Shéár Avory
What makes you powerful?
Resiliency. I'm still here, as Miss MAJOR! would say. After all I've gone through, the fruit of my labor has got to be ripe – and I have the will to want to experience joy beyond the pain of my lived experience. Bold, audacious conviction is what makes me powerful.
What message would you offer for current, former, and future Black and LGBTQ+ young people impacted by the system?
You're your biggest advocate. Speak and be heard!
More about Shéár Avory
Shéár Avory (they/them) is a Black and Indigenous nonbinary trans femme, creative visionary, published researcher, and social justice advocate committed to the advancement of social, economic, racial, gender, disability, and environmental justice with a particular focus on the empowerment of young people.
Since the age of thirteen, Shéár has been a leading voice of youth activism. At the age of twenty-two, they’re a former Policy Associate of the Office of the New York City Public Advocate and the Director of Xchange For Change — a national partnership between Lambda Legal and Baker McKenzie, sponsored by WarnerMedia.
Shéár is also a Community Portrait Research Analyst of the What’s Your Issue? National LGBTQ Youth Survey in fellowship with the Public Science Project of the Graduate Center at the City University of New York and previously served as the 2018 Biden Fellow for LGBTQ Equality at the Biden Foundation.