Staff

Julia Ehrt (she/her) is the Executive Director at ILGA World and a widely respected LGBTI activist and community leader.

Before joining ILGA World, she was the Executive Director of Transgender Europe, where she contributed significantly to how trans issues are perceived and debated today in Europe and beyond. She served as a founding Steering Committee member of the International Trans Fund (ITF) until 2019 and as a board member of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) for six years.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, and a signatory to the Yogyakarta Principles plus 10.

Julia holds a PhD in mathematics and lives with her partner and child in Berlin and Geneva.

Gurchaten (Nanoo) Sandhu (he/they) is ILGA World’s Director of Programmes.

Born to Panjabi Sikh working-class migrant parents in the UK, Gurchaten is a widely respected LGBTI changemaker and community leader, joining ILGA World to further strengthen and build on the organisation’s programmatic work and manage its growing Programmes team.

Before their time at ILGA World, Gurchaten was the Non-Discrimination Programme Officer at the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch, where they built their expertise and knowledge on promoting social justice through decent and inclusive work for all, in particular to enhance LGBTIQ+ rights at work and economic inclusion. They were also the President for UN-GLOBE, the group representing LGBTIQ+ personnnel in the United Nations system.

Gurchaten serves as a steering committee member of International Family Equality Day NGO, a fellow of the Salzburg Global LGBT forum, a Sarbat LGBT Sikhs volunteer and a trustee for We Create Space.

Gurchaten has been listed as the OUTStanding LGBT Role Model from 2018 to 2021. They are also an Honouree of the Out & Equal’s 2021 Global LGBTQ Corporate Advocate Outie Award, and the winner of the British LGBT Award for Exceptional Inclusion 2021.

Gabriel Galil (he/him) is a programme coordinator at ILGA World,  working on UN advocacy, Human Rights Council and Universal Periodic Review.

He holds a  master’s degree in international law from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) and a bachelor’s degree in law from the Federal University from Juiz de Fora (UFJF). His master’s thesis was focused on the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in international law, topic on which he authored a number of articles, book chapters and a book. Gabriel worked as an intern for ILGA World in the UN Advocacy Programme (Human Rights Council and UPR) for one year (2018-2019), having supported the campaign for the Renewal of the Independent Expert on SOGI.

Before joining ILGA World as an officer, Gabriel worked at local LGBTI organisations, at legal clinics for asylum seekers and migrants, at a business and human rights centre and taught university degree courses related to international human rights law and LGBTI rights in

Guillermo Ricalde (he/him) is a Senior Officer with ILGA World, working on UN Special Procedures and Sustainable Development Goals.

Born and raised in Mexico, he is a lawyer, researcher, and writer specialized in human rights and migration issues.

He holds a joint Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in migration and intercultural relations (EMMIR) from a consortium of African and European universities led by the University of Oldenburg (UOL), a second master’s degree in human rights and rights of native peoples, and a bachelor’s degree in law from the Autonomous University of Yucatan (UADY). His master thesis was focused on the notions of home of LGBTI refugees in the Netherlands, being published by the University of Stavanger (UiS).

Guillermo worked as an intern for ILGA World in the UN advocacy programme (2021) for nine months, supporting LGBTI rights defenders in their engagement with Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures.

Before joining ILGA World as an officer, Guillermo worked with local NGOs and activists, advocating for women and indigenous rights and providing human rights training for universities and governmental institutions in Mexico. He has also conducted research and co-authored publications for peer-reviewed academic journals and media outlets on the topics of gender equality and LGBTI migrants in Europe.

Besides his work in human rights advocacy, he started a career as a writer, publishing a children’s book recently in Mexico.

Lily Dong Li Rosengard (they/them) is ILGA World’s Senior Officer on Gender Identity & Gender Expression.

Lily began their advocacy as a student activist. They have over a decade of experience in gender justice, human rights, and intersectional feminist movements. Prior to joining ILGA World, Lily worked at Plan International, a gender equality INGO in over 80 countries. Lily was the Global Education Policy and Advocacy Specialist, leading on gender-transformative education for social justice. Before that, Lily led youth advocacy for Plan’s United Nations New York team, working with multi-sectoral partners to ensure meaningful and ethical inclusion of girls and young women in all their diversity at the UN. Lily initiated Plan’s youth-led policy approach to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in partnership with youth activists from across West and East Africa and the Middle East. Lily also led Plan’s engagement with the Independent Expert on SOGI, through a ‘Queer Youth Dialogue’. Lily was elected to Plan’s global Anti-Racism & Equity Council and was a member of the LGBTQIA+ Champions Network working on SOGIESC advocacy.

Prior, Lily worked in Hanoi, Vietnam, on an Australian DFAT-funded Women’s Economic Empowerment Programme, and at GenPol: a Gender Policy Think Tank. In 2020, Lily was selected to be on the Diversity & Inclusion Advisory for CIVICUS: the global civil society alliance.

Lily holds a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge, and an MA in Political Science: Human Rights from University College London, where they focused on gender, LGBTQIA+ rights and mental health as a human right.

Lily is the co-founder of Community Care Collective, a global grassroots activist network that centres radical love and community care at the heart of the social justice movement, whilst ending taboo and shame around mental health and mental illness and other intersecting topics typically stigmatised in society.

Outside of work, Lily is a writer and poet, often on topics of intersectionality, queerness, mixed-raced identity, and mental health. Lily also loves climbing, cats, and craftivism.

Crystal Hendricks
Programme officer – Sex Characteristics

Crystal Hendricks (she/her) is a queer intersex feminist womxn. She is a human rights defender who has been at the forefront of advocating for policy change for intersex people.

Crystal was the Intersex Programme Officer at Iranti, a regional organisation based in South Africa, and the acting administrator for Intersex South Africa. Crystal is also a former Rainbow Advocacy fellowship scholar. She served as the Chair of the ILGA World Intersex Steering Committee and is a current Advisory Board member of the Intersex Human Rights Fund.  Crystal has over 7 years of experience working within the intersex movement.

Her desire to see intersex people freely exercising their rights and freedoms drives her to work tirelessly to ensure that intersex issues are the leading edge of policy discussions, and that intersex people are at the helm of driving such conversations.

In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and enjoys watching the occasional musical.

Omar van Reenen (they/them) is the Strategic Alliances & Coalitions Consultant with ILGA World, focusing on building global partnerships to advance LGBTI people’s rights.

Born and raised in Namibia, they are a civil rights activist and the Co-Founder of Equal Namibia, the “largest civil rights movement in the country since independence” (Namibian Sun, December 2021). Omar’s advocacy was instrumental in landmark victories such as the 2023 Supreme Court ruling recognising same-sex marriages concluded abroad and the 2024 High Court decision decriminalising apartheid-era sodomy laws.

Omar holds a master’s degree from the Center for Human Rights and has completed the International LGBTI Youth and Student Organisation Activist Academy, the Young African Leaders Initiative, and the Human Rights Campaign Global Innovator Fellowships. Their grassroots activism extends beyond Namibia, earning them recognition as one of The Guardian‘s “most inspiring persons of 2023.”

Before joining ILGA World, Omar mobilised support for strategic litigation, led annual Pride celebrations, spearheaded LGBTI visibility campaigns, promotes queer civic engagement, and built queer youth networks across Africa. Their advocacy journey was inspired by their grandfather’s anti-apartheid struggle and the Black Lives Matter movement during their tenure as the first international student elected President of the State University of New York-Oswego Student Government in 2018, where they passed significant racial justice and gender equality reforms.

Leanne MacMillan (she/her) joined the team at ILGA World as the first staff member of the Equal Rights Coalition Secretariat.  As manager she will build on the vision and foundation of the many volunteers from member states and civil society of this unique Coalition.

As a Director at Stonewall for several years, Leanne developed its global programme including advocacy, policy, programmes, partnerships and income generation working across civil society and with leading global corporates.  Known for her innovation and strategic thinking, she led the development of the hate crime app Zoteria, the creation of the Out of the Margins LBT+ SDG network, and SAFAR, a secure system to support the provision of humanitarian assistance, resettlement and advocacy for LGBTQI+ refugees and internally displaced persons, working extensively to address the urgent needs of those at grave risk in Afghanistan.

For over three decades Leanne worked across a range of human rights, humanitarian and development issues — including as a Director at the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims based in Denmark where she led the development of DFI, a global clinical database to track and support the rehabilitation of survivors of torture. Over several years at the global secretariat of Amnesty International, she was a member of the Strategic Leadership Team, was the Head of Office at the United Nations in York City; as the Global Refugee Coordinator she led policy, research, advocacy and a global campaign.

She has led strategic litigation and advocacy work at both regional and global fora with experience in policy, programme and advocacy work across a range of thematic issues including LGBTI people’s rights, torture prevention and rehabilitation, refugee law and policy, Sustainable Development Goals,, global health policy, detention, humanitarian assistance and resource mobilisation.  Leanne has carried out research, advocacy, and capacity-building in over 40 countries.

As part of the ILGA World team, Leanne aims to use her experience from secretariats, networks and coalitions to support the Equal Rights Coalition member states, civil society organisations and international organisations.

Leanne studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Canada, practiced law briefly before joining the refugee law research programme at the Centre for Refugee Studies in Canada to then follow a path of human rights activism.

Yuri Yoursky (he/him) is a Ukraine-born and Estonia-based LGBTI activist. Yuri holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Europe-Asian studies, and he is in the process of obtaining a Ph.D. in Public Administration with a research topic of “Sustainable Organizational Development of Small Non-Profit NGOs”.

Yuri started his activist path with the Ukrainian community-led organization Gender Zed in Zaporizhzhya, practiced his skills at “Gay Alliance Ukraine”, and over 7 years served the communities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia as a Programs Lead of ECOM – Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity. Previously, Yuri was part of the IGLYO (2018-2020) and ILGA-Europe (2020-2022) Boards and currently acts as a Board term at GNP+ (Global Network of People living with HIV).

Yuri is a certified trainer on the topics of non-profit organizational development, MEAL, and fundraising.

J. Andrew Baker (he/him) is an artist, Indigenous Language speaker, two-spirit knowledge carrier, development professional, educator, counsellor, and activist from Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. He currently lives in Switzerland, where he is ILGA World’s Manager on Fundraising and Monitor, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL).

For the past 20 years, Andrew focused his career and volunteerism on Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. He is the past co-president of InterPride, and the co-founder and head of partnerships of Global Pride, the largest community-led Pride event to date. It gathered an online audience of 57 million people.

He is a professional fundraiser, adult educator, and MEL specialist who founded three 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations in Canada. Andrew served on multiple local, national, and international non-profit boards and implemented over 10 successful Indigenous-led programs in Ontario.

He began his career as a professional fundraiser in 2010. Since then, he collaboratively secured partnerships with governments – including Finland, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, the USA, and Sweden. He launched 2SLGBTQIA+ campaigns in partnership with multinational corporations including Apple, Burberry, Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, VF Corporation Brands, Google, YouTube, and Facebook. He led fundraising teams that have raised over 20 million USD towards 2SLGBTQIA+ and Indigenous-led initiatives. He has participated in fundraising collaborations that have raised over 125 million USD in cash and cash equivalents.

In 2017, he received the Inspire Lifetime Achievement award in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for 20 years of dedication to Indigenous and LGBTIQ communities in Ontario and Canada.

Madhu J. (she/they) is the Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer with ILGA World.

Madhu has over a decade of work experience in research and feminist MEL, with a specific focus on qualitative and participatory methodologies. She has extensive experience in coordinating and managing feminist participatory evaluation projects at both the national and multi-country/ regional levels. As a feminist MEL professional, Madhu has extensive experience working with participatory and contribution-based frameworks, and specifically with grassroots groups and small organisations. It is through this lens that she has developed a keen interest in exploring the intersections of feminist economic models, data, and technology.

Prior to joining ILGA World, Madhu was with Women’s Fund Asia, where she handled the MEL portfolio as their Program Officer- MEL. Madhu holds a Master’s in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India, and an M.Phil. in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies from the University of Cambridge.

Daniele Paletta (he/him) is the Communications Manager at ILGA World.

He has worked on media and communications for ILGA World since June 2015.

He has almost twenty years of experience in various communications roles – including as editor for business magazines and press officer for cultural institutions. As a freelance journalist, his articles have appeared in several newspapers, magazines and news sites in Italy. He also worked as a communications manager for a law firm supporting the UN Global Compact and has published three books, all released by Vololibero Edizioni. In 2017, he contributed to a manual on digital strategies.

He holds a Master of Science in Communications at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and a Master’s Degree in Communications on Discography and Radio at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

For media enquiries: media(at)ilga(dot)org

Suelle Anglin (she/her) is a communication and reputation management professional with a wealth of knowledge, and over seven years of experience working in the private sector and non-governmental organizations, in Jamaica and the Caribbean doing brand development and implementing strategic marketing and communication campaigns on traditional and new media.  A recently awarded Chevening Scholar, Suelle holds a Master of Arts degree in Corporate Communication, Marketing and Public Relations from the University of Leeds, England, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Language Communication and Society from The University of West Indies, Mona.

Over the last five years, she has worked with one of the leading human rights organizations in Jamaica, promoting the public education, tolerance, and acceptance of LGBT people. She has been critical in expanding pride celebrations and the inclusion and promotion of dancehall spaces, highlighting the nuances existing with LGBT people and the genre. In addition, she has been pivotal in implementing information communications technology (ICT) integration in the national HIV testing, treatment and support, and linkage to care response in Jamaica.

Suelle has key interests in feminism, promoting safe sex education, and accessing information in the global HIV response for lesbian and bisexual women. Her interest in data and its rapid development and socio-linguistics guides how she develops and implements human rights cantered work.

Camila Galdino (she/her) is a black lesbian Brazilian and a passionate feminist based in Toronto, Canada. She has worked in several non-profit organisations for over a decade through her work with communications, operations and logistics. She is one of the co-founders of the Brazilian Network of Young Feminists.

Before joining ILGA World, Camila worked at global organisations, assisting in the designing, monitoring and implementing operations systems through a social justice lens. Her latest place of work was AWID, where she was a key person coordinating their global Forum in Brazil.

She has a degree in Social Communications from IESP in Brazil and speaks Portuguese, English and Spanish, with some basic knowledge of French.

Demet Gümüş (she/her) is a Turkey-born human rights activist with an MA degree in Human Rights and Multi-level Governance earned from the University of Padova, Italy. She wrote her final dissertation on trans prisoners in Turkey and their access to justice through national, supranational, and international human rights mechanisms in the face of in-prison human rights violations. Among her areas of interest are gender equality, LGBTIQ+ human rights, and (eco)feminism.

Prior to her current position, she worked at ILGA World as conference support junior consultant for 10 months. Besides volunteering in several civil society organizations and civic-space platforms, she has taken leading and assisting roles in projects in multiple settings such as Turkey, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and soon in the United States of America.

She is fluent is Turkish, English, Italian, Spanish, and currently learning French and Brazilian Portuguese. She is passionate about rowing and sailing.

Oscar Fitzpatrick (he/him) is ILGA World’s Logistics Officer.

Operating from his base in Dublin, Ireland. Oscar is a multidisciplinary advocate, facilitator, and researcher with a rich background in live events and theatrical production management, facilitation, and program management.

Since 2019, Oscar has supported a diverse range of projects and initiatives within ILGA World. Initially joining as a Junior consultant to the Sex Characteristics programme in 2019. From 2020 to 2023 Oscar was the consultant to ILGA World’s youth programme, in this role he acted as the logistical nexus of the Global Queer Youth Network. Working closely with the ILGA World Youth Steering Committee and a network of LGBTIQ youth advocates, Oscar spearheaded the implementation of diverse online, in-person, and hybrid programming initiatives. In 2022, Oscar acted as the consultant to the hybridisation of the ILGA World Conference. In 2023, Oscar supported the GIESC team as a consultant to the Sex Characteristics Programme.

Prior to his time at ILGA World, Oscar served as an advocacy fellow with the New York Transgender Advocacy Group (NYTAG), where he championed the meaningful participation of transgender, gender nonconforming, and non-binary young people in local, state, and national governance.

In addition to his professional engagements, Oscar holds a Master’s degree in New Media and Digital Culture from the University of Amsterdam, which he attained in 2021. During the course of this study, Oscar implemented a variety of research projects concerning the intersection of digital citizenship and digitally mediated anti-gender violence.

Polyxeni Kallini (she/her) is the Finance Manager at ILGA World.

Born and raised in Greece, she graduated from the Faculty of International and European Studies at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki, and pursued a Masters in Migration Studies at the University of Sussex. Returned to Greece in 2012, she joined the civil society movement, volunteering and then working in a national NGO supporting disadvantaged children, mostly Roma people and victims of trafficking, while she was also trained in the Council of Europe’s Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People, Compass. In 2015, she returned to the UK, where she started working for Peace Brigades International until July 2020, when she joined ILGA World’s team.

She holds a PRINCE2 Certification in Project Management (2019), and speaks Greek, English, Spanish, Italian and French and currently learning German. She lives with her husband in Munich, she loves swimming and running and is a qualified ballet teacher.

Vasilis Balasis (he/him) is the Finance Officer at ILGA World.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Aristotle University in Greece and is completing his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus.

Although he worked in business and sales from a young age, his studies have a major focus on human resources management as well as diversity management and combatting discrimination in organisations, and ILGA World is the place where both of his passions are met: finances and social justice.

Vasilis speaks Greek, English and German, and he’s currently learning Spanish and French.

Karla Avila Becerril (she/her) is ILGA World’s Human Resources Manager.

Karla’s career in HR spans more than 8 years, during which she has worked with diverse groups of employees. She has a deep understanding of the unique challenges faced by LGBTIQ individuals in the workplace and has been actively involved with LGBTIQ employee groups throughout her career. Her dedication has been instrumental in creating a supportive and inclusive workplace culture that values and respects everyone.

In addition to her work in HR, she has been a speaker on forums like Out & Equal and Pride Connection. Her expertise has been acknowledged by different communities, being invited to share her knowledge and help create more diverse, inclusive and equitable environments.

Karla is a licensed psychologist, and her clinical background has given her a unique perspective on the mental health needs of diverse communities. She has provided therapy to LGBTIQ patients in her own psychology practice for the last three years.

Venus Aves (she/her) is a Junior Consultant to ILGA World’s United Nations programme.

She is a transfeminist activist from the Philippines pursuing a Master’s in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action with a concentration in gender studies at Sciences Po. She has been a consultant working with NGOs on transgender health, SOGIESC inclusion, and HIV and AIDS. In her previous roles as Law, policy and research intern at Outright International and Gender program assistant at the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, she engaged UN treaty bodies and special procedures on issues related to gender, criminalisation, and capital punishment. She also worked as a Communications intern at ILGA Asia and led campaigns to help shape narratives on gender and sexual diversity in the region.

She is a member of the UN Human Rights 75 Youth Advisory Group, which developed the Youth Declaration that was presented at a high-level event for the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She is also the Director for strategic communications of PANTAY, a youth-led lobbying movement for LGBTIQ-responsive laws in the Philippines, and a member of the Advisory Council of Balur-Kanlungan, an online wellness community for Filipino LGBTIQ youth that she co-founded.

Venus loves watching films and TV shows, and is constantly trying to improve her French to survive in Paris.

Dmitrii Litvin (he/him) is a junior consultant with ILGA World’s United Nations programme. He currently resides in Padua, Italy where he is getting his Master’s degree in Human Rights. Previously, in Lithuania, he received a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and before that, he studied for one year in the United States as an exchange student.

Before joining ILGA World, he had a chance to intern at various NGOs and human rights organisations where he gained great skills and got acquainted with topics related to SOGIESC. Now, he is writing his Master’s thesis on the topic of anti-LGBTIQ rhetoric in Russia during the war. Interesting fact: before becoming a young human rights advocate, he worked as a figure skating coach.

Daría Poncio is the Junior Consultant on Audio-visual Communication at ILGA World.

Daría is a non-binary person and LGBTI artist and activist from Latin America. She is finishing his degree in Cinema and Audiovisual Arts at the National University of Córdoba (Argentina), and has five years of experience working with civil society organisations through video, graphic design and copywriting. As a video journalist, she has covered stories of social empowerment of youth, women, the LGBTI community and workers’ unions, understanding this as a way to contest the hegemonic narratives and widen representations. She worked as a Communication Manager at Argentina’s National Waste-Pickers Labors Union (FACCyR), has led film and journalism workshops for youth living in the suburbs, and participates emphatically at LGBTI marches and public assemblies.

As an artist, she takes his identity in front to portray and create workpieces that talk about human rights, alternative ways of living, liberation and community. Her artistic work includes short films, poetry books, graphic art, and documentaries.