Transgender Law Center (TLC) and Mijente celebrate the leadership of Isa Noyola as she announces today her transition from her role as Deputy Director at TLC to a new role as Deputy Director at the national digital and grassroots hub for Latinx and Chicanx organizing, Mijente and Mijente Support Committee.
“Isa is a phenomenal leader, organizer, and visionary who has significantly shaped the organization TLC is today, and transformed our movements for transgender and immigrant justice,” said Kris Hayashi, executive director of Transgender Law Center. “She is driven by a fierce and unwavering commitment to our communities and belief in the power of transgender women of color to create a future in which we are all free. Her work has always transcended any one organization or cause, and we are certain that even as she transitions into her new role at Mijente, she will remain an integral part of TLC and the fight for trans liberation.”
Over the last decade as a prominent translatina activist and spanning roles at TLC, El/La Para Translatinas, and Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, Isa has challenged LGBT and immigrant movements to center the leadership of transgender immigrants. From early campaigns to release individual transgender women experiencing abuse by ICE to the launch of #endtransdetention, she has advanced a vision for global trans advocacy based in the multi-layered experiences of trans immigrants. Most recently, following the death of Roxsana Hernandez in ICE detention, Isa helped launch the work to bring justice for Roxsana and to hold all responsible for her murder accountable. She has been at the forefront of trans women of color leadership in our broader movement and brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge rooted in community, direct services, policy advocacy, philanthropy, leadership development, and legal strategy. She continues to inspire and serve as a mentor to many projects and emerging leaders in our movement.
“My commitment to our collective liberation continues to unfold and take new steps in my new role at Mijente,” said Isa Noyola. “As a translatina leader in our movement I am humbled by all of the love and support that has surrounded me over the years by movement leaders and colleagues who have inspired me and challenged me to grow and stay grounded. I am also so proud and honored to be a part of the incredible legacy that TLC has in our movement and all the advances we’ve made for transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) rights and protections. Over the past five years I have cherished the relationships and lessons from TGNC leaders who have held me accountable and who have demonstrated so much passion, courage and generosity. I know my time as deputy director at TLC is ending, but I stay committed to fighting for trans justice. I will continue to build off the work that we started in seeking #JusticeForRoxsana and addressing the injustices TGNC migrants face around the globe. I am forever connected and proud to be a part of the TLC family of leaders who have given me so much and work tirelessly to ensure our survival and our well-being.”
“Isa has been an integral part of imagining Mijente and building the organization from before its conception as a member and as a movement partner, and we are excited that she will be joining the team,” explained co-founder and Executive Director Marisa Franco. “We know her organizing experience, expertise in building movement organizations, and her dedication will clearly be an asset to allowing Mijente to continue to build a national Latinx movement for all of us.” Noyola will be serving as Deputy Director of both Mijente, the 501(c)(4) political organization, and Mijente Support Committee, the 501(c)(3) arm of the work.
In her time at TLC, she oversaw the establishment of TLC’s national organizing team, convened over 100 trans leaders from across the country for a first-of-its-kind gathering to address violence against trans women of color, and played an instrumental role in the launch of several projects to serve the emerging needs of community in a period of intense attack. Isa was able to help strengthen the relationship between TLC’s legal department and on-the-ground leaders, and worked closely with the executive director to grow the organization’s staff and infrastructure, including opening offices in Atlanta and New York. Through programmatic strategies and philanthropic advocacy, she took leadership in addressing how safety and security are defined and resourced by community as transgender people have continued to face a crisis of attacks by this administration, state violence, and violent murders.
Isa will continue to serve as a strategic consultant to TLC in the campaign to bring justice for Roxsana Hernandez. TLC will hold a reception to celebrate Isa the evening of Saturday, January 26th at Creating Change in Detroit.
In lieu of opening a position for a new deputy director, TLC is adding a new position to the organization’s leadership team, a Director of People and Organizational Culture. In close partnership with staff, this position will help lead TLC in building out the strategy, infrastructure, culture and systems to accommodate recent and anticipated expansion and TLC’s continued commitment to racial equity and centering strategies to address anti-blackness. Applications are open for that position here: https://tlcenter.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=7.
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Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest national trans-led organization advocating for a world in which all people are free to define themselves and their futures. Grounded in legal expertise and committed to racial justice, TLC employs a variety of community-driven strategies to keep transgender and gender nonconforming people alive, thriving, and fighting for liberation. transgenderlawcenter.org
Mijente is a political, digital, and grassroots hub for Latinx and Chicanx organizing and movement building. Launched in 2015, Mijente seeks to strengthen and increase the participation of Latinx people in the broader movements for racial, economic, climate and gender justice. Mijente Support Committee is the 501c3 arm of our work, Mijente is our 501c4. Follow at @conmijente and @mijentecomite