The Board is made up of 10 trans activists and donors from across the globe with diverse expertise who provide leadership and direction on ITF’s strategy and governance.
Chaber
Chaber is an LGBTI activist working in Poland. They have been engaged in the movement since 2008 and worked with many national and international organizations. Currently they are the Executive Director of Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH – a national LGBTI advocacy and awareness raising organization), the Chairperson of the Executive Board of Trans-Fuzja Foundation and a Board Member of ILGA-Europe. They are experienced in management and financial management, development of systemic internal solutions, facilitation of long-term processes, organizational change and development, and fundraising. Earlier in their career they worked in non-formal education with youth, especially empowerment and capacity building.
Rebecca Fox
Rebecca is the Senior Program Officer in the SOGI department at Wellspring Advisors. In this position, she coordinates grantmaking on a variety of issues related to increasing the rights of and improving the lived experiences of LGBTI people. She also serves as the board chair of Funders for LGBTQ Issues. She has also served on the boards of Choice USA, Generations Ahead, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She is based in New York City.
Alex Rodrigo Castillo Hernández (Treasurer)
Alex is a transsexual man born in Guatemala City. Alex founded Trans-Formation, the first collective of trans men in Central America and works to strengthen the trans leadership in the region. He is also president of REDCADHT+ Network, the American collectives of Trans Men and gender dissident individuals assigned female at birth, which created a movement throughout the Central American and Caribbean region and has recently expanded to Peru, Mexico and Uruguay. In addition to his human rights work, Alex is an administrator, husband, father and grandfather.
Natasha Jiménez
Natasha is a Costa Rican trans/intersex activist for more than 30 years. She began her work in the area of information and prevention of HIV / AIDS and other STIs, including care of terminally ill people in different State hospitals. She declares herself a feminist and has participated in different feminist and women’s movement initiatives. She has been involved in some publications, such as: “What is the meaning of the revolution if we can’t dance” by Jane Barry and Jelena Dordevic, “Interdictions” by Mauro Cabral, or “INTER / Human Intersex Experience in a world of two sexes” by Elisa Barth , Ben Bӧttger, Dan Chistian Ghattas and Ina Shneider. She has been engaged in different spaces of the OAS (Organization of American States), where she has a Consultative Status, as well as in the UN (Organization of the United Nations), doing political advocacy work and denouncing violations of rights against trans and intersex populations in Latin America and other regions. She is a Consultant in trans and intersex issues and General Coordinator at Mulabi / Latin American Sexualities and Rights Area, which is based in Costa Rica, but develops projects and initiatives in the region.
Barbra Wangare Leone
Barbra is a queer African feminist, social justice worker and activist from Kenya. She is the Executive Director of EATHAN – East Africa Trans Health & Advocacy Network; a network of intersex, trans* and gender non-conforming (ITGNC) individuals and organizations in East Africa. She has over 8 years of experience working on and with intersex, trans* and gender non-conforming individuals and organizations across the African continent and has been instrumental in the growth of the movement. She also does consultancy on gender, sex, sexuality, identity and expression as well as organization management and development and has helped several organizations in Africa improve their work as well as their knowledge on such issues. Her passion towards improving the livelihoods of all ITGNC persons in the region is what drives her.
Alejandra Collette Spinetti Núñez (Co-Chair)
Collette started her struggle for the rights of trans people in Uruguay and founded the Trans Union of Uruguay (UTRU) in 2012 of which she was President. She has represented the country in several international conferences and in MERCOSUR. She has also collaborated with Women and Health in Uruguay (MYSU) in work with trans people and is a member of the group “Action for the depathologization of trans identities.” She organizes workshops on sexual diversity and gender and violence and organized the first National Congress of Trans Persons in Uruguay. She participated in the short film “dresses in the classroom” which was shown at LGTBQI film festival Call it H. She is a lecturer at the Center for Teacher Education (CERP) and a member of the Executive Branch of the National Council of Sexual Diversity. She is also a Professor of Literature and Professor of Folk Dances.
Zhan Chiam
Zhan is Transgender Europe’s Deputy Director. He has held legal, policy, and advocacy roles in NGOs, the Australian government and private legal practice, including Asylum Access Thailand, INTERIGHTS, UNHCR Pakistan and ILGA World. In 2015, he created ILGA’s Gender Identity and Expression Programme and led the Trans Legal Mapping Report from 2017-2019. Zhan is currently on the board of the International Trans Fund and the advisory committee of Canada’s ACTIF Fund. Born in Singapore, he left to pursue a career in human rights and has lived and worked in 8 countries. He holds a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney.
Sara R Phillips (Co-Chair)
Sara is a trans and intersex activist working in Ireland. Sara has been involved with trans activism for over 25 years. She is currently in her third 3 year term as Chair of the board of directors of Ireland‘s national trans organisation, Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). As a founding member, she is currently Chair of Intersex Ireland. Sara has represented the trans community on governmental review bodies and at international conferences. She has been an activist across many intersectional campaigns over the past 40 years. Sara is a qualified Chartered Accountant and currently the National Manager in Ireland for multinational construction materials manufacturer RPM-CPG. Sara has extensive experience in international business and finance, in both the construction and entertainment industries.
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