OutSPOKEN with Mila Jam – Financial Empowerment April 2 @ 12 -1 EDT
Mila Jamwill sit with finically expert Cecilia Gentili, Principal/Owner at Transgender Equity Consulting,to discuss topics ranging from tax return session, how to prepare to land the job you are interviewing for, and how to be a successful entrepreneur and business leader.
Cecilia Gentili started Transgender Equity Consulting in the beginning of 2019 after serving as the Director of Policy at GMHC , the world’s first and leading provider of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy from 2016 to 2019.
Originally from Argentina, Cecilia came to the United States for a safer life as a transgender woman and lived, in the country undocumented for 10 years. During this time Cecilia gained her living through sex work, which came with drug use – for which she was continually targeted for policing. After multiple arrests and an immigration detention, she accessed recovery services and with more control over her life fought and won asylum.
Her experience surviving this time in her life impassions her desire to ensure that all people living on the margins are provided with access to the dignity and respect deserved in all spaces.
Cecilia’s first role within community services was when she started working as an intern at The LGBT Center in New York City. From 2012 to 2016 she was brought into Apicha Community Health Center to develop the transgender health services into a stand alone program where she managed a team of of 3 Patients Navigators and 6 Health Home Outreach Workers. Cecilia’s involvement was instrumental in expanding the program from 27 patients in 2012 to over 500 in 2016.
Seeing so many clients affected by institutional discrimination and widespread lack of access, Cecilia decided to move from direct services into policy work at GMHC from 2016 to 2019. There she became the Managing Director of Policy and was one of the hardest fighters for the passage of GENDA (Gender Non-Discrimination Act).
Her successes in policy inspired her to found Decrim NY, a coalition working towards the decriminalization, decarceration and destigmatization of people in the sex trade. Cecilia was instrumental in the development of two statewide bills to provide survivors of trafficking with record relief, and to end the criminalization of ‘loitering’ – a charge overwhelmingly leveled against transgender women, regardless of their involvement in the sex trade.
Cecilia started working independently with Trans Equity Consulting in 2019, and has already collaborated extensively with organizations including the AIDS Institute, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Borealis Foundation and Cicatelli Associates Inc. Her reputation amongst these organizations, and many more, is reflective of the deep personal commitment she brings to the work, and her unique insight which enables a deeper connection with queer and trans communities.
The structure of the series will consist of a monthly themed episode featuring Mila Jam in conversation with various individuals across all backgrounds. Each episode will focus on a unique topics relating to transgender life. These hand picked guests will bring their lived expertise and knowledge to share to all. Past guest speakers have included Erica Cobb and Femi Redwood. Raw and unfiltered personal stories will help tear down walls and boundaries in topics that are often not heard. Through this series we hope to achieve inspiration and drive action amongst not just business professionals but human beings to support a better life for all.
This is first ever global series focusing on the inclusion of transgender intersectionality in business and the workplace.