Women at the Helm 2014
Director, Forty to None Project at the True Colors Fund
There is a crisis of LGBT youth homelessness in this country and Jama Shelton, LMSW, PhD, has been fighting to end it for more than a decade. A former homeless youth herself, Shelton’s life goal was forged while working with queer kids as a community-based artist in Texas. “Young people would disclose things that had happened to them in their lives that I did not have the skill set to address. It felt irresponsible to continue doing that work without learning more about how to handle such disclosures, so I decided to pursue an MSW,” she says. “After years of providing direct services to LGBT youth experiencing homelessness, I knew I wanted to do more.” She went back to school to work on her PhD, which she completed. Currently, she is the director of the Forty to None Project at the True Colors Fund, an LGBT organization co-founded by Cyndi Lauper. She’s also a professor at Hunter College and NYU School of Social Work. “I remember the first young woman of transgender experience who I helped get her own apartment 10 years ago,” she says. “I think about how hard she worked and how many barriers she broke through to get there. Her story, and countless others like hers, keep me going.”
Meet the next wave of out leaders!
ANGELA LOWE
Private Chef
“After running a fashion company for 12 years, I realized I was living a life that I didn’t want to live,” says Angela Lowe. In her search for something more satisfying, she sold her business, took a year off, signed up for culinary school, and apprenticed. The risk paid off: She recently returned to the fashion industry, but this time in a different capacity, cooking during Fashion Week for athletic clothing company Lululemon and fashion icon and self-help author Gabrielle Bernstein. But her services aren’t only for celebrities. You can hire her to cook a fancy dinner or casual meal at your home, or she can deliver it to you, or you can even rent her dining space to eat in. “I love teaching people how to cook, and I love feeding people things they don’t expect to get on a vegan plate. I love the dining experience and watching people love that experience.” Being successful as an entrepreneur, she says, is all about educating yourself and having a good time. “Always challenge yourself to expand and learn more techniques, and don’t take things so seriously. The more fun you make it, the easier the universe cooperates with you.”
