100 Women We Love: Carrie Davis

“Being an out queer woman is an essential part of my professional and personal success,” says Carrie Davis, who joined the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City in 1998. Today, Davis is the director of community services, overseeing the Center’s programming, which reaches more than 5,000 people yearly. Davis worked as an architect for 13 years, before refocusing her career on LGBT advocacy. She first served as GenderPAC’s director of operations in 1997, and at the Gender Identity Project, where she developed the center’s training curriculum. Her leadership was critical in helping New York City legislate a 2002 city law banning discrimination based on gender identity and expression. Along with teaching at Hunter College, Davis serves on several boards, including the HIV Health & Human Services Planning Council of New York. She also wrote about transgender issues for Gary Mallon’s Social Work Practice with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People. She says, “Now, I am beginning to be seen as an elder and am proud to be called upon to share and teach others what I have learned: To communicate how to be a revolutionary social worker, and to model to our young people and those struggling to be their true selves how to grow and have pride in a strong, healthy and whole identity.” –NHM