IGLTA Foundation Announces Transgender Advisory Group
IGLTA Foundation wants to create a more inclusive global travel landscape for transgender travelers and they’re taking the first step by creating the IGLTAF Transgender Advisory Group Members.
While the LGBTQ+ community as a whole has made progress over the past few decades, the transgender community in particular still faces major challenges, particularly in the tourism industry.
Due to a lack of awareness on the subject, the volunteer-driven Transgender Advisory Group will work with the IGLTA Foundation board of directors to develop resources that IGLTA, its members, and the tourism industry at large can use to better welcome transgender travelers.
The IGLTA Foundation is looking for transgender leaders who are interested in serving on this committee to ensure that the initiative not only meets its goals of advancing LGBTQ+ travel globally but also is driven by input from those directly impacted.
The dynamic group includes:
Jacob Anderson-Minshall – Editor-in-Chief, Out Traveler
Jacob Anderson-Minshall is the editor in chief of Out Traveler a leading site for LGBTQ+ travel. He also serves as the production editor for the site’s three sister print publications, Out, The Advocate, and Plus. He has been covering queer travel since he helped found the lesbian publication Girlfriends in the 1990s. He penned the nationally syndicated column, TransNation and hosted the radio show Gender Blender on KBOO. He’s an award-winning author of five books, including the memoir, Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders, co-written with his coconspirator in work, life, and love, Diane Anderson-Minshall.
Renato Braga – Account Manager, Amadeus Brasil
Renato Braga has more than 14 years of experience in travel, leisure, and hospitality. As an Account Manager in Amadeus Brasil for 5 years, he has already worked for Strategic Planning and Reporting and Customer Experience.
MBA in Strategic Business Management at INPG, bachelor’s in civil aviation at Un. Anhembi Morumbi. Fluent in English and, Spanish.
Gabrielle Claiborne – CEO, Transformation Journeys Worldwide
As Co-Founder and CEO of Transformation Journeys Worldwide, an inclusion training and consulting firm with a transgender focus, Gabrielle Claiborne helps cutting-edge organizations position themselves to attract and retain the best talent, foster collaborative working environments, and drive innovation by creating fully trans-inclusive cultures. Some of her clients include Home Depot, Sun Life Financial, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Canada, Comcast, Mercedes Benz, UPS, Kaiser Permanente, Cox Media, Warner Media, and New York City Pride.
Gabrielle has been an out and active transwoman since 2010. She served on the Executive Board of Atlanta Pride for the past 5 years and currently serves as Co-Chair of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s TGNC Inclusion Task Force, as Co-Chair of the Trans Affairs Committee on the City of Atlanta’s LGBTQ Mayoral Advisory Council, as Inclusion Chair and Secretary on the Board of the Out Georgia Business Alliance, as Chair of the OUT Georgia Business Alliance’s TGNC360 Workplace Initiative and as Advisory Board Member of Out Front Theater Group. In 2020, she published her memoir meets self-help book Embrace Your Truth: A Journey of Authenticity. Transformation Journeys Worldwide was honored to be chosen as the Out Georgia Business Alliance 2018 Small Business of the Year and is proud to be an NGLCC certified LGBT Business Enterprise.
Dr. Elijah Nicholas – Author and Advocate
Twelve-time published author, Dr. Elijah Nicholas spent almost half of his life in the US Military, retiring as a Lt Col in 2012. Dr. Elijah lives his core values: Authenticity, Integrity, and Transparency. After retiring from the military and then leading ministers and pastors around the globe, Dr. Elijah found it most befitting to resign his duties as a pastoral leader in 2018 as he began to expand his consciousness and lean towards spirituality while navigating away from religion.
Dr. Elijah holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from The University of Phoenix, a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a Masters of Science in Leadership and Operational Art from Air University, a Masters of Art in Education Training & Leadership (MAET), and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Administration of Justice. Dr. Nicholas attended the 2021 Harvard Divinity School Executive Education program for “Religious Resources for Living Beyond Crises.”
Dr. Elijah Nicholas is the founder of Dr. Elijah Nicholas Ministries, LLC, Dr. Elijah Nicholas, LLC, Meredith Real Estate Holdings, and The Dr. Elijah Nicholas Foundation. He publishes inclusive books, provides keynote speaking, does trans advocacy work, and provides organizational training on gender identity and transgender and nonbinary inclusion. Dr. Elijah is a Spiritual Light Coach, Author, Actor, Advocate, and Motivational Speaker.
Dr. Elijah maintains his love for people by ministering through life experiences while leading individuals to remember their Light within. Dr. Elijah resides in Atlanta, GA with his boxer Duke.”
Alejandra Palma – Commercial Manager – Chile, Condor Travel
Alejandra has become the first transgender woman working in commercial management at a tourism company in Chile. She was trained as a translator from English to Spanish, which brought her to the industry. Eventually, she also trained in tourism and hospitality at Finis Terrae University.
Alejandra is also part of the “diversity team” of Expertia Travel, which seeks to implement the best conditions for LGBTQIA+ community workers, among other minorities.
She is an incipient activist who wants to help the trans community. Currently, she participates weekly in trans group talks and also contributes to parents with trans kids talks. Recently she has decided to join on a sexuality diploma (2022). The training is aimed at fostering critical reflections and facilitating personal development and transversal skills in sexuality for the approach of sexual health counseling, and the development of educational initiatives in sexuality.
Rachel Reese – CEO, Global Butterflies
Rachel originally trained as an Avionics Software Engineer working within the defense sector at British Aerospace, later transferring to a senior position within human resources.
Her interest in employment law led her to study for the Solicitors’ Final Examinations. As a trans woman she was unable to obtain a position within a law firm in the 1990s, so instead joined the University of Law working for 15 years in various senior operational roles leading up to Production Director. Rachel is the founder and CEO of Global Butterflies, a company that is hugely successful in helping businesses to create trans & non-binary inclusive environments. She was Vice-Chair of The Law Society LGBT Lawyers Division Committee representing trans & non-binary solicitors working within the legal profession and is a trans & non-binary ambassador for Aspiring Solicitors.
Rachel also works with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regarding trans & non-binary inclusion. Rachel is a GiveOut.Org Trustee, a charity that funds LGBT+ causes worldwide. She also judges the diversity and inclusion submissions for the People in Law and OutVertising awards each year. She was nominated for the European Diversity Award and Coca-Cola Hero of the Year Award. In 2019, she wrote the acclaimed “Lloyds of London Trans & Non-binary Inclusion Guide” and also co-wrote the “Guide to Gender-Neutral Drafting” with the Government Legal Department.
Diane Rodriguez – Founder, LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Ecuador
Diane Marie Rodríguez Zambrano is a transfeminist activist, a psychologist, a graduate of a master’s degree in Gender and Development at FLACSO, and a master’s degree in Legal and Forensic Psychology at the University of Otavalo. She is the founder of several collectives in her country such as the Silueta X Association in 2010, Plataforma Nacional Nueva Red Trans Ecuador in 2014, and the Ecuadorian Federation of LGBTI Organizations in 2015. She has developed other proposals such as the investigation and closure of conversion therapy clinics and centers through the campaign “Time for Equality” in 2013, The recognition of the Same-same de facto marital union in 2013, the lawsuit against a television channel for incitement of hatred towards LGBTIQ+ people in 2014, the Gender in the ID card for Trans people in 2015, reports of LGBTTI murders and transfemicides in Ecuador from 2013 to date, the creation of the First Psycho Trans Center.
In the corporate field, Rodriguez started working to create the first LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Business in Ecuador in 2015, which was supported for its constitution by the NGLCC of the U.S. At last, in 2018 it was possible to legalize and give legal life to this private corporation taking as name LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Ecuador. As co-founder, she publicly announced the birth of the LGBT Chamber in 2019 which had the presence of the Global direction of the NGLCC of the U.S. As part of its growth the chamber launched the Pride Connection Ecuador initiative in September 2019 which begins a path concerning the first inclusive human resources network in the Andean country. In tourism, as a member of the IGLTA, the Chamber launched in May 2021 the Proud Destinations initiative, whose purpose is to identify friendly places for the LGBTIQ+ tourist population in the country.
Stevie Tran – Founding Partner, Tran Arrowsmith
Stevie Tran is a founding partner at the Phoenix law firm of Tran Arrowsmith. She is a graduate of the Maurice A. Dean College of Law at Hofstra University. For nearly a decade, Stevie has advised businesses, institutions, and organizations in addressing transgender and non-binary inclusion and developing policies on non-discrimination. In addition, Stevie consults and advises organizations on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, engaging companies in re-evaluating and improving the ways they recruit and retain diverse, talented employees and staff.
She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Arizona LGBT Bar Association and on the Advisory Committee for the Arizona Community Foundation’s Kellenberger + Tollefson Center for LGBTQ Philanthropy, which is one of the first-named centers for LGBTQ philanthropy in the United States.
Bella Thanakarn Vongvisitsin – Founder, LGBTIQ+ Tourism Asia
Bella Thanakarn Vongvisitsin, a Thai national, is a transgender rights advocate and tourism development scholar. She is currently a Co-founder and CEO of LGBTIQ+ Tourism Asia, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Candidate at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her passion in research and professional career is to create community participation in planning and development. Reflected by her research and industry experiences, her expertise is directly connected to community-based tourism, tourism policy and planning, destination management and marketing, and organizational development. She also contributes to LGBTIQ+ rights through regional and national platforms, such as founding Transpiration Power, a transgender youth network in Thailand, and serving as President of ILGA Foundation (ILGA Asia). She has committed to integrating her expertise and advocacy by establishing LGBTIQ+ Tourism Asia to develop LGBTIQ+ inclusiveness and friendliness in the hospitality and tourism sectors in Asia.
Click here to join the IGLTA Foundation’s IGLTAF Transgender Advisory Group Members. Email info@igltafoundation.org if you have questions.
