Ally to Queer Youth Award – Awardee:
ANDREA DAMON | Nominee
she/her/hers
Associate Director, TransFamilies of Santa Cruz County | Co-organizer, Queer Youth Task Force (QYTF)
Rainbow Conference | Volunteer, Rainbow Defense Coalition
Andrea is a passionate advocate and leader who creates and holds safe spaces for trans – gender and gender-expansive youth and their families. As Associate Director and Group Facilitator for TransFamilies of Santa Cruz County, Andrea has helped many families understand how to accept, support, and affirm their gender-diverse children. Andrea also co-founded and continues to co-facilitate the Rainbow Kids Circle in Santa Cruz and the bilingual Rainbow Play Group in Watsonville, where kids can socialize with other gender expansive youth and participate in representational activities and story times. Andrea is an integral member of the Rainbow Conference organization team, ensuring the Understanding Gender workshop, an important resource for hundreds of ally attendees, operates smoothly, and stepping in as interim leader of the Rainbow Glitter Kids when last year’s elementary track was in danger of being canceled. A volunteer with the Rainbow Defense Coalition, Andrea has also participated in and led safety brigades for Drag Story time readings and other events supporting LGBTQ+ youth. Andrea is a leading advocate whose humility, grace, generosity, and kindness have been a lasting catalyst for gender expansive safety, visibility, and acceptance.
Ally to Queer Youth Award – Nominees:
CHRISTINA SOUZA | Nominee
they / them / their
Socio-Emotional Counselor, Aptos High School | Member, Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD)
Equity & Inclusion Committee
As a Socio-Emotional Counselor at Aptos High School and Wellness Center Coordinator, Christina has provided individual and group counseling, safety risk assessments, staff development, and school climate and culture campaigns to ensure LGBTQIA2S+ stu – dents, staff, and families across Pajaro Valley feel supported and validated. For several years, Christina was a crucial member of the PVUSD and Aptos High LGBTQ+ Task Forces, advocating for queer students and affirming practices within PVUSD. Now a member of the PVUSD Equity & Inclusion Committee and its LGBTQ+ subcommittee, Christina continues to take action, strategizing to improve school conditions and climates, and, ultimately, making their school district a safer and more welcoming place for queer and trans students. The past five years, Christina has also co-organized annual Harvey Milk Day celebrations at both Aptos High and the school district office, planning the events, organizing singing performances, acting as Aptos High’s liaison during district meetings, and ensuring students had access to the events. Christina is a trusted, empathetic, and persistent ally who fosters and provides safe spaces for queer and trans students, setting an exemplary standard for being a good ally.
CONOR O’BRIEN | Nominee
he/him/his
Advisor, Santa Cruz High School (SCHS) Rainbow Alliance
Conor is the advisor for Santa Cruz High School’s Rainbow Alliance, providing students with a safe space to be themselves and opportunities to engage civically so they can effect change within their community. Under his guidance, students have planned an annual drag show fundraising for The Trevor Project, overseeing student efforts in organizing participants, finding backstage support and student performers, and learning about drag personas. Conor has also seen firsthand how today’s political climate has affected queer and trans youth and made them fear for their future. In response, Conor suggested teachers showcase flags of various nationalities and identities so students would feel safe, included, and represented in the classroom, taking the initiative to collaborate with Safe Schools Project and provide Santa Cruz and Monterey County classrooms with over eight hundred Progress Rainbow flags. In his own words, Conor hopes this symbol of queer visibility and empowerment “helps to alleviate, if any small way, the alienation and fear our students may be experiencing at this time.” Conor is a compassionate, inspiring, and devoted ally whose activism ensures queer youth and students feel seen, safe, supported, and celebrated at school.
DESI SALINAS-HOLZ | Nominee
he / him / his
Vice President, Watsonville High School Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Club | Student Trustee, Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) School Board
Now a senior at Watsonville High School, Desi has been a leading voice for LGBTQIA2S+ activism and social justice since he was young, establishing the first elementary school GSA in Santa Cruz when he was in fifth grade. Desi continued his advocacy through middle and high school, speaking at multiple PVUSD board meetings in support of queer youth and Ethnic Studies curriculum, attending the YES Conference for queer youth and allies in San Francisco, and personally thanking the PVUSD board after the conference for spon- soring student transportation. He eventually earned his position as Student Trustee on the PVUSD school board, representing thousands of students and using his platform to advo- cate for queer, trans, and marginalized communities. Desi also served as GSA President for two years, respectfully stepping down to Vice President this year so a queer-identified student could serve as President, while continuing to help lead meetings, organize events, and conduct outreach initiatives. A mainstay at pride parades and events, Desi never fails to support the queer community, even volunteering to co-emcee last year’s Queer Youth Leadership Awards. Desi is the paragon of dedicated, steadfast allyship, tirelessly advocating for queer youth and working to make his school and local community safer.
ELI DAVIES | Nominee
they / them / their
Advisor, Raíces y Cariño PRISM Club | Co-Founder, Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice |
Core Leadership, Rainbow Defense Coalition
Eli is a dedicated community advocate and social justice activist who models the impor- tance of showing up for the queer community and improving the lives of LGBTQ+ youth. Eli currently serves as an advisor for the Raíces y Cariño PRISM Club, planning and co-lead- ing meetings, actively engaging with youth, and managing PRISM’s social media and communications. They are also an active volunteer and one of four core leaders in the Rainbow Defense Coalition, organizing events, communicating with participants, and training volunteers. Eli is also a co-founder and co-organizer of Pajaro Valley for Ethnic Studies and Justice, a diverse community coalition dedicated to liberatory education and racial justice, founded on restoring ethnic studies curricula to PVUSD. Their involve- ment in PVUSD board meetings, speaking out about equity, injustice, and standing up for students from marginalized communities, has inspired other students to advocate against discrimination and get involved in social justice activism. As an openly queer & non-binary adult, Eli is an important leader and role model for queer and gender diverse youth, imbuing passion, energy, and humor into every group they join, and volunteering countless hours to ensure queer youth are properly represented, affirmed, and supported.
DR. FARIS SABBAH | Nominee
he / him / his
Superintendent, Santa Cruz County Office of Education (COE)
As the Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Education, Dr. Faris Sabbah is a dedicated leader in building an equitable and engaging county for all marginalized groups. Over the years, Dr. Sabbah has ensured the County Office of Education is a leader in supporting LGBTQIA2S+ rights through establishing the COE LGBTQ+ Task Force, establishing sub- committees to include queer and trans youth in school safety plans, raising the Progress Pride flag for Harvey Milk Day at the COE, ensuring his staff receive training on LGBTQIA2S+ issues, providing support and coaching for the first trans Student Trustee on the County Board of Education, and implementing financial reimbursement systems to ensure all students have access to specialized mental health support. Additionally, Dr. Sabbah’s support of and continued presence at events like Queer Prom, The Rainbow Conference, Queer Youth Leadership Awards, and Santa Cruz Pride continues to provide steadfast affirmation and a sense of security to our community. With recent national attacks on pol- icies, funding, and staffing in support of queer and trans students and youth, Dr. Sabbah has remained dedicated to authentic allyship, working to end discrimination, creating safer spaces for the queer community, and standing up for those most vulnerable.
JENNIFER GILL | Nominee
she/her/hers
Teacher, Watsonville Charter School of the Arts (WCSA) | Advisor, Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) Club
As a passionate educator and queer youth ally at Watsonville Charter School of the Arts, Jenn has always made students feel valued, welcomed, and supported, especially if they have a hard time fitting into mainstream environments because of their queer identities or learning differences. Jenn is a talented arts educator and a certified Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Academic Support Teacher, ensuring gifted students follow specialized curricula that meet their learning needs and goals. Jenn was a strong advocate for WCSA’s GSA Club from its inception and, when the former advisor left, she didn’t hesitate to step into the role, reviving and saving the supportive, affirming space for generations of queer youth to come. Jenn has also worked with her GSA students to host an annual reception for the Queer Youth Leadership Awards (QYLA), ensuring all nominees and awardees felt celebrated. In addition to volunteering for QYLA, Jenn also stepped in to assist with the Rainbow Conference when an unexpected setback threatened to discontinue 2025’s Rainbow Glitter Kids track. Jenn improves the lives of those around her and has made a significant difference for LGBTQIA2S+ students at WCSA and within Santa Cruz County.
KELLEE MATSUSHITA-TSENG | Nominee
they / them / their & she / her / hers
Farm and Land Stewardship Manager, Food What?! | Co-founder, Bitter Cotyledons
Kellee is a cultural leader and dreamer whose youth advocacy and land stewardship are rooted in their belief that no singular approach will benefit all queer youth. As Food – What?!’s Farm and Land Stewardship Manager, Kellee designed, built, and continues to sustain the program’s foundational farm, seamlessly incorporating queer youth inclusion and celebration into their farming lessons. She always approaches discrimination with curiosity instead of shame, working to uproot biases that have normalized homophobic sentiments. Kellee practices and emphasizes the importance of pronoun introductions and guides youth to be curious and care for others with different identities. A patient and deep listener, she takes the time to connect with others, paying close attention to the more silent cues of queer youth to ensure they feel safe and comfortable. They are also a participant in local, regional, and international educational delegations and the co-founder and organizer of Bitter Cotyledons, a gardening collective of queer and trans Asian Americans cultivating resilience through ancestral foodways and community. Kellee gracefully combines land stewardship and mentorship, intersecting lessons of community, cultural identity, queerness, and radical possibility to create a place where all can thrive.
VERONICA VASQUEZ GUDIÑO | Nominee
she / her / hers
Student, San Jose State University
A first year at San Jose State University studying Psychology and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Veronica is a queer youth leader and ally who supports and provides a sense of belonging to younger queer, trans, and ally youth. Veronica showed great initiative and leadership at FoodWhat?!, participating in activities and ensuring others felt included. An English learner herself, Veronica noticed another youth in the program who was a monolingual Spanish-speaker and, despite her hearing impairment, Veronica skillfully translated conversations and instructions in real time so her friend could participate in farm activities and social circles. Veronica is also very interested in drag costumes and performance, using her own form of self-expression through make-up and fashion to challenge gender norms. With her boundless creativity and ingenuity, Veronica created a very detailed zombie nurse costume that won her the FoodWhat?! Harvest Festival Contest. Veronica is always interested and eager to participate in queer events like Queer Prom, and often invites other queer, trans, and ally youth to join her. A FoodWhat?! Junior Staff candidate, Veronica is a leader who uplifts queer, trans, and ally youth and helps them feel included and seen.
