Leadership Oakland Alumni Association is bringing together leaders within the Trans and broader LGBTQ+ community for a night of discussion and a celebration of Pride.
We're honored to welcome guest speakers:
Blase Bova - Executive Director, Society of St. Paul of Alameda County
Joe Hawkins - CEO, Oakland LGBTQ Community Center
Janelle Luster - Program Supervisor of Trans Vision, Bay Area Community Health
Hyder Shuja (LO 2020), Senior Manager, Debt Fund at Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, will moderate this important discussion.
This event is free for Gold and Silver LOAA Members. Registration for Bronze LOAA Members $10; Guests are $15.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83326952001?pwd=djhuUnJUWS94VWtwdU5IeURvSkZ0dz09
Meeting ID: 833 2695 2001
Passcode: 068642
About our panelists:
Blase Bova has 24 years of nonprofit management experience with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Since 2013 she has served as the Executive Director of St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County. Previously she served as the Executive Director of the St. Vincent de Paul in Marin County, and as Director of Operations & Development at St. Vincent de Paul of Phoenix, Arizona, the largest St. Vincent de Paul in the US. Blase has a BA in Psychology and an MA in Sociology, both from the University of Missouri. She is a recipient of a National Merit Scholarship and a Virginia G. Piper Fellowship. She completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Joe Hawkins is a noted community organizer, LGBTQ advocate, non-profit executive, event producer, and social entrepreneur. In 2017, Joe co-founded and is the Executive Director of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Oakland's first all inclusive, intergenerational LGBTQ service center. A military veteran, Joe’s service to the community has been recognized with numerous awards, including proclamations from five mayors of three cities and three governors in the state of California. Among his many accomplishments, Joe is a co-founder and former co-chair of Oakland Pride and was voted Grand Marshall of both the San Francisco and Oakland Pride Parades. He was one of the many early HIV/AIDS activists and appeared on numerous national talk shows to highlight the often overlooked, intersectional issues experienced by Black LGBTQ people.
Janelle Luster (she,they) is an award-winning community organizer, transgender activist, and native of the San Francisco-Bay Area, currently serving as Program Supervisor of Trans Vision, a TLGB+ specialty clinic within Bay Area Community Health (BACH). Janelle has been organizing and advocating for the rights of transgender people, PLWHIV, and sex workers locally and nationally. Janelle currently sits on the Board of Directors for SF Pride as well as Oakland Pridefest, she is passionate about community building and bringing community together. Janelle identifies as a formerly incarcerated black transwoman, who has been impacted by the system due to the intersections of her identities. As such, she is dedicated to empowering those communities through access to services, resources, and social empowerment.
