OutRight is pleased to announce a new addition to its Board of Directors - Rikki Nathanson! Rikki is a fierce activist for the rights of trans and gender diverse persons, globally, and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to OutRight's board.

Rikki is a pioneering activist for the rights of trans people across Africa. In September 2015, she formed Trans* Research, Education, Advocacy & Training [TREAT], which seeks to address the civil rights issues of the trans and gender diverse population of Zimbabwe in the areas of health, justice and the socio-economy. In 2016, she was instrumental in the formation of the Southern Africa Trans Forum, as well as being a member of the Africa Key Populations Expert Group to the UNDP, and the Every Woman Everywhere Coalition.

Rikki has shocking first-hand experience of the violence and mistreatment trans people can be faced with on a day-to-day basis. She was unlawfully arrested for using a public female restroom at a hotel in her home city of Bulawayo in 2014. After being acquitted, she challenged the State of Zimbabwe for the arrest with a civil suit. This simple act of standing up for her right to use the bathroom which corresponds to her gender identity resulted in posing a real danger to her life, and saw her having to flee her home country of Zimbabwe to resettle in Rockville, Maryland in the United States of America.

Despite having had to move across the world, Rikki's activism hasn't been halted. In Maryland, she is part of the management team at Casa Ruby. Casa Ruby is led by transgender women of color, and is the only bilingual and multicultural LGBTQ organization in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, providing social services and programs catering to the most vulnerable LGBTIQ people in the city and surrounding areas.

Rikki joins the board of directors, where she will support OutRight staff in fulfilling the mission to secure human rights for LGBTIQ people everywhere. OutRight board members are a diverse group from the private and non-profit sectors, philanthropy, academia and the arts. Their professional talents combined with a passion for human rights allow them to raise awareness for OutRight’s programmatic work. Their volunteer service is essential to the organization.

Executive Assistant Em Rubey spoke with Rikki to learn more about her advocacy for LGBTIQ people and her work with OutRight. Read the interview with OutRight