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October 21, 2019
 

Dear Community,

Fall is upon us, and change is in the air! The staff at ALP are beginning to prepare for a deeply transformative period in our growth cycle. After completing our strategic plan, we’re entering the restoration period, in which we prepare for the changes ahead. During this period, we will be studying the narrative and values of our organization to rebuild a framework for change. This means learning, teaching, sharing, and regenerating with each other through a series of sessions covering topics agreed on with members and board. This renovation of our org will be happening in tandem with moving out of our Manhattan offices at the end of January. On Monday nights, leading up to the move, we will be having a series of community packing parties with free food and MetroCards. The purpose of these gatherings is to celebrate change and remember that hard work is easier in community.

Harvest season signals a time for folks to gather forces and reconnect over food and all versions of family. At ALP, we have chosen a few new family members this fall — our new Board! The purpose of ALP’s Board is to guide and support members, staff, and the vision of the organization. This includes participating in community events, meetings, and activities.

Each of our new board members models leadership and community involvement in inspiring ways that will move the trajectory of the organization in a thoughtful and abundant direction. Our Board Members reflect the experience, resourcefulness, agility, integrity, and strength that ALP strives to embody, and we’re fortunate to welcome them to this organization.

This September saw us working in coalition with No New Jails, phone banking and canvassing for our Brick by Brick Campaign, completing our 3-year strategic planning process, onboarding our new board members, and collaboratively building a syllabus for organizational restoration.

In October, we would love for you to join us at one of our upcoming events. Please put our Monday night moving parties on your November-December calendars, and don’t forget to come over to the offices for our very special member appreciation night, Spooooky Karaoke!

In Solidarity,

Janhavi Pakrashi
Communications Coordinator
 
Our New Board Members
Tiffany

Tiffany currently works at Instagram as a Product Manager leading personalization for the Explore tab. Prior to Instagram, she worked at Spotify as Product Area Lead focused on personalizing Spotify's Home screen. Tiffany has also worked at Google, American Express, and HBO. She received her BA from Columbia University (CC '09) and her MBA from the Yale School of Management. She currently sits on the advisory board of Lesbians Who Tech. Tiffany is a proud first generation college graduate whose passion lies at the intersection of systems thinking, innovation, and social justice.

Though new to ALP, she is energized by both its mission and mandate, and excited to help in this exciting new chapter for the organization.
Lolan

Lolan Buhain Sevilla (they / them / theirs) is a Trans Filipino Butch cultural worker who strives to root their work in community, study, and practice. They have over a decade of cross-sectoral nonprofit and community organizing experience. Lolan currently works as the Senior Manager of Political Education and Leadership Development at the NYC Anti-Violence Project, and is a former Audre Lorde Project staff person, excited to return to one of their political homes as Board Member. Lolan has served organizations such as INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Astraea Foundation, generation FIVE, BAYAN & GABRIELA USA, and Asian Women’s Shelter. A member of the National Writers Union, Lolan is pursuing their Masters’ degree in Public Administration from Rutgers University. They are also the author of Translating New Brown, co-editor of Walang Hiya … Literature Taking Risks Toward Liberatory Practice, and were awarded a 2012 Writing Residency at Hedgebrook.
Chriss

Some years ago, Chriss stumbled across ALP as an undergraduate student at St. John's University searching for community and ideas of social justice. After some time and re-connection, they joined ALP's board with an offering of professional support, grant-writing, and an enthusiasm for endless dreaming.

A Ph.D. Candidate at University of Connecticut, Chriss’ academic and public work focuses on Black LGBTQI activism and world-making in the U.S. and Brazil. In the past, Chriss has been a Research Associate in Residence at the Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, Student Representative of Sociologists for Women in Society, Visiting Instructor of African American Studies at Wesleyan University, Visiting Scholar & Adjunct at St. John’s University (where they received their B.A.), and an intern for the Trans Justice Funding Project. On a sunny day, you can find this virgo caressing the pages of a new book with their toes in the sand.

Are you interested in learning more about what ALP's Board does? Check out this blog post and learn how ALP works to distribute power among LGBTSTGNC people of color.
 
Coalition Update
No New Jails
 

This month, ALP is excited to bring you some updates from our coalition work. Safe OUTside the System Coordinator Kerbie Joseph shares new developments from our work with No New Jails.

The No New Jails coalition, centered on an abolitionist lens, started in September 2018 as a response against Mayor De Blasio's new jails plan. Without any community input, the City developed a $10.6 billion scheme to build four new jails without any binding commitment to close Rikers Island. No New Jails NYC formed with the organizing belief that Rikers Island – a prison that was built on top of a landfill – should close immediately without the construction of new jails in Downtown Brooklyn, Chinatown, Queens, and the Bronx. The coalition believes that the people of New York City, especially those targeted for incarceration – Black folks, Brown folks, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and the poor – are against any plan to build new jails. That $11 billion can be allocated to community needs: for the creation of affordable housing, community programs, food needs, citywide de-escalation/community safety training, and for holistic healing services. The Audre Lorde Project has been a partner of this campaign since last winter; we have had NNJ members speak to the organization, brought our members and staff out to actions, provided space for meetings, helped coordinate actions, and, most recently, contributed to a campaign plan that includes the Safe OUTside the System's work. We support a vision of liberation to end the mass incarceration which directly impacts our community.

We are deeply are deeply saddened that the New York City Council recently ignored the will of the people and supported building more cages for Black and Brown folks. City Council voted 35-12 in favor of building the four new jails. The struggle continues.
 
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