Alyce Emory
Throughout her life, award-winning production and community engagement professional Alyce Emory has constantly been reminded of the consistent marginalization of Black lesbians. Even within the LGBTQ+ community, there are very few public spaces where Black lesbians— a community that sits at the intersection of three marginalized groups—have their needs prioritized and met. Emory is dedicated to changing that. In 2014, she co-founded the Black Lesbian Conferences in Harlem, which created a welcoming environment for Black lesbians to address their priorities without fear of erasure or exploitation. The success of the conferences led Emory to establish Beyond Bold And Brave, Inc., a non-profit that continues and expands this important Black lesbian community-building work. As Beyond Bold And Brave’s President and CEO, Emory’s vision for the organization is “…to grow and remain strong so we can tackle the priorities that Black lesbian communities have entrusted to us,” she tells GO. Emory has received recognition for her impactful community engagement and activism, including being named a Callen-Lorde 2022 Black History Month Icon, recipient of Griot Circle’s 2021 Changemaker Award, and recipient of the Manhattan Borough President’s 2018 & 2017 Community Appreciation Awards. Emory says the most rewarding aspects of her work are “the gratitude we receive from Black lesbian communities and the partnerships we’ve cultivated to support our work. These have yielded immeasurable rewards for us beyond anything I could have imagined. I am thankful for it all.” –LC
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