rights programmes in various countries throughout Asia and Eastern Europe as part of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. Midnight obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia in 2002 and completed his Masters in Globalisation and Development in 2009 at the School of Oriental and African Studies through the University of London.


Pepe OnzeimaPepe Onzeima

Pepe Onzeima is a transman, human rights activist and community leader who is currently Program Director for Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG). Onzeima has over fifteen years working experience in grassroots organizing, community led advocacy, human rights programming and management, grants writing and reporting, advocacy focusing on social justice and civil liberties at national, regional and international spaces. He is an international award-winning campaigner, educator and influencer working towards the attainment of equality and dignity for marginalized persons in Uganda and across Africa. Onzeima is an excellent communicator with the ability to listen closely, step back, analyse and work toward solving challenges. He has registered incredible accomplishments including being at the forefront of the co-founding of Uganda’s LGBTIQ movement and its sustenance; being a plaintiff in various lawsuits local and international; demanding for civil liberties more significantly being one of the petitioners in the constitutional challenge that led to the annulment of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act 2014, and being a proven leader in cross-disciplinary advocacy and state engagement on the rights of marginalised persons in Uganda. Onzeima brings a wealth of experience with regional and international bodies such as the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), the East African Court of Justice and, the Human Rights Council through the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.


Soufiane Hennani

Soufiane Hennani

Soufiane Hennani is an independent activist for the rights of LGBTQI+ persons, a queer columnist, and a PhD student researcher in Health Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy – Hassan II University of Casablanca, Morocco. Soufiane writes columns for the magazine PDREVUE, the LGBTQI+ South African magazine QR Passion, and independent Moroccan blog the Openchabab and other LGBTQI+ platforms. He is a Laureate of the Social Change Programme of the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality in 2019, a volunteer with the Association for the Fight Against AIDS since 2016 and founder of the Elille training series for capacity building of LGBTQI+ people at this organization. Soufiane is also former vice-coordinator of the advisory committee of young people within Amnesty International Morocco (2018-2019) and contributed in 2017-2019 to the realisation of the Intersections platform to denounce the liberticidal laws in the Moroccan Penal Code, produced by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Soufiane is particularly interested in issues related to Queer Moroccans and to masculinities in Morocco and as such he created in 2020 Machi Rojola, a platform alternative for rethinking and questioning masculinity(ies) in Morocco.


Steve LetsikeSteve Letsike

Steve Letsike is an activist, feminist, leader, mentor and human rights advocate. She is co-chair of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) as well as chairperson of the SANAC National Civil Society Forum. Steve is also Co-Chair of the National Task Team established by the South African Department of Justice to address hate crimes and gender-based violence affecting LGBTI people. Steve is a Founding Director of Access Chapter 2, a human rights organization that focuses on LGBTI people, women in their diversity and civil society’s participation in public policy development processes. The name Access Chapter 2 is derived from South Africa’s Constitution referring to the Bill of Rights: Chapter 2. Steve is also Vice-Chair of the Commonwealth Equality Network, a network of Commonwealth civil society organisations working to challenge inequality in the Commonwealth, based on sexual orientation and gender identity.


Grace Divine IngabireGrâce Divine Ingabire

Grâce Divine Ingabire is based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and is a bilingual (English and French) medical doctor and has a degree in project management. Feminism, Gender Equality, Economic and Social Inclusion, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Human Rights are the subjects she is passionate about. Her interest in these subjects led her to leave her medical career and pursue work with community-based organizations. The capacity building of new LGBTQ+ organisations is her main focus. Enhancing them that they can be able to work and to apply for funds. Reading, writing, dancing, watching movies and series, going on adventures – she is always up to a challenge! -, and meeting new people are some Grâce’s hobbies. Grâce was nominated to the advisory committee by Égides, Alliance internationale francophone pour l’égalité et les diversités.


Lenny EmsonLenny Emson

Lenny Emson is a Ukrainian born LGBTQI human rights activist, a person that identifies as a bigender individual. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of human rights and advocacy for LGBTQI freedoms. He is a Co-Chair of one of the oldest Ukrainian LGBT organizations, the LGBT Association “LIGA”, and in 2021 Emson was appointed Executive Director of KyivPride, the largest pride non-profit in the region, an organization that he started along with other activists back in 2012.  Previously, he was a member of the Grant Making Panel of the International Trans Fund, the ILGA World’s Steering Committee, served as a Board Member and later the Executive Director for TGEU, and today is leading the European pride family as President of the European Pride Organisers Association.  Lenny is an independent consultant working in the fields of non-profit executive management, LGBTQI human rights, diversity equity and inclusion, and humanitarian support for Ukrainian LGBTQI people displaced due to the invasion. Lenny was nominated to the advisory committee by KyivPride Canada.


Wissam SheibWissam Sh

Wissam Sh. is a trans activist based in Beirut, Lebanon and has been involved in queer and feminist spaces and organizing for over 10 years. Wissam was part of Meem – LBTQ group and is currently the  co-leading Tajassod working group by Qorras focusing on practical information, research, advocacy to advance trans justice in Lebanon. Outside queer and feminist organizing, Wissam is involved in working in the humanitarian field, freedom of expression, human rights and advocacy. Wissam was nominated to the advisory committee by Mubaadarat.


Zhanar SekerbayevaZhanar Sekerbayeva

Zhanar Sekerbayeva is one of the co-founders of the Kazakhstan Feminist Initiative ‘Feminita’. She is a feminist, a powerlifter and a poet. In her works she aims at expanding the concept of gender in the general public discourse through activism by mainstreaming questions of gender identity in Academia and making Central Asia visible as a region. Zhanar graduated with Summa Cum Laude from the ‘Gumilev’ Eurasian National University in 2005, as well as from the ‘Lomonosov’ Moscow State University in 2009. In 2014 Zhanar enrolled at the European Humanities University (Lithuania) MA program in Sociology with focus on gender and culture, and finished at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, PhD program. Zhanar was nominated to the advisory committee by The Equality Fund.