MENTOR DIRECTORY
Access guidance and opportunities for LGBTQ+ adolescents.
Researchers at UCLA found that fewer than one in five LGBTQ+ youths have had a formal mentor. To tackle this damaging lack of positive role models, Love to All Project partners with global leaders to provide guidance and mentorship for queer adolescents. Mentors across all industries work with us to offer advice on topics like professional development, coming out of the closet, and inclusive education.
Current Mentors
Peter Arvai, founder & Executive Chair of Prezi
Peter co-founded and lead Prezi during its first 12 years. Together with over 100M Prezi users, he created the world’s largest library of publicly available presentations, and with many billions of views, this makes Prezi one of the most widely spread brands to have originated from Hungary. In 2015, he became the first publicly gay CEO in Central and Eastern Europe. He’s been named Entrepreneur of the Year by the EU Commission, Alumni of the Year by the Royal Institute of Technology, and ranked 3rd among the world’s most influential LGBT executives by 'Financial Times’.
Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director of The Trevor Project
Amit Paley is the CEO and Executive Director of The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ young people. He was a leading expert on healthcare and non-profit management at the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he was an Associate Partner serving numerous non-profit organizations, Fortune 500 companies and governments. He was also a leader of McKinsey’s LGBTQ group and spearheaded the firm’s global efforts on inclusion for transgender and gender non-conforming people.
Kara Swisher, Founder of Recode & Writer at the New York Times
Kara Swisher is one of the most well-known American technology business journalists. Previously a co-founder of Recode, she currently serves as a contributing writer at The New York Times Opinion Section. She has also written for The Wall Street Journal, serving as co-executive editor of All Things Digital.
Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal
Formerly president of the Tenement Museum, Kevin’s contributions to the LGBT movement began in 1988, when he helped students create the first school-based Gay-Straight Alliance club, leading him to found and lead the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) for 18 years. He then served as an Assistant Secretary of Education for President Obama, after which he led the Arcus Foundation, the world’s largest foundation for LGBT rights organizations, for 5 years.
AL Liou, Activist & Educator at Columbia University
AL Liou is an organizer, activist, and the creator of Upstander, a free iOS app for teachers to practice their in-the-moment responses to microaggressions in schools. They are currently a doctoral student at Columbia University’s Teachers College where they learn from youth activists about what young people want and need from intergenerational solidarity in youth-led praxis.
Casey Cadwallader, Creative Director of Mugler
Casey Cadwallader studied architecture at Cornell University, before an internship at Marc Jacobs became the catalyst for close to two decades of fashion design experience, including positions as the Head of Womenswear at Loewe, Narciso Rodriguez and Acne Studios. He was appointed as the Artistic Director of Mugler fashion in December 2017. Cadwallader has dressed major music artists including Beyoncé, Kris Wu, Lykke Li, Ciara, Cardi B, Christine & The Queens and Dua Lipa for red carpet appearances and world tour costumes.
Imani Rupert-Gordon, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights
Imani Rupert-Gordon is a long-time movement leader and advocate for LGBTQ people of color. Rupert-Gordon served as the Executive Director of Affinity Community Services, the nation’s oldest social justice organization serving the needs of Black LGBTQ people with a particular focus on Black women. She also served as the Director of the Broadway Youth Center, which has served more than 1,500 LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability. The Illinois Human Rights Commission presented her with its 2019 Activism Award.
Mercy Carbonell, Educator at Phillips Exeter Academy
Mercy Carbonell earned her BA in English from Brown University and holds a Masters’ in Education from Stanford University where she specialized in designing writing workshops, studying equity in youth collaboration in public schools in the Bay Area and studied alternative forms of Assessment for Student Writing and Curricular Design. She is a member of the English faculty at Phillips Exeter from 1993-1996 & 2000-present. In recent years, Mercy served on the Board at Seacoast Outright and helped establish Portsmouth Pride. This year, she will be working with local Youth for BLM Seacoast, creating curriculum for decolonizing writing workshop methodology and working with Queer alumni.
The L2A Fellowship provides LGBTQ+ youth with the exclusive opportunity to work one-on-one with our mentors. L2A Fellows develop a project of their choosing under the guidance of an industry leader over this two-month-long program. Finished products are published on various platforms.
Apply to be a L2A Fellow
The L2A Fellowship connects emerging creatives with industry leaders through a customized, collaborative project.
Want to become a L2A Fellow? Pitch us your idea below! We’re looking for creative or academic initiatives that can take any form, including short films, interviews, or podcasts.