Our Team

Staff

  • André Pérez (He/ They)

    Founder & Executive Director

    is a Trans Latine media maker and organizer whose community-centered practice has focused on abolition, health equity, and untold histories for 17 years. They founded the Transgender Oral History Project in 2007, recorded over 600 interviews as part of Storycorps, and played a key role in several LGBTQ+ nonprofit start-ups including the Trans Lifeline. He directed America in Transition and went on to produce A RUN FOR MORE (PBS, 2023) and DESIRE LINES (Sundance NEXT Special Jury Award winner, 2024).

Organizing Committee

  • Robin Carnilius (They/them)

    is a Black, trans illustrator, animator, filmmaker, video game designer, and graphic novelist whose work focuses on LGBTQ+ BIPOC representation and nerd pop culture. They directed the award-winning animated series MCTUCKY FRIED HIGH (2015) and wrote “Camp Cutlery” (2018), a graphic novel inspired by their own coming-of-age.

  • Janel Belovette (They/them)

    is a visual artist from Chicago, specializing in painting, jewelry-making, papercrafting, and non-electric tattooing. Belovette originated the Sankofic Method, a community-based approach inspired by the concept of Sankofa: returning to our lived experiences and the wisdom of our lineage to move forward. Belovette’s work has been exhibited in LA and Chicago, and commissioned by nonprofits. Belovette hopes to continue creating accessible spaces that foster creation, joy, and connection.

  • Umi Hsu 

     is a trans nonbinary sound artist and audio producer who's been recognized by the American Council for Learned Society, Shuttleworth Foundation, LA Metro, and National Endowment for the Arts. They teach at ArtCenter College of Design, advise the Digital Transgender Archive and The Invisible Archive journal, and previously directed award-winning exhibitions and programs at One Institute.

  • Lexington Lawson (He/ They)

     has 15 years of experience in education, media arts, and social justice. Lex produces, films, directs, and edits videos from music videos to documentaries. An Adjunct Professor at Southern New Hampshire University, Lex enjoys mentoring youth and helped publish an anthology titled "Grow From Where You Are" via Young Authors Greenhouse. He is working towards an MFA in Creative Writing while writing his first novel.

Advisory Board

  • Sequoia Pheonix (He/Him)

    is a trans community organizer, writer, musician, burner, and leatherman. He has co-founded many initiatives and groups supporting marginalized communities.

  • StormMiguel Florez

    is a trans, queer Chicane filmmaker, event producer, actor, and a lifelong musician. His award-winning films include THE WHISTLE (2019), MAJOR! (2015), and VULVEETA (2022). He is currently working on his feature narrative directorial debut, WELCOME TO ROSWELL, for which he received a 2022 SFFILM/Rainin grant, a 2021 Sundance Trans Possibilities fellowship, and a Film Fatales Stowe Story Labs Fellowship. His work has also been supported by The San Francisco Arts Commission, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the Trans Justice Funding Project, and Horizons Foundation.

  • Ezak Perez

    comes from Hopi and Paeaekila Puebloan people. He is Native, Xicanx, Latinx, two-spirit of center, indigiqueer, and trans. For 15+ years, they have been organizing at the intersections of racial, economic, and gender justice. Ezak is the Executive Director of Gender Justice LA, where he collaborates with others so that our communities can resist oppression, develop community responses to violence, heal from present and historical trauma, and come together in ways that feel brave and affirming.

  • Stefano Gonzalez

    is a Trans and Puerto Rican producer originally from New York whose films have screened at Cannes, Frameline, OutFest, and Inside Out. Stefano founded Transgress Studios LLC, produced TRANSFINITE (2017), and worked on big-budget productions such as INSECURE (Season 5) and MATRIX RESURRECTIONS (2021). Committed to rural LGBTQ+ youth, he served on the board of Rainbow Community Center from 2020-2023.

  • Ryan Rox

    Based in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Rox serves as the Co-Executive Director of Femme Frontera, where she runs artist support programming for women and gender-expansive filmmakers in the borderland. Rox is a queer, Latine Director, Writer, and Actor of Trans Non-Binary experience who recently completed her first feature film, HIDDEN FLORA. Rox’s work has been supported by Femme Frontera, Olivia Peace, Aitch Alberto, Film Fatales’ Fatales Forward, Trans Stories Fellowship, and Daniella’s Guestbook. Her films have been showcased at TRANSlations and the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival among others.