40th Profiles Archives - Page 2 of 4 - NYC Anti-Violence Project

40 Change Makers: Judy and Dennis Shepard

July 11, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Judy and Dennis Shepard have dedicated their lives to the work of ending hatred-based violence, by turning their own grief into action. The work to end violence is a long road. The Shepards joked about continuing to put off retirement due to the continued need for vigilance. After losing their son, Matthew Shepard, to anti-gay hate violence, the Shepards found numerous organizati[...]

40 Change Makers: Jasmine Bowden

June 21, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Jasmine’s enthusiasm and passion for educating and organizing marginalized people is infectious. To hear her talk about her work, you can’t help but want to get involved. “I'm not an introvert. I love engaging people,” Jasmine said. “There's not a stranger I haven't met. You know?” Jasmine used her ability to engage others as an organizer, canvasser, ed[...]

40 Change Makers: Helen Rosenthal

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Council Member Helen Rosenthal served District 6 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for eight years. During that time she served on a variety of committees devoted to gender equity and partnered with organizations to support women and people of all genders. Her work with AVP included efforts to improve the treatment of LGBTQ people in domestic violence (DV) shelters. We spoke w[...]

40 Change Makers: David Wertheimer

June 8, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. David Wertheimer was the first Executive Director of AVP. Steering AVP during the AIDS crisis and beyond, David took inspiration from his trade union organizer parents. Trying to hold perpetrators accountable for queer-bashing in the eighties was a difficult endeavor at a time when getting recognition in the press was a rare feat. “It was pretty intense because it was also the same t[...]

40 Change Makers: Richard Haymes

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Richard Haymes, one of AVP’s previous Executive Directors, didn’t always consider himself an activist. His work at AVP spanned a variety of programs and initiatives including working with LGBTQ+ survivors and victims of 9/11. Richard worked to stay flexible and create new avenues for change and advocacy at AVP. Making sure everyone at AVP had a voice and the ability to openly tal[...]

40 Change Makers: Imara Jones

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Imara Jones’ work as an AVP board member and journalist are steeped in the power of narrative to confront violence. From her work as a documentarian to her work as a podcaster, Imara has leveraged the ability of stories to create empathy and change. “I think because violence is one of the biggest challenges that our community faces, and violence in all its forms, I think that the w[...]

40 Change Makers: Ovita Williams

May 10, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Ovita Williams is the Executive Director of the Action Lab for Social Justice at Columbia University and has been working with the next generation of social workers for 17 years. As an Afro-Caribbean woman whose parents immigrated to the US in the 1960s, being surrounded by people who want to shake things up and change systems is a part of Ovita’s everyday inspiration. The first tim[...]

40 Change Makers: Matt Johnson

April 26, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Matt doesn’t consider himself an “activist,” so much as he considers all the things he does as work that needs to be done. Matt has worked in a variety of spaces– from promoting trans inclusivity on kink LiveJournal boards, to HIV research, to working as a hotline trainer at AVP. In his six years of producing the Folsom Street East (FSE) street festival, Matt was determined to[...]

40 Change Makers: Teal Inzunza

April 19, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Teal Inzunza knew AVP was the right place for her after receiving the call to create AVP’s Economic Empowerment Program (EEP). She’d been looking for a job that would allow her to work at the intersection of trauma and economic justice while also holding an anti-oppressive lens on LGBTQ, people of color, immigrants, and HIV-affected individuals at the forefront of the work. Teal u[...]

40 Change Makers: Karen Satin

April 1, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Karen started volunteering at AVP at the ripe age of 68. After retiring from a lifetime in the suit-and-tie sector of Wall Street, her passion for the LGBTQ+ community brought her to AVP after she researched many organizations, trying to find where she might best spend her time. AVP’s work culture and engagement with trans communities are what made her decide to get involved. “You[...]

40 Change Makers: Kim Fountain

March 14, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. As the current Chief Operating Officer of the renowned Center on Halsted in Chicago, Kim Fountain knows that her community and advocacy work there stems from her start as an AVP staffer doing everything from legislative visits, Pride events, bullhorning protests alongside people like Tish James and Sylvia Rivera, to coordinating numerous hotline and other trainings. “I am privileged[...]

40 Change Makers: Victoria Cruz

March 9, 2022

This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Victoria Cruz started out the way many at AVP do — as a client. She decided to get involved because her experience working with AVP’s kind and nonjudgemental coordinators left her feeling transformed. Much of her work now is dedicated to giving queer and trans and black and brown people their power back. Cruz, known by her colleagues as “Miss Vicky,” was one of eleven children[...]