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!
NADINE SMITH
CEO and Co-Founder, Equality Florida
Nadine Smith (right), with her family, has been at the forefront of the LGBT rights movement for decades. The former award-winning journalist was there the first time gay community leaders sat down with a president (Bill Clinton, at the time) at the historic 1993 March on Washington. She was part of the founding board of the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization; she was also on President Obama’s National Finance Committee. In addition, she served as Equality Federation’s co-chair and lobbyist. Little wonder, then, that the Florida Diversity Council named her one of the most powerful and influential women in Florida, and that the League of Women Voters gave her their Woman of Distinction Award. Currently, she is a member of the Democratic National Committee, chair of the leadership team for State Voices Florida and co-founder/CEO of Equality Florida. Smith recently spoke out in support of legislation (the Florida Competitive Workforce Act) prohibiting workplace discrimination against LGBT folks in Florida. “Most people are actually surprised to discover these protections don’t already exist because it seems like common sense,” she said. “Updating the law will help ensure that all people in our state have the opportunity to be judged on their job performance and qualifications—nothing more, nothing less.”
