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the chair of the board of directors at TransCanWork, which assists with employment opportunities for the transgender community. Before her work at Lyric, Newman was executive director of San Francisco’s St. James Infirmary clinic, which provides services to sex workers, one of the few organizations in the nation to do so. In addition, Newman was a fundraiser and legislative aide for Equality California, the state’s LGBTQ+ organization. We recently chatted with Newman about her new role at BAI and her thoughts on being a Black trans female leader within the nonprofit realm. “I’ve been in this journey as a trans woman of color for 26 years, since 14th Street in Manhattan, when the epidemic was at its heated core,” recalls Newman. “And all of those young ladies are passed on…so it touches me to be able to work with the Black AIDS Institute, a national think tank fighting for Black and brown folks [affected by] HIV. I would love to focus on Black women and trans women of color…. Those [HIV] numbers are climbing, those numbers are concerning. So as a trans woman and as a [Black] woman, I would love to focus on that.” “I was touched by HIV 26 years ago and then I became an HIV test coordinator,” she continues. “I’ve been in the
Toni Newman (left) chats with a colleague while working as executive director at St. James Infirmary in San Francisco
LE A SUZU KI/G E T T Y IMAG ES
fter changes in its leadership roles last year, the Black AIDS Institute reached out to Toni Newman, an author and advocate for sex workers and people living with HIV, to lead the 23-yearold organization. At least temporarily, anyway. T he L o s A n gele s based nonprofit focuses on HIV education, prevention, and treatment among African-Americans, a group disproportionately affected by HIV. BAI has nearly 40 employees and a $5 million annual budget. Her new role as BAI’s interim CEO makes Newman one of very few Black trans people heading a national nonprofit. She also recently served as an interim CEO for San Franciscobased LGBTQ+ youth organization Lyric. Newman is a distinguished faculty member at the Transgender Strategy Center in Los Angeles and JAN UARY / FEB RUARY 202 2
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