Joy Chia

Joy L. Chia is the Executive Director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a public foundation rooted in LGBTQI communities and movements working globally to advance the rights of LGBTQI people and communities. Astraea endeavors to mobilize and distribute resources so as to reach the activists and communities who need them most and who are best positioned to make transformational impact over time.

Joy comes to Astraea from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), where she was the Team Manager with the Women’s Rights Program and led its work on “Power of the Collective” which supports feminist activism, community mobilization and advocacy to be more independent, resilient, vibrant, and inclusive. From 2012-2018, Joy was the OSF East Asia program officer and led the program’s grant-making portfolios on equality and human rights in China. She has also held fellowships and taught international human rights law and practice at institutions, such as the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong and at Fordham Law School. Joy is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University School of Law.

Amanda Harnisher

Amanda is a Queens native and recent graduate of Queens College, majoring in Environmental Studies.  She’s joining Astraea with several years of Human Resources experience and a passion for giving a voice to those who have to shout to be heard.  Amanda advocates for the protection of animals and the environment whenever and wherever possible.  In her spare time you’ll find Amanda reading non-fiction and murder mysteries, watching documentaries, and writing essays about her travel adventures.  

Sopio (Poppy) Pruidze

Poppy is a queer feminist activist born in Tbilisi, Georgia. They majored in film and worked as a scriptwriter at the Georgian Public Broadcaster for little over 8 years. Their activism started with an Independent Group of Feminists, an autonomous group of activists in Tbilisi, and continued with the Georgian Public Broadcaster as a Chair of the Labor Rights Committee. After moving to the U.S., Poppy continued their activism through their work with The Public Outreach Fundraising and the Foundation for a Just Society which led them to work with Astraea. Other than their work and activism, Poppy enjoys playing musical instruments, watching anime, playing video games and snuggling with their cats.

Rebecca Fox

Rebecca Fox is Astraea’s VP, Programs and has been a long-time supporter of Astraea and grassroots, feminist LBTQI movements. In her previous role, Rebecca was the Senior Program Officer on the SOGIE team at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. In that position, she coordinated grantmaking on a variety of issues related to increasing the rights of and improving the lived experiences of LGBTI people. Formerly, she was Executive Director of the National Coalition for LGBT Health and an adjunct professor of human sexuality at George Washington University. Rebecca currently serves on the Steering Committee on the International Trans Fund and was previously board chair at Funders for LGBTQ Issues. Rebecca’s other board membership experiences include those of Choice USA, Generations Ahead, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her partner, Meghan, and her not quite feral cat, Birdie Noodle. She is a women’s record holder for powerlifting in New York State.

Elisabeth McCarren

Elisabeth is a human rights advocate with a passion for gender justice, community-led development and LGBTQ+ equality. She joins Astraea after completing a Bachelor’s degree from American University’s School of International Service with concentrations in Justice, Ethics and Human Rights and Global Inequality and International Development.

Kayla McMillen

Kayla McMillen is a Brooklyn-based communications professional, photographer, and social media manager. They believe that intentional storytelling can push us forward toward collective liberation. Previously Kayla has worked for NGO CSW/NY managing their social media leading up to their forum for global feminists and women’s rights organizations who advocate for their inclusion in the UN. She is passionate about LGBTQI+ human rights, food justice, food sovereignty, and local coffee shops. Kayla is a graduate of The New School for Social Research where she received her B.A. in Culture and Media.

Senda Ben Jebara

Senda Ben Jebara is a queer feminist from Tunisia, currently based in Montreal,QC, Canada. She has been involved in political organizing and in feminist and queer movements for the past 10 years. She sat on the board of ‘Chouf’ and ‘Mawjoudin’, two LGBTQI+ organizations based in Tunisia, and co-organized The International Feminist Art Festival – Chouftouhonna and the Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival. Senda is a firm believer in intersectionality and has been involved in several projects across the Middle East and North Africa focusing on LGBTQI+ rights as well as migrant and refugee rights. She worked with FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund where she focused on online learning and in supporting young feminist organizing in South West Asia and the North Africa region and consulted with Article19 on LGBTQI+ research projects. She is passionate about cooking and discovering new cuisines.

Deidra McBean

Deidra joins Astraea with over 15 years of financial management, budgeting, and forecasting in the healthcare and nonprofit industries, with a strong focus on health and financial literacy within low-income communities. Prior to Astraea, Deidra worked as a Project Financial Services Associate with MDRC, providing financial oversight and management of at least 20 federal and foundation grants awarded to K-12 and Postsecondary Education work, totaling about $20 million. Also, Deidra worked at Montefiore Medical Center’s OBGYN Department maintaining an operating budget portfolio of over $200 million, while working with medical doctors on monitoring financial performance in billing, revenue and expenses.

Deidra has a BA in Economics from SUNY Buffalo and a MBA in Finance from Northeastern University. In her spare time, Deidra loves traveling, reading, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Hua Boonyapisomparn

Nachale Boonyapisomparn or Hua is a transwoman activist who has experience working as a project coordinator and project assistant on different research and advocacy projects. She has worked with organizations and groups of all sizes – from local non-profit organizations to international organizations and networks. Her experience in founding successful support and advocacy groups and lasting networks are her career achievements that prove her passion and commitment to supporting the health and human rights of transgender and LGB people locally and globally. This includes being the first transgender program supervisor of Sisters, the leading transgender organization in Thailand, being a founding member of the Foundation of Transgender Alliance for Human Rights (TGA), and being the first coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Transgender Network (APTN).

Besides these achievements, she has continued working on the project and the program for trans and gender non-binary individuals. For instance, she helped coordinate the development of the Asia Pacific Transgender Health Blueprint in 2014 and 2015. She also worked as the Transgender and Gender Non-binary Health Advisor at Apicha Community Health Center in New York City where she oversaw the trans health services for trans and gender non-binary patients from July 2019 to September 2020. From 2020 to 2022, she worked part-time as the Project Manager for the Intersex and Trans Movement Building Project at Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Currently, she serves as the Partnerships Manager, supporting with implementing bilateral partnerships, including reporting, compliance, and programmatic elements. 

Britt Jenkins

Britt is a queer feminist, born and raised in the American South, with over 10 years of experience working to advance human rights.  Britt is committed to supporting a feminist philanthropic model that strives to shift power back to communities and their expertise. After receiving her Master of Public Policy from Duke University, Britt joined Global Fund for Women as the Economic Justice Program Officer, where she managed the portfolio’s grantmaking and supported the organization in developing a climate justice strategy.
Life and work have led Britt to living for extended periods in South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Washington, DC, the Republic of Kazakhstan, and now New York City–which feels like a wonderful combination of all of the above. When she’s not working, you can find Britt enjoying a Broadway show, scoring big in pub trivia, or attempting to surf at Rockaway Beach (attempt being the operative word).