HEALTH SPECTRUM PANEL - 3PM
What does it mean to be engaged and invested in your personal Health? As black and brown people, we have intersecting identities and histories than inform and impact the ways in which we take care of our mental and physical health. Join our esteemed panelists for a discussion on "The Spectrum of Health"
MODERATOR
Kahlib Barton-Garçon is a Senior Program Officer with True Colors United. He joined TCU after completing his tenure with Us Helping Us, People Into Living. Inc as the PrEP Program Coordinator. Kahlib is also a Public Health capacity building specialist and queer activist who has done work with Gilead Sciences, NMAC, and AIDS Healthcare Foundation. He is a member of the Young Black Gay Men’s Leadership Initiative and a former National Youth Forum member. In addition to Kahlib’s advocacy efforts, he is a member of the Ballroom Community in the House of Garcon and a passionate thespian who is motivated by ARTivism. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, he worked with youth to create stage plays that highlighted many different social justice issues. Being a young activist/advocate, from Texas, Kahlib is most passionate about authentic youth collaboration, increasing rural access, and ending LGBTQ youth homelessness.
PANELISTS
Cecilia Gentili
Cecilia Gentili started Transgender Equity Consulting after serving as the Director of Policy at GMHC, the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy from 2016 to 2019.
Originally from Argentina, Cecilia found her passion for advocacy and community service when she started working as an intern at the LGBT Community Center in New York City. From 2012 to 2016, she managed the Transgender Health Program at the Apicha Community Health Center. Cecilia is also contributor to Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, and a board member for Transcend Legal and Translatina Network. Throughout her career, Cecilia has trained more than 3,000 individuals on a range of issues that include LGBTQ inclusion, immigration, drug use, sexual health, trans sensitivity, and intersectionality.
She has worked with city, state and federal governments, as well as major global corporations, to ensure that their employees and customers have a seamless experience, and her knowledge has helped organizations bring about
Sean Coleman
Sean Coleman, is the founder and executive director at Destination Tomorrow and serves as the operating manager of the Bronx Trans Collective. Mr. Coleman has over 19 years of experience working with the LGBTQ community. In 2009 Mr. Coleman opened Destination Tomorrow out of a lack of adequate programs for LGBTQ African Americans. His goal is to shine a light on both racial and health disparities while building programs/services that are inclusive of the Transgender community. Currently, Mr. Coleman is a part of the NYS Transgender advisory group, assembled by the AIDS institute to develop recommendations that address the needs of Transgender community members as it relates to the Ending the Epidemic Blueprint. He also sits on the NYS Health & Human Services community advisory board, Bronx Community Board 1, The Transgender Legal and Education Defense Fund Board of Directors (TLDEF), The NYPD LGBT Advisory Board and the Project AFFIRM Advisory Board. In 2016 Mr. Coleman opened the Bronx Trans Collective (BTC), the only Trans led multi service agency in NYS. The BTC is a collaborative effort that was developed by grassroots Transgender leaders of color to begin to provide services to transgender people of color (TPOC).
Rishard Butts
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Rishard relocated to Washington, D.C. in August 2012 to attend Howard University. There he received a Bachelor’s of Science in human development and psycho-educational studies from the School of Education. After completing his undergraduate studies, he accepted a full-time position at Howard University as the director of the Freshman Leadership Academy and executive assistant to the associate vice president for student affairs. He joined the HRC team in May 2018 as the Coordinator of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Program. He has been instrumental in the expansion of the HBCU Program's leadership development portfolio including: diversifying the student participants, having more colleges/universities represented, and including high-profile speakers and special guests at the annual Leading In Truth summit. Rishard has worked to increase visibility of the program by incorporating new marketing/branding concepts and strategies. He is currently spearheading the addition of three regional summits that will be hosted at HBCUs across the country leading up to the annual National Summit in Washington, DC. Rishard is passionate about leadership development and encouraging young people to be bold, follow their dreams, and live authentic lives.