Alix Adrian (they/he) is a white queer transmasc parent of two young adults raised in Durham NC. He co-facilitates Transforming Families NC, a program of the LGBTQ Center of Durham, which serves families with transgender and gender diverse youth across the state. Alix also keeps the balls in the air as the Operations Manager at the LGBTQ Center of Durham.

Alix celebrates all kinds of families. They recognize that identities develop and change over a lifetime. Whether a parent, cousin, or child’s identity shifts, when humans are raised to be inclusive, anti-racist, and anti-ableist, every family member has safe and equitable space to explore their authentic self. One thing is for certain, we won’t know until it happens, so let’s prepare for an amazing fluid world.

Khalilah Karim is a wife, organizer, and long-time advocate of social justice. Growing up queer in a working class Muslim family in Decatur, GA. she started organizing through the fight for queer rights and reproductive access for all. Through her work with SEIU, she fought shoulder-to-shoulder with union members for accessible childcare and living wages. And for the past 6 years, Khalilah has worked with North Carolina League Of Conservation Voters pushing back on climate change and the environmental impacts that usually hit Black and Brown communities the hardest.

She is deeply committed to utilizing community based ideas to offer solutions around childcare, affordable housing, good jobs, environmental justice, and community.

Hannah Locklear is a Two-Spirited educator of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina with a passion for fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments. She is currently a Career Technical Education (CTE) teacher at Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina, where she teaches Business Essentials, Python I, and Business Ethics and Law I to high school students. In her teaching, Hannah emphasizes critical thinking, ethical practices, and real-world applications, inspiring her students to become responsible and compassionate leaders in their communities.

Hannah holds a Master’s degree in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also completed her undergraduate studies. With a deep commitment to her students, she designs lessons that integrate culturally responsive teaching and practical business skills. In addition to her teaching role, Hannah is interested in pursuing law school to advocate for social justice, motivated by her personal experiences and a dedication to addressing issues within the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) movement.

Outside of the classroom, Hannah enjoys reading, exploring local coffee shops, and engaging with her community through cultural and social events.

Dr. Yanica Faustin is a health equity researcher, professor, and consultant who dedicates her work to dismantling systemic barriers to health. A queer Black Haitian-American from Brooklyn, Yanica now resides in Durham, NC, with her wife Leah and their three young children. With a PhD in Maternal and Child Health and an MPH, Yanica collaborates with organizations as an equity strategist to advance racial and health equity initiatives. She’s passionate about transforming data into community-driven actions and sustainable change. Outside of her work, Yanica enjoys traveling, interior decorating, and spending time in her garden.

Leah Faustin is a queer woman who lives in Durham, NC, with her wife Yanica and their three young children. With a doctorate in physical therapy, Leah has spent over a decade in acute care at Duke Hospital. She is currently embracing time at home with her children, exploring new interests in childhood development and holistic parenting. Leah is passionate about neurodiversity, childhood development, and is particularly fascinated by the nervous system’s role in parenting and behavior. An extrovert at heart, Leah loves spending time with friends and family, and her interests include traveling, reading, and being near the water.

Grace brings a decade of philanthropic and nonprofit experience to the board of RCC. Currently, as the Director of Development at the ACLU of North Carolina, Grace leads the organization's fundraising strategy and serves on the leadership team, working to protect the rights of all community members and advance a vision of a more equitable state. Previously, she served as Director of Family and Individual Advising at Arabella Advisors, where she helped donors across the country implement impactful, trust-based giving strategies. Grace also led national fundraising efforts at UpTogether, focused on cash transfers and Guaranteed Income advocacy, and was the founding development hire at Richmond Promise, a community-based effort to ensure the future success of all children in the city. She holds a bachelor's degree from UNC Chapel Hill and returned to her home state of North Carolina in 2023 after nearly a decade in the Bay Area. Grace is inspired by RCC's commitment to strengthening family bonds and fostering leadership in young people while advocating for the systemic change needed to create real, generations-long impact.

Josué D. Cordova is a Latinx Queer leader and immigration and refugee advocate. He was born in El Salvador, grew up in San Francisco, California, and recently moved to Durham. Currently, Josue serves as the Operations Coordinator for “Immersion for Spanish Language Acquisition” (ISLA NC), a non-profit based in Durham, N.C.building leadership and community through Spanish educational language and cultural immersion programs for underserved Latinx families. As operations coordinator, Josue assists in implementing processes and systems to serve Latinx families better while enhancing the mission and vision of the organization. He is passionate about amplifying the voices of newly arrived Latinx students while helping them navigate the American school system,vocalizing the barriers impacting immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, as they integrate into a new host society. He encourages a more active and responsive role from education institutions in attending the needs of newly arrived Latinx students and families in areas that include identity, language acquisition, sexual orientation, gender identity, ego formation, and liminal immigration status.

Josué has a B.A. in International Relations and a Minor in Human Rights and Global Peace from San Francisco State University. He is a Willie L. Brown Fellow and a Humanitarian Crisis, Refugee, and Human Rights Fellow from Duke Global Policy Program in Geneva, Switzerland. . Served at the City of San Francisco Human Rights Commission, assisting during the listening sessions of the Juvenile Justice Reform.

Currently Josué is pursuing an M.A. in Global Studies & Global Migration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Jemm Merritt- Feder is a proud peer support specialist, clinical staff member, and licensed allied health instructor with a passion for creating inclusive, supportive spaces for the LGBTQ+ community. As a queer, nonbinary person, they understand the unique challenges we face and dedicate their work to fostering understanding and acceptance within our communities. 

Jemm grew up in Florida before eventually finding a deeper sense of home in the cultural mosaic of New York as a Haitian American. Growing up in such diverse settings laid the foundation for their appreciation of varied perspectives and identities. At 30, they proudly came out as nonbinary, embracing an important part of who they are, which drives their advocacy for inclusivity. Their educational path started with medical assisting school, followed by earning a Bachelor's in Health Sciences from Herzing University. They are currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Health at the University of North Carolina to broaden their impact and affect meaningful change. Over the years, Jemm has become a passionate advocate for harm reduction, supporting LGBTQ+ communities through education and guidance, and engaging families and corporations in creating welcoming spaces.

Abby (she/her) is a queer, white family physician who works at a community health center(or FQHC) in Burlington, NC. Her career focus and passion is providing high quality healthcare to individuals that do not have equitable access to care with the goal of working toward closing significant healthcare outcome gaps for the BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities. Abby speaks Spanish and has a large Latine patient population, and provides gender affirming care to the transgender/gender diverse community. She is also very passionate about increasing access to reproductive health for all people with a uterus.

Abby has a B.A in Spanish and a B.S in biology from University of Dayton, in Ohio, and an MD from University of Cincinnati. Her residency training was focused on caring for international and under resourced populations. She has traveled to Latin America(Honduras and Ecuador) on many occasions to help set up sustainable access to care for people in remote locations. Her involvement in Rainbow Collective for Change started as advocacy for change in school board policy concerning LGBTQIA children, and now includes organizing monthly meet ups for 8-12 year old youth in the LGBTQIA community.

Abby lives in Durham with her two favorite people, her brave and creative nonbinary and cisgender kiddos. When she isn't reading, she loves to travel, hike, bike, and indoor rock climb.

Jadelynn is a Queer, mixed-race, Latine, cis-femme facilitator, trauma  therapist and interdisciplinary performance artist of European and Indigenous decent. She has  worked within the antiviolence movement for over a decade, seeking to uplift the voices of those  often forgotten or silenced within the mainstream movement.  

After obtaining her MA, Jadelynn worked within nonprofit antiviolence agencies and shelters  providing clinical services, consultation and program development. Currently, Jadelynn is a  Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist, specializing in  sexual and intimate partner assault, intergenerational trauma and sex therapy, primarily with  LGBTQIA2s+ individuals and relationships. In addition, she offers consultation and facilitation  around accountability and trauma-informed care, and provides supervision to emerging  practitioners. Jadelynn is a core facilitator with Ante Up! Professional Development and is  adjunct faculty at Lesley University (Massachusetts).  

Jadelynn’s original and collaborative artistic work has been shown nationally, internationally and  in print. Her multidisciplinary artistic project, Choreographies of Disclosure: What the Mind  Forgets will be written about as chapters in two upcoming publications.  

Through the above, Jadelynn has rooted her heart in community organizing and ritual, helping to  enact systems of interdependent care that manifest liberation and new worlds where many worlds  are possible. She is honored to be a queer mama to two magical little ones, whom she lovingly  tends with her brilliant partner, Leslie. Together, they are the source of her most profound joy. 

Arlo (they/them) is a white nonbinary 5th grade student in Durham. Arlo became involved with Rainbow Collective for Change to support our efforts to make social connections for preteen LGBTQIA kids. They are also very aware and engaged with advocacy efforts regarding school board policy and state laws affecting LGBTQIA children. They hope to continue to engage with these same efforts as the first student member of RCC's leadership team. They have lots of great ideas to make Rainbow Collective for Change a great organization.

When they aren't at school or RCC events, they like to indoor rock climb, play violin, and read ALL the books.

Zavier is an outdoor enthusiast, Dad, and a foodie who loves exploring state parks and discovering new restaurants. With a passion for connecting with people, Zavier brings warmth and enthusiasm to every interaction. As part of RCC, they are excited to contribute to family programming, aiming to create engaging and memorable experiences for all.

Michael is married to his husband, Gary, and they have three adult daughters, two sons-in-law, one granddaughter and three grandsons.

Michael is a retired educator/administrator. He taught kindergarten for 18 years in a school district in the Adirondacks and taught a three-year, non-graded, multiage continuous progress program that he designed in the Orange County school district for 3 years and taught kindergarten/first grade in the Durham Public Schools for 19 years. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degree in elementary education at Plattsburgh State University College, Plattsburgh, NY.

After moving to the Triangle area, he obtained a Master of Science Degree in Administrative Leadership at UNC Greensboro, Greensboro, NC. His career has always focused on inclusion and acceptance. He led many workshops for parents, teachers, and administrators on how to provide a safe and inclusive learning environment to promote the total development of the child. 

Michael was a member of GLSEN as well as the National Association for the Education of Young People, advocating for inclusive, safe classroom environments.

Michael is a member of Bethany UMC where he leads a reconciling Sunday School Class, working to create welcoming, inclusive religious spaces for the queer community and it’s allies. He also facilitates a social justice study group, Vital Conversations, designed to explore the effects of racism and ways to become an anti-racist to dismantle racism in all it’s forms.

Artie Hartsell (he/they) is an 8th generation North Carolinian and community organizer. They earned their undergrad and graduate degrees in social work from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, focusing on LGBTQ+ youth and families, transgender mental health and harm reduction, and public policy. Artie's experience includes serving on staff at Time Out Youth in Charlotte, NC, as a foster care case manager, and as a medical case manager for adults with HIV, all while leading grassroots organizing efforts, including for municipal nondiscrimination ordinances and statewide LGBTQ+ protections. Professionally, Artie has organized at Democracy North Carolina, Equality North Carolina, Faith in Public Life, and is currently the Director of Organizing at the ACLU of North Carolina. He is also principal at Pride Education Services, offering inclusion training for nonprofits, businesses, and churches.