This document profiles 16 leaders of LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS organizations in New York City. It provides brief biographies on each leader, including their name, organization, role, and background. The leaders represent a diverse range of organizations focused on issues such as LGBTQ community centers, LGBTQ aging services, Latino/Hispanic advocacy, LGBTQ youth advocacy, Brooklyn Pride, LGBTQ youth homelessness, Audre Lorde Project, FIERCE, LGBTQ police advisory, anti-violence project, and GMHC.

1. Glennda Testone, Executive Director
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, gaycenter.org
Glennda Testone is the Executive Director of New York City’s Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. Since joining The Center, she
has strengthened its programs for adults, youth and families, ensuring all
LGBT New Yorkers have an opportunity to live happy, healthy lives. This
past year Testone helped launch a new Center brand, celebrated 30 years
of service by the organization and embarked on a $9M capital building
renovation to transform the LGBT community’s home on W 13 Street.
Michael Adams, Executive Director
Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), sageusa.org
Michael Adams is the Executive Director of SAGE, Services and Advocacy for
GLBT Elders. SAGE is the oldest and largest organization in the country dedicated
to transforming the LGBT aging experience. In partnership with SAGE affiliates
countrywide, SAGE serves countless LGBT older people nationally via technical
assistance, trainings and services as well as advocacy at every level of government.
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services selected SAGE to establish
and run the country’s first and only National Resource Center on LGBT Aging.
Guillermo Chacón, President
Latino Commission on AIDS, latinoaids.org
Guillermo Chacón, President of the Latino Commission on AIDS, is recognized for
his great ability to build networks, coalitions and mobilize communities on policy
issues and program initiatives. In January 2008, under the leadership of Dennis
de Leon, Guillermo pioneered the First National Latino/Hispanic AIDS Leadership
Summit among national partners in the U.S. He serves as the Chair of the board for
the New York Immigration Coalition, and as a board/advisory member for the New
York City AIDS Memorial, POZ Magazine national advisory board, AIDSVu.org and
the Salvadoran American National Network.
Karina Claudio-Betancourt, Lead Organizer
Make the Road NY, maketheroad.org
Karina Claudio-Betancourt is a Boricua artivist, embelequera y buscabulla,
with a BA in Humanities—Theatre and Creative Writing (UPR-RP) and an MA in
Performance Studies (NYU). Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she now lives in
Brooklyn and works as a Lead Organizer with Make the Road NY with the LGBTQ
Justice Project and the Long Island Organizing Project. She received a scholarship
from the Hispanic Arts Foundation in 2007, a “Performance Studies” Award in
2008 and was a Hemispheric Institute EMERGENYC Fellow in 2009.
Erin M. Drinkwater, Executive Director
Brooklyn Community Pride Center, lgbtbrooklyn.org
Throughout her career, Erin Drinkwater has dedicated herself to public service
as an activist, advocate, community organizer and strategist. Before joining the
Brooklyn Community Pride Center she was a Policy Consultant working on social
justice issues and with candidates running for elected office. She also served as
Co-President of the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn. Erin served as
the Downstate Director of Pride in Action at the Empire State Pride Agenda; as
Congressman Jerrold L. Nadler’s Manhattan Community Representative and LGBT
Liaison and as Sean Patrick Maloney’s Policy Director.
Thomas Krever, MPA, Chief Executive Officer
Hetrick-Martin Institute (HMI), hmi.org
As the CEO of the Hetrick-Martin Institute, Thomas Krever works to help LGBTQ
youth find a safe haven of support in a world that can be overtly hostile and even
questioning of their basic human rights. Coming to HMI in 2003, his first task was
to create the Comprehensive Education Plan – a blueprint that expanded the then
“Harvey Milk School” program into a fully functioning, independent public transfer
high school in NYC for at-risk youth. Presently, Thomas is overseeing the expansion
of HMI to new cities across the country.
Cara Page, Executive Director
Audre Lorde Project, alp.org
Cara Page is a Black queer feminist cultural worker and organizer. She comes from
a long ancestral legacy of organizers and cultural workers from the Southeast to
the Northeast. For the past 20 plus years she has worked within the queer and
trans liberation movement, reproductive justice movement, the racial and economic
justice movements and the National People’s Movement Assembly. She continues
to organize; create cultural and political spaces that honor our leaders, movements,
communal legacies, and mobilize transformative spaces for the safety and wellbeing of our communities.
Krystal Portalatin, Co-Director
FIERCE, fiercenyc.org
Krystal Portalatin helped to co-found FIERCE in 2000 as a response to increased
police violence and gentrification in NYC and its impact on LGBTQ youth who
frequented the West Village to find safety and community. Krystal is a graduate of
University of Hawaii where she graduated with a degree in community organizing.
After college, Krystal worked in the HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and LGBT youth
development fields. Krystal rejoined FIERCE as a staff person in January 2008
maintaining her commitment to her community in New York City, where she was
born and raised.
Melissa Sklarz
LGBT NYPD Advisory Committee
Melissa Sklarz is a member of the LGBT NYPD Advisory Committee and the President
of Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, the largest LGBT Democratic Club
in New York. She became the first transgender person elected to office in New York
in 1999 when she was elected Judicial Delegate from the 66th Assembly District. In
2004, Melissa became the first transgender person from New York to be part of the
state delegation at the Democratic National Convention, by being appointed to the
Credentials Committee in 2004 and again in 2012, and Rules in 2008.
Sharon Stapel, Executive Director
New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), avp.org
Sharon Stapel is the Executive Director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project
(AVP). AVP is the country’s largest organization dedicated to ending hate, sexual
and intimate partner violence affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer
(LGBTQ) and HIV-affected communities and envisions a world in which all LGBTQ
and HIV-affected people are safe, respected and live free from violence. AVP
provides free and confidential crisis intervention and counseling to survivors of
violence through a 24-hour bilingual (English/Spanish) hotline, 212.714.1141.
Janet Weinberg, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer
GMHC, gmhc.org
For more than 30 years, Janet Weinberg has been a recognized leader in the fields
of health, social justice and fundraising. In the role of COO, she directs the day-today operations of GMHC. Her portfolio includes three key areas: Programs (HIV
prevention and testing – including interventions for men and women, Workforce
Development, Nutrition/Meals and Wellness, Community Health, Coordinated
Care, Research and Evaluation); External Affairs (Public Policy, Legal, Benefits
and Advocacy, Community Relations, Communications and Volunteers); and
Infrastructure (Information Systems, Facilities, Human Resources).
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Co-Sponsors
ACQC, ACRIA, Beth Israel LGBT Health Services, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, CHEST,
Circle of Voices Inc., Community Healthcare Network, The Correctional Association of New York,
Day One, Empire State Pride Agenda, Everything Transgender, Gay Men of African Descent,
Global Network of Black Pride, Griot Circle, Harlem Pride, Harlem United Community AIDS
Center, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, Latino
Pride Center/HAFNYC, Legal Aid Society, LGBT Faith Leaders of African Descent, New York
Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Planned Parenthood of New York City, Rainbow Heights Club,
Safe Horizon Streetwork Project, Staten Island LGBT Community Center, Stonewall Democrats
of New York City, Urban Justice Center – Domestic Violence Project, Unity Fellowship Church
Movement, VOCAL-NY
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