True Colors United is deeply disturbed and outraged by the murder of Jordan Neely on Monday, May 1, 2023 on the F train in Manhattan.

Neely was crying out, “I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up” moments before a white vigilante, Daniel Penny, held him in a chokehold for 15 minutes. Neely needed food and water, yet instead was brutally murdered in broad daylight. The refusal to indict Neely’s murderer illuminates a racialized and bigoted system that continues to emphasize the lives of people on the margins do not matter, particularly for folks who are Black, vulnerable, struggling with a disability, and unhoused. The staff at True Colors United condemns this outrageous act of injustice, violence, dehumanization, and anti-Blackness, and calls out inadequate policies and systems that continue to fail people who are unhoused and in mental health crises. 

Jordan Neely experienced housing insecurity, poverty, and mental health struggles for 7+ years. He was described by his friends and family as a “sweet loving and talented Michael Jackson impersonator who dealt with mental health challenges following his mother’s murder when he was a teenager.” Neely was a regular victim of a failed system that ultimately facilitated his murder when he had nowhere else to turn. 

In a city where there has been a full assault on homeless communities and rents are higher than ever; positioned in a country with no regard for Black and brown bodies, this tragedy is the latest in a long history of violence against Black folks. True Colors United knows that criminalizing homelessness is ineffective and immoral and believes everyone has the right to housing and to the resources and support they need to thrive. 

We stand with protestors in NYC and demand justice for Jordan Neely. True Colors United condemns state-sanctioned violence, and the systems that continue to ignore and create a sense of irreverence for the lives of Black people experiencing homelessness. We call on elected officials, state and federally,  to stand against and reject legislative actions that criminalize people who are unhoused and instead adequately fund solutions that prioritize affordable housing, mental health resources, and end white supremacist terror and violence towards Black people.

In Solidarity and Accountability,

Signed:

True Colors United Staff

• Aleya Jones
• Whitney Bunts
• Christa Price 
• Eziah Blake
• Shahera Hyatt 
• Morgan Jenkins, Ed.D 
• Jeff Katz
• Angel Brown
• Tiffany Hart
• Cai Carranza
• Dana White
• Twiggy Pucci Garçon
• Coco Wheeler
• Kahlib Barton
• Dylan Waguespack

National Forum on Youth Homelessness

• Taisacan Hall
• Jennifer Myers
• Kiana Johnson
• Sakichi Hayashi
• Prince Hayward 
• Jozie Caudillo
• Damien Brinson 
• Serena Chapa
• Kai Reynolds
• Saleen Lewis
• Jai Wells
• Osimiri Sprowal

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One of the most needed, and overlooked, economic resources to support young people is inclusive information around financial literacy. In this blog, we will focus on the importance of building a credit score and tips for navigating financial institutions for young adults with lived experience of homelessness. Intersecting identities for young adults experiencing homelessness disproportionately include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people as well as black, indigenous and other people of color. 

In a 2018 Experian survey on LGBTQ+ finances, 62% of respondents reported experiencing financial challenges related to their sexual orientation or gender identity. Black and Latino consumers are more likely than white consumers to depend on high-interest financial services such as payday lenders and check-cashing counters because their neighborhoods have fewer banks, according to a Brookings Institution analysis. In theory, race should not affect credit scores. But due to current and historical discrimination from building wealth through traditional avenues such as homeownership, people of color – particularly Black and Latinx communities – tend to have lower credit scores. This can then further reinforce financial discrimination. In addition, housing programs are sometimes designed to prevent  people from having autonomy over their funds. Certain housing program models may further economically disenfranchise young adults by creating top-down, one-size-fits-all budgeting systems that remove their autonomy in determining their own spending priorities. This limits opportunities for trial-and-error that can inform financial strategies down the line. 

Credit plays a big role when it comes time to apply for your first apartment, buy a car, or get a cellphone or electric bill in your name. Your credit history may also determine whether you are asked to pay additional security deposits or fees on your accounts. Rent and cell phone bills are often not included in credit scores, but would likely make a meaningful difference for Black and Latinx communities, young adults, and other working class people in their ability to build credit. There are several ways you can start building a credit history as a young adult or while still in college. Some of the most common ways are:

• Opening a credit card account with a low limit initially while you build your credit.
• To build your credit, keep your balance low and make payments on time.
• If you already have a cellphone, utility, or streaming service account in your name, you can sign up through some credit monitoring services to have those on-time payments added to your credit report.
• Those 18 or older with an independent source of verifiable income can likely qualify for a credit card on their own. Alternatively, a caregiver or other adult relative can add a young person as an authorized user to help start the process of building credit. 
• Another consideration for this community is to find affirming banks or credit unions that demonstrate their support for LGBTQ communities by using an online search engine or through word of mouth. For example, a bank may have policies that make it easier for transgender and nonbinary customers to use the name of their choice on their account profiles and credit cards. Inclusive policies help to reduce barriers to building credit. If you’re planning on beginning a gender transition, you can let your bank know ahead of time and ask if they have support in place to prevent any lack of continuity in service. 
• In order to protect their identity and credit history, Experian provides a way for transgender and nonbinary consumers to update their name on their Experian credit report without losing any of their well-earned credit history. Additionally, Experian will suppress their birth name (also known as “dead name” or previous name) so it does not appear on their Experian credit report.

For more information informed by True Colors United work with the National Youth Forum on Homelessness and Experian, check out our Instagram. 

The post Credit Where Credit is Due: Tips on Building Credit for Young Adults with Experiences of Homelessness appeared first on True Colors United.

Grounded in intersectionality and racial equity, the resources provided through the Equity Hub are designed with zero-assumptions and meet everyone where they are in their journey of learning to provide a personalized experience. In the past year, the Equity Hub has provided free courses and toolkits in both English and Spanish, released content driven by young folks with lived-expertise, and developed brand new content with racial equity at the center. All of this work and we are just getting started! We are beyond thrilled to announce that we are rolling out new features to help your organization track and measure analytics to understand the impact and effectiveness of your equity standards.

New Features Promoting Equity Across Organizations

Three of the exciting brand new features include staff surveys, the ability to track course data and progress, and organizational equity standards. Through the staff surveys, you will gain an inside understanding on your staff’s competency when supporting LGBTQ and BIPOC clients. These surveys will aid you in identifying areas where there are opportunities to advance your equity practices. Through the tracking data feature, you will now be able to track your team’s progress through the platform’s online training courses. This feature can give you a better understanding of where your team is at on their learning journey so you can meet everyone where they are for the most effective and supportive experience. And through the organizational equity standards you can measure how your organization’s equity practices align with national best practice and standards. 

Along with these exciting features, we are still committed to constantly refreshing the platform with free, bilingual, dynamic content and resources designed in partnership with young people with lived experience. We all have a part to play in ending LGBTQ youth homelessness and we are proud to have a role in creating a low-to-no-barrier, accessible, and intersectional learning community. We would like to thank everyone who has been on this journey with us and are excited to welcome those making a commitment to equity today. We hope these new features benefit you in moving towards transformation. Stay in touch to see all the amazing work being done here at True Colors United!

The post New Equity Hub Features Have Arrived! appeared first on True Colors United.

Call or email Jeff Reinbold, Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks and tell him to stop the eviction: 202-245-4661; jeff_reinbold@nps.gov

For the last few years, cities and states across the United States have issued encampment raids against unhoused people. Today – DC joins this harmful and white supremacist strategy, forcibly removing tenants from McPherson Square. True Colors United is vehemently against encampment raids and all it ensues – criminalization, further displacement, loss of possessions, and much more, none of which will result in ending homelessness. 

This raid comes two months earlier than expected, without any real support or rapid housing solutions. These raids directly conflict with both the  USICH’s strategic plan and the Biden administration’s federal plan to end homelessness and place people in direct harm. Moreover, encampment raids not only further criminalize, traumatize, and dehumanize individuals. It also grows distrust between the individual and systems, which results in people hiding their housing status and resisting services long-term.  The real objective of the encampment raid is to sustain capitalism and to hide the truth about DC’s lack of resources for unhoused people and is NOT an act of protection.

In fact, this is an act of violence toward people experiencing homelessness, particularly Black and LGBTQ community members. We know that 40% of people experiencing homelessness in the United States are Black, a direct result of decades of strategic policy, laws, and acts of forcible displacement rooted in white supremacy. We know that LGBTQ young people are 120% more likely to experience housing instability, due in large part by failures of the state to meet their most basic needs. By choosing to raid McPherson Square without providing the necessary resources to those that are unhoused this becomes a life-or-death scenario disproportionately affecting Black and LGBTQ folks.

True Colors United urges the federal government to immediately halt all plans to forcibly remove tenants of McPherson Square, to make emergency resources available, and to provide safe, individual housing to anyone experiencing unsheltered homelessness. It’s critical that young people experiencing homelessness be included in these efforts.

We affirm the right to protest this.

In Solidarity, 

Signed:

Timothy Hale 

Selina Lee

Jeff Katz

Phoebe VanCleefe

Aleya Jones

Angel Brown

Morgan Jenkins, Ed.D

Kahlib Barton

Jordan Wiggins

Christa Price

JB Burton 

Coco Wheeler

Twiggy Pucci Garçon

The post A Statement by the Staff of True Colors United on DC’s Encampment Raids appeared first on True Colors United.

Dear Friends,

We are thrilled to announce True Colors United’s newest staff!

Announcing Shahera Hyatt as the New Program Director of Youth Action

Shahera Hyatt is the new Program Director of Youth Action at True Colors United, focused on centering the lived experience of LGBTQIA youth and young adults in solutions to address homelessness. Previously, Hyatt spent 10 years directing the California Homeless Youth Project, a statewide research and policy initiative on youth homelessness. During her tenure, a she founded Sacramento’s Youth Action Council, centering youth voices in research, policymaking, and community outreach. Hyatt has authored several publications on the topic of youth homelessness including policy briefs on LGBTQ+ youth, college homelessness, and the school-to-prison pipeline. She published the nation’s first state plan to end youth homelessness and helped pass numerous pieces of state legislation to protect homeless and formerly incarcerated young people. 

“As a queer/bisexual person with lived experience of homelessness, I have seen and benefitted from the way that True Colors United has been a national leader on uplifting youth voice and action, particularly among LGBTQIA and Black and Indigenous people of color in the movement to end youth homelessness. I am thrilled to carry on that legacy with young people from across the country in the National Youth Forum on Homelessness and the Youth Action Society and look forward to what we can accomplish by working together in the new year. 

Building the power of people directly impacted by homelessness, uplifting their ideas, honoring their trauma, and helping to coordinate youth-led action efforts is the most important work happening now, and what I am most drawn to after 10+ years of working in the field. This is a job I can bring myself to as a creative and an activist. As a performer, I am passionate about the intersection between homelessness and the arts, and I believe we can leverage our creativity to delight in the fight.”

Announcing Whitney Bunts as the new Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy

My name is Whitney Bunts and I am the new Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy at True Colors United. I am excited to advance TCU’s mission through transformative systems and policy change. Before joining the True Colors United family, I was a policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), where I worked on an array of issues such as mental health, education justice, workforce development, and juvenile justice. I led our decriminalization efforts to eradicate carceral and white supremacist structures that permeate through Black and Brown communities. During my tenure, I developed and led a coalition of over 20 members that continues to advocate for a transformed mental health system that does not involve the criminal legal system or law enforcement but creates a safe, accessible, developmentally appropriate, and equitable space for all young people. Moreover, I have provided technical assistance to states and localities, sat on several advisory groups and task forces, and published nationally recognized reports and articles.

Through my role at TCU, I plan to push us toward liberation, because justice is no longer enough. Young people deserve to live holistic lives, without generational trauma and systemic barriers. I am committed to moving beyond what is and envisioning a world of what should be. I am dedicated to transformational change that centers joy, safety, healing, and justice for marginalized young people across this nation – creating access and opportunities, changing narratives, and uplifting communities. My mission is to work alongside young people with lived experience to abolish harmful systems. 

As a person who identifies as a Black Lesbian/Queer Woman, living in a white heteronormative society that has endured the systemic abuse garnered from racism, discrimination, and oppression, I know legislative change and incrementalism will not get us to liberation. I am at TCU to be an agitator, co-conspirator, and radical visionary for a new future for all young people. I joined this organization to be in the fight alongside young people to get them the future they deserve – not just to survive, but to thrive. I am guided by all of the youth and young adults in this work and my ancestors before me. 

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and respect one another. We have NOTHING to lose but OUR CHAINS.” – Assata Shakur

Jeff Katz Joins True Colors United As Senior Director of Development

True Colors United is excited to announce that Jeff Katz has joined the team as the new Senior Director of Development, overseeing the organization’s fundraising efforts and supporter engagement. Having spent nearly a decade working with youth and young adults experiencing homelessness, most recently Jeff served as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at My Friend’s Place in Los Angeles. It was there that Jeff led on advancing a number of the organization’s key projects, including campaign fundraising, advocacy, media relations and community partnerships.

Jeff has also raised funds and created campaigns for organizations including the L.A. LGBT Center, International Medical Corps., AIDS/LifeCycle and Ronald McDonald House Charities.

“As a longtime supporter of True Color United, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to join this incredible team! The vital work that TCU does is helping not only support youth currently experiencing homelessness across the country, but also getting us that much closer to ending youth homelessness for all.”

Please join us in welcoming Shahera, Whitney & Jeff to TCU!

The post Welcoming Our New Staff! appeared first on True Colors United.

True Colors United is deeply disturbed by the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols at the hands of police in Memphis, Tennessee. We extend our sincere sympathies to everyone impacted by yet another Black life taken this way.

When we launched the Black Lives Action Center in 2020, we recognized the responsibility our organization has to not only raise awareness of the frequent killings of Black people in this country by police but to also express our unflinching support to the movement for the liberation of Black people from systemic racism that unhouses, incarcerates, and ends lives. 

We remain committed to standing with those on the right side of history, present, and future, by emphatically denouncing rampant police brutality and pervasive anti-Blackness.

We remain committed to uplifting opportunities for our supporters to demonstrate true allyship, as well as to having crucial internal and external conversations about race.

We said it then and we’re saying now that there is no LGBTQ+ liberation without Black liberation.

We raise our voices with protestors in Memphis and everywhere that people are refusing to accept inequality and brutality. To that end, we’re calling for protestors to keep each other safe. We keep each other safe. 

In Solidarity and Accountability,

Signed:

True Colors United Staff

• Aleya Jones
• Coco Wheeler
• Christa Price
• Timothy Hale
• Whitney Bunts
• Cai Carranza
• Kahlib Barton
• Dylan Waguespack
• Jeff Katz
• Selina Lee 
• JB Burton 
• Shahera Hyatt 
• Tiffany Hart 
• Twiggy Pucci Garçon 

The post We Remain Committed to Black Lives appeared first on True Colors United.

Desde su fundación, True Colors United siempre se ha comprometido a ser un reflejo de las comunidades que apoyamos.

Logramos esto no solo escuchando las necesidades que los miembros de la comunidad comparten directamente con nosotros, sino también trabajando junto a jóvenes LGBTQ con experiencias vividas de personas sin hogar. Al hacer esto, hemos podido permanecer abiertos y adaptarnos a las necesidades cambiantes de nuestras comunidades. En nuestra misión de aumentar la accesibilidad y deconstruir las barreras, estamos más que emocionados de anunciar que todos nuestros paquetes de herramientas y cursos a través de nuestro Equity Hub ahora se lanzarán en inglés y español.

Nuestro equipo ha estado trabajando para traducir todo para garantizar que nuestros usuarios que hablan español reciban una experiencia valiosa y útil al acceder a nuestros recursos. En un esfuerzo para confirmar que nuestros recursos sean efectivos, estamos tomando precauciones adicionales para revisar todos nuestros materiales para su aplicación contextual, que relacionables son, la relevancia cultural, y en general si son comprensibles. Es importante que tomemos en cuenta todos estos pasos para garantizar que estamos brindando recursos que realmente beneficiarán a nuestras comunidades. Después de todo, la diversidad y la inclusión son dos verbos activos que aquí en True Colors United estamos comprometidos a abordar.

Haciendo los recursos traducidos disponibles es una alta prioridad y para certificar que este trabajo se completa con éxito, necesitamos suficiente tiempo para todo el proceso. Nuestro objetivo es hacer cada recurso en español disponible lo más cerca posible a cuando su contraparte en inglés esté disponible. Sin embargo, garantizamos que todos nuestros recursos estarán disponibles tanto en inglés como en español. Para acceder a los recursos en español, los nuevos usuarios ahora tendrán la opción de seleccionar una preferencia de idioma al crear su cuenta en nuestra comunidad de aprendizaje. ¡Los usuarios preexistentes podrán editar sus preferencias de idioma en el botón “Mi perfil” en el menú desplegable de su cuenta en la cita de web en cualquier momento! Estamos muy emocionados y agradecidos de tener la capacidad de aumentar la accesibilidad de nuestros recursos gratis y esperamos cualquier oportunidad para seguir siendo un mejor reflejo de nuestras comunidades.

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From its founding, True Colors United has always been committed to being a reflection of the communities we support.

We’ve achieved this by not only listening to the needs directly shared with us by community members, but also by working alongside LGBTQ young people with lived experience of homelessness. In doing this, we have been able to remain open and adaptive to the changing needs of our communities. In our mission to increase accessibility and deconstruct barriers, we are beyond excited to announce that all of our Toolkits and Courses through our Equity Hub will now be released in both English and Spanish languages!

Our team has been working on getting everything translated to ensure our Spanish-language users receive a fruitful and enjoyable experience accessing our resources. In an effort to confirm our resources are effective, we are taking extra precautions to review all of our materials for contextual application, relatability, cultural relevance, and overall comprehension. All of these steps are important for us to take into account to guarantee we are providing resources that will truly benefit our communities. Afterall, diversity and inclusion are two active verbs we here at True Colors United are committed to addressing. 

Releasing the translated resources is a top priority and to certify that this work is completed successfully, we need enough time for the entire process. Our goal is to release the Spanish-Language resource as close to the release of its English counterpart as possible. However, we guarantee all of our resources will be available in both English and Spanish. To access the Spanish-language resources:

• New users will now have the option to select a language preference when creating their account on our learning community.
• Existing users will be able to edit their language preferences under the “My Profile” tab in the dropdown menu of their account on the platform at any time!

We are so excited and grateful to have the ability to increase the accessibility of our free resources and are looking forward to any opportunities to continue to be better reflective of our communities. lea

The post True Colors United Resources Are Now in Spanish appeared first on True Colors United.

Dear Friends,

We are thrilled to announce True Colors United’s next Chief Executive Officer: Dylan Waguespack!

We are excited to see the great things Dylan will do leading the organization as he assumes the role today. Dylan has been on the True Colors United team for the last three years, most recently serving as Chief Policy Officer. Over that time, we have witnessed his strategic, empathetic, and inspiring leadership as he helped advance our mission to implement innovative solutions to youth homelessness.

Those same qualities are needed to navigate the challenging times the world finds itself in. Our collective work to center equity and the needs of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth are more crucial than ever. We’re grateful and confident that Dylan will build on the collaborative advancements True Colors United has made over the last 15 years to ensure that every young person has a safe, stable place to call home and are able to be their true selves.

Dylan, who identifies as transgender and nonbinary and uses he/him and they/them pronouns, grew up in Louisiana and brings his lived experience of homelessness as a young person to the role. He will become the only transgender leader of a national homelessness and housing justice organization. Dylan’s demonstrated accomplishments at True Colors United and in his work prior to joining the organization made him the clear choice to take the helm. 

Dylan was selected by the Board of Directors after a national search process which was facilitated by Koya Partners, an executive search firm. A broad candidate pool was narrowed in stages by a diverse search committee.

Since joining True Colors United in 2019, Dylan has been overseeing our public policy agenda at all levels of government and serving as our primary spokesperson. Under his leadership, True Colors United helped defeat the Trump Administration’s proposed 2020 rule that would have gutted protections for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness through a national campaign that secured a record-breaking 66,000+ public comments in opposition. Dylan also co-founded House of Tulip, a Community Land Trust, in New Orleans to create permanent housing solutions for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness in responses to the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before he joined True Colors United, Dylan coordinated the lobbying strategy on the first ever transgender-specific legislation to pass the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 as a political communications and advocacy consultant. Dylan began his career at Louisiana Progress, a progressive movement-building partnership, where he drafted and lobbied for bills expanding opportunities for children, youth, and families impacted by homelessness.

We can’t wait to see Dylan’s impact at True Colors United and as a national leader in the housing justice movement. We’ll leave you with words from Dylan as he prepares to to take the reigns:

“I’m thrilled to have been chosen as the new CEO at True Colors United and continue my work with this brilliant team as we enter our exciting new chapter. Young people are powerful and change the world every day. I’m excited to continue to deepen our investment in youth action, because only through the leadership of people with lived experience of homelessness will we achieve housing justice together. 

I look forward to adding to the strong foundation that’s been laid over the past fifteen years by our outgoing CEO and co-founder Gregory Lewis. As a trans person from the deep south with lived experience of homelessness, I know what it’s like to navigate systems that are built to work against you. In my new role, I will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with young people in breaking down systemic barriers, fighting for liberation, and building a future where all of us have the freedom of self-expression and self-determination.”

In unity,

Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Barbaris, and Gregory Lewis
Co-Founders of True Colors United

The post Welcoming Our New CEO, Dylan Waguespack! appeared first on True Colors United.

Waguespack To Be Only Transgender Leader Of A National Homelessness and Housing Justice Organization

Today, True Colors United’s Board of Directors announced Dylan Waguespack as the organization’s next Chief Executive Officer. Waguespack, who has been serving as Chief Policy Officer at True Colors United, will immediately assume the role.

“Over the past three years, we have witnessed Dylan Waguespack’s strategic, empathetic, and inspiring leadership as he helped advance True Colors United’s mission to implement innovative solutions to youth homelessness,” said Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Barbaris, and Gregory Lewis, Co-Founders of True Colors United. “We could not be more excited for him becoming Chief Executive Officer and demonstrating those same qualities as True Colors United navigates the challenging times the world finds itself in. Our collective work to center equity and the needs of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth are more crucial than ever. We are grateful and confident that Dylan will further build upon the collaborative advancements True Colors United has made over the past 15 years to ensure that every young person has a safe, stable place to call home and are able to be their true selves.”

Waguespack, who identifies as transgender and nonbinary and uses he/him and they/them pronouns, grew up in Louisiana and brings his lived experience of homelessness as a young person to the position. He will become the only transgender leader of a national homelessness and housing justice organization. 

“I’m thrilled to have been chosen as the new CEO at True Colors United and continue my work with this brilliant team as we enter our exciting new chapter. Young people are powerful and change the world every day. I’m excited to continue to deepen our investment in youth action, because only through the leadership of people with lived experience of homelessness will we achieve housing justice together,” Waguespack said. “I look forward to adding to the strong foundation that’s been laid over the past fifteen years by our outgoing CEO and co-founder Gregory Lewis. As a trans person from the deep south with lived experience of homelessness, I know what it’s like to navigate systems that are built to work against you. In my new role, I will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with young people in breaking down systemic barriers, fighting for liberation, and building a future where all of us have the freedom of self-expression and self-determination.”

Waguespack’s selection caps a national search process facilitated by Koya Partners, an executive search firm. A broad candidate pool was narrowed in stages by a diverse search committee.

Waguespack joined True Colors United in 2019, where he developed, directed, and implemented the organization’s federal, state, and local administrative and legislative public policy agenda. He also served as the organization’s primary spokesperson and is a trusted thought leader within the housing justice and LGBTQ equality movements. In 2021, Waguespack led the on-the-ground media and advocacy response to anti-trans bills introduced in the Louisiana Legislature, and his work ultimately helped defeat each bill.

At True Colors United, Waguespack achieved a number of other notable wins, including co-designing and co-chairing a national campaign that secured a record-breaking 66,000+ public comments in opposition to the Trump Administration’s proposed rule in 2020 that would have gutted protections for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness. The proposal was ultimately defeated. In 2020, he also co-founded House of Tulip, a Community Land Trust, in New Orleans to create permanent housing solutions for transgender and gender-nonconforming people experiencing homelessness in response to the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the primary fundraiser, he secured more than $1.5 million in foundation, major donor, and grassroots funding in less than 18 months.

Prior to joining True Colors United, Waguespack was a political communications and advocacy consultant working in Baton Rouge, LA and Washington, DC. As part of his work, he coordinated the lobbying strategy on the first ever transgender-specific legislation to pass the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019. 

“In the near-decade I’ve known Dylan, he has shown up every day and put his considerable talents to use in building a better world for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC young people, one where every young person, no matter where they come from or who they are, can be their authentic selves. Dylan is hardworking, politically talented, and—perhaps most importantly—driven by a fierce sense of duty to ensure that today’s young people have better and more equitable opportunities than the generations before them,” said Congressman Troy Carter (LA-2). “I’m proud to be his mentor and friend, and I can’t wait to see the impact he makes as the incoming CEO at True Colors United and as the national leader of the movement to end LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.”

Waguespack also served as Executive Director of Louisiana Progress, a progessive movement-building partnership where he began his career. While there, he drafted or successfully lobbied for bills to expand opportunities for children, youth, and families impacted by homelessness, including protection from eviction for survivors of domestic abuse, expanded eligibility for child care assistance for families experiencing homelessness, and in-state tuition and campus housing for current and former homeless and foster youth in postsecondary education.

At the beginning of this year, Gregory Lewis, who served as True Colors United’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer since co-founding the organization, announced he would step down after 15 years upon the appointment of his successor.

Waguespack is a proud New Orleanian, a 10th generation Louisianan, and a graduate of Ben Franklin High School. He currently lives in Chicago with his husband Ira.

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