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!
HEATHER MORGAN
Founder and Owner, 2Bride Photography
In 2012, Heather Morgan founded 2Bride Photography, the first wedding photography business to specialize in the queer community. Today, Morgan strives to not only be a trusted photographer for lesbians and gay men but also a trusted advisor, offering clients information on gay-friendly wedding vendors and queer wedding traditions. An out woman herself and a photographer since 2002, she gets a special thrill out of serving our community. “Just last spring I had the pleasure of photographing a transgender couple’s wedding. They liked me so much they asked me to come back for a boudoir session! I think a lot of transgender couples are a little hesitant to approach photographers, but with me they know they will be accepted because this is what I do.” Many other couples feel the same, obviously, as evidenced by the pictures at the 2Bride Photography blog (2bridephotography.com/blog/). This is not to say, though, that Morgan’s job is always just about photographing beautiful couples in love. “There are going to be times when you’re tired, stressed out and broke,” she says, “but those are the times to push even harder because it is so worth it when your dreams materialize.”
