Michael J. Adee, M.Div., Ph.D. is a human rights advocate. He has been working in the LGBT and HIV-AIDS communities since 1988. He earned his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Communication at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Michael has been a university teacher, campus minister, hospice chaplain, tennis coach, and a humanitarian relief worker in Zimbabwe. Michael directs the Global Faith and Justice Project through the Horizons Foundation, San Francisco, California.
Errol “E.R.” Anderson (he/him) is the Executive Director of Charis Circle, the nonprofit programming arm of Charis Books and More, the South’s oldest independent feminist bookstore. In his day-to-day work, E.R. supports emerging and established writers and facilitates community education groups, which use writing, listening, and collective action as a tool for justice and self-knowledge. He is a semi-regular guest professor in Agnes Scott College’s Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies Department.
For nearly two decades, R. Ashley Jackson's work has focused on issues of Equal Pay, Racial Justice, Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice and issues facing the LGBTQ+ community in the South. An activist, advocate, fiber artist, and program management consultant, Ashley served as the Senior Associate of Reproductive Rights for State Innovation Exchange, the first Alabama State Director for the Human Rights Campaign, and the first LGBT Community Advocate for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Atlanta Phoenix Award winner, GA House of Reps Commendation recipient, Trans Human Rights Advocate, Certified Peer Counselor, former Atlanta Citizen Review Board Chairwoman, and published author Tracee McDaniel is motivated by a strong desire to ensure that all Trans, Gender Non-Conforming and Non-Binary people also receive justice, civil and human rights protections. Tracee established 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Juxtaposed Center for Transformation, Inc. in 2007 to use as a vehicle for spreading the good news about Trans, Gender Non-Conforming and Non-Binary people, while also celebrating our resiliency being here since the beginning of time.
Dee Dee Chamblee is the founder and executive director of LaGender, Inc, an advocacy organization and resource group for trans women of color. A survivor of HIV, Dee Dee has been a tireless advocate, helping create a safer, healthier world for transgender Atlantans. In 2019, she received the Atlanta Phoenix award from Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and became the first Black trans woman invited to the White House, where President Barack Obama named her a Champion of Change for her activism.
Ryan is an innovative strategist who has served as a consultant for state, national, and global businesses and organizations seeking to advance equity and social impact. He has successfully launched programs and campaigns across the country with partners like the U.S. Department of Education, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Child Trends, the National Institute of Justice, and The White House. His current strategy and implementation consulting to independent, civic, and business clients include the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Atlanta Braves, and the American Medical Association Foundation, among others.
Holiday Simmons is the Director of Community Education and Advocacy located in the Southern Regional Office of Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV. With a background in social work, education, performing arts, and activism, Simmons has worked with youth in foster care, taught GED, managed education initiatives and facilitated numerous creative writing and spoken word workshops with groups of youth, LGBT people, women and Africana and Latino communities both in the United States and abroad.
Eric R. Wright is a Distinguished University Professor of Sociology and Public Health and Chair of the Sociology Department at Georgia State University. As a medical sociologist, his research interests center on social and public policy responses to mental health and illness, substance use and addictions, and sexual health and sexual behavior. He has extensive experience in working with community organizations as well as local and state government to better understand community needs and improve the effectiveness of social-, health-, and healthcare-related programs and policies.
