Announcing our Professionals for Trans Rights 2023 Honorees!
Alejandra Caraballo
Trans Activist Award
Alejandra Caraballo (she/her) is a Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic where she focuses on the intersection of gender and technology. Prior to joining the clinic, Alejandra was a staff attorney at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and a Staff Attorney at the LGBTQ Law Project at New York Legal Assistance Group. In her spare time, she can be found playing guitar, building computers, creating electronic music, and brewing beer.
Ashton Mota
Trans Excellence Award
Ashton Mota (he/him/el) is a proud Black, Dominican-American student and transgender advocate from Lowell, MA. He is a bright, comical, compassionate eighteen-year-old who believes that spending time with family and friends brings out the very best in himself. Ashton’s advocacy began in 2018 at the age of 14, when he became one of the faces of the “Yes on 3” campaign to uphold gender identity protections in MA. In 2021, he partnered with The GenderCool Project to co-write A Kids Book About Being Inclusive to help educate others and share his story. He now travels the country giving speeches and advocating for trans young people. Ashton’s work with the GenderCool Project that resulted in the opportunity to introduce President Biden in June 2021 at a Pride Month ceremony at the White House.
Kimm Topping
In Service Award
Kimm Topping (they/them) values LGBTQ+ youth leadership, joy, and education. They’ve worked with grassroots organizations in Boston for over 10 years, including The Network / La Red, Trans Resistance, Building Audacity, and currently as the Safe Schools Program for LGBTQ Students Manager with the MA Commission on LGBTQ Youth and DESE. Kimm is the author of Generation Queer, the first collection of illustrated biographies about queer and trans youth activists forthcoming in 2023 from Tu Books / Lee & Low Books.
