InReach (fka AsylumConnect)

Co-Founder & Executive Director (July 2014 - Present)

I co-founded and serve as the inaugural executive director for InReach, a 501(c)(3) tech nonprofit increasing resource access for the diverse LGBTQ+ community. I have led InReach (formerly known as AsylumConnect) for over 9 years in establishing the world’s first open source platform matching LGBTQ+ people facing persecution or discrimination with safe, verified resources. InReach is available on web (desktop and mobile), and native iOS and Android. InReach currently lists verified resources in all 50 U.S. states, D.C. and U.S. territories, Canada and Mexico.

InReach’s free, open source technology instantly matches LGBTQ+ people in need with affirming, independently verified medical and mental health care, immigration and other legal help, safe housing, meal assistance, education and employment, translation, community and spiritual support, and more critical services. Today, InReach lists verified services for the diverse, intersectional LGBTQ+ community, including asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants, BIPOC communities, transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) folks, youth and caregivers, and more LGBTQ+ communities in need.

For my work on InReach, I was named to the Clinton Foundation’s 2017 CGI U Alumni Honor Roll of social innovators, a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow, a 2020 Forbes 30 under 30 honoree in Law & Policy, a Gold Winner in the 2021 Passion Fund by Linktree x Square, and the Data for Justice Prize recipient at the World Justice Challenge 2022 at the World Justice Forum in The Hague, Netherlands.

InReach’s vision is for every LGBTQ+ person to have on-demand access to the safe, affirming resources they need to thrive.

Featured Awards Won for InReach (fka AsylumConnect)

• 2023 Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies

• 2022 Winner (Data For Justice), World Justice Challenge 2022 at the World Justice Forum in The Hague, Netherlands

• 2021 Passion Fund by Linktree x Square (Gold Winner)

• 2020 Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards (Finalist in Apps category)

• 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 (Law & Policy list)

• 2019 Foursquare For Good Challenge

• 2019 Urban Justice Center Social Justice Accelerator

• 2019 Roddenberry Foundation’s Roddenberry Fellowship

• Fall 2018 Unfunded List (top proposals from organizations with less than a $5M annual operating budget which deserve more funding)

• Named to Clinton Foundation's inaugural 2017 Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) Alumni Honor Roll of social innovators

• Finalist for 2017 Harvard Social Enterprise Conference (SECON) Pitch Competition

• Commitment to Action featured at the 2016 Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting at University of California, Berkeley

• Winning Team of the 2015 Business Today Impact Challenge at the BT International Conference

• Winner of the 2015 Millennium Peace Prize at the 7th Annual Millennium Campus Conference (MCC15) at the United Nations

• Fellow for the 2015 Penn Social Impact House (22 Penn and Columbia student and alumni leaders in social impact)

• Winner of the 2015 Global Hesselbein Student Leadership Award (1 of 50 global student recipients)

UPchieve 

Co-Founder & Governing Board Member (July 2016 - May 2021); Advisor (May 2021 - Present)

In July 2016, I helped to co-found a second tech nonprofit, UPchieve. UPchieve is an ed-tech nonprofit organization connecting low-income high school students in the U.S. to free, online tutors and college counselors, 24/7. I currently serve on the UPchieve Advisory Council. Previously, I served on the organization’s governing board of directors.