PRIDE: Celebrating & Elevating LGBTQ Women Leaders
Join the chisholm leadership academy for a virtual discussion about the representation of lgbtq women and femmes in elected office and activism and policies that protect & enrich the lgbtq+ community.
Featured Speakers
Representative Renitta Shannon
Representative Renitta Shannon defeated a four-term conservative Democratic incumbent with a bold progressive message in 2016. In January 2017, she was sworn into the Georgia House of Representatives, representing the 84th district. She utilizes her impactful public platform to fight stigmas and create legislation for marginalized communities. Her experience in community organizing work around economic, racial, and gender justice equipped her to serve in the Georgia House of Representatives.
Representative Shannon was raised by two hard working and, often, minimum wage-earning parents. This taught Renitta the importance of having access to economic opportunity and jobs that work for employees and employers. She worked as a server, earned scholarships, took out student loans and, with the help of her parents, graduated from the University of Florida.
At 22, Representative Shannon faced a silent crossroads that so many women are forced to face without support: abortion. Committed to ensuring that others have the infrastructure and guidance that they need, she speaks on national platforms, such as SiX and the Center for Reproductive Rights, about her personal story and the importance of abortion rights. She has been a consistent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. In 2017, she came out as bisexual, making her the first bisexual legislator to serve in the Georgia General Assembly.
In her first year as a legislator, Representative Shannon was recognized as one of the “Most Valuable Legislators” in The Nation Magazine’s 2017 Progressive Honor Roll for her work on sexual assault policy. She continues to engage in critical conversations about justice. In 2018, she was the keynote speaker at the Center for Reproductive Rights annual conference, providing an address entitled “Why Advancing Respectability Politics Hurts the Fight for Reproductive Rights.” She has also published a piece in the The Brown Girl’s Guide to Politics, “Why It Matters to Elect Queer Black Women to Public Office.”
Representative Shannon is the co-founder of Her Term, a Georgia-based initiative committed to targeting, recruiting, and electing progressive women into office. Her work has been featured in TIME Magazine, Cosmo, and Elite Daily.
Feroza Syed
Feroza Syed is a trans Muslim woman and activist for trans women, women of color, and human rights. In 2017, national rhetoric around immigrants, women, and transpeople began to change and Feroza felt that her identity was under attack. Despite having “passing privilege,” she decided to acknowledge her full identity by coming out on Facebook. Her post, which garnered more than 75,000 likes and hundreds of shares, led her to become engaged in activism.
In 2018, she joined Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom’s LGBTQ Advisory Board and was appointed AID Atlanta Ambassador. A year later, she served as a Grand Marshal for Pride. She is a facilitator for PFLAG John’s Creek and is on the Board of Georgia Safe Schools Coalition (GSSC). She volunteers with Asian Q&A (Queer and Adolescent), an organization that aims to create safe spaces for AAPI youth.
She worked in corporate America before becoming a successful real estate broker with Sotheby’s International Realty.
Kandice Webber
Kandice Webber is a registered nurse who has served the Houston community for over 15 years. She believes education is the neutralizer and cornerstone to success that will bring equity to all marginalized populations. Growing up in rural Texas, she witnessed, firsthand, the disparities young Black and Brown people face due to poverty, systemic racism and implicit biases. She is dedicated to fighting for sustainable change that will balance the scales and correct the injustices that have claimed so many Black and Brown lives. Kandice is a lead organizer for Black Lives Matter: Houston and co-chair of the March for Black Women: Houston.