Staff

Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs Ashe is a southern non-binary Black butch artist, organizer, and cultural worker with roots in Louisville, KY. They received their Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Hite Art Institute – University of Louisville and have over 20 years of experience in advocacy, leadership development, youth organizing, and mentorship.  As a Black feminist whose own political artwork is grounded in liberation work, Ashe has curated and co-created several projects and practices of cultural solidarity with movement organizations such as Papel Machete / AgitArte, Southerners On New Ground (SONG), the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) and the #Not1More […]

Pronouns: Sir/Her Cleopatra Jach Acquaye is a Black Gender Non-Conforming* Queer, born and raised in The Bronx, New York. A first-generation-born child of Ghanaian immigrants, her values deeply center radical storytelling; Cleopatra defines this through transparency, centering lived experiences, and capacity-building. She has over a decade of experience in community organizing, organizational development, and team management, which informed her leadership as the Co-Executive Director of The Audre Lorde Project and the Interim Co-Executive Director of Lambda Literary. Jach’s teachers have come from Generative Somatics, Black Organizers for Leadership and Dignity, and Communities for Police Reform. This allowed her to create […]

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers April Bethea is the Director of External Affairs at Funders for LGBTQ Issues, where she works to increase the organization’s capacity for effective outreach to and engagement of new funders in an effort to increase overall grantmaking to LGBTQ issues. Prior to joining Funders for LGBTQ Issues April was the Membership and Community Associate at the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP). At IFP she oversaw membership, programming, mentorship, and educational opportunities for IFP’s community of emerging and established filmmakers and industry professionals.  April’s work helped to expand the organization’s audience by addressing new demographics and cultivated her passion for engaging people […]