Our Coalition Board

PJ Brescia
President

PJ Brescia (they/them) is an Out100 2025 honoree and the founder of BabyGay™, a media platform and 501(c)(3) nonprofit amplifying queer voices through storytelling, advocacy, and togetherness. PJ hosts The BabyGay™ Podcast, which celebrates coming out stories, humanizes the queer experience, highlights queer history, and offers resources for living authentically.

They also serve as President of the LA Queer Coalition, uniting community leaders to uplift and advance LGBTQIA+ rights, and as a Board Member of the NLGJA Los Angeles Chapter, supporting LGBTQIA+ journalists.

On October 11, 2024, PJ led a landmark initiative recognizing National Coming Out Day as an official Los Angeles city holiday, in partnership with The Black Cat and the LA City Council. PJ’s work builds community power, amplifies representation, and advances LGBTQIA+ rights across Los Angeles and beyond.

Renae Johnson
Secretary

Renae Johnson, LPCC, ATR-BC (they/them) is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Board-Certified Art Therapist, and the Founder of Open Space Therapy Collective, a group practice offering affirming, justice-driven mental health care for the LGBTQ+ community. With clinical expertise in complex trauma, identity development, and creative expression, Renae blends therapeutic depth with a commitment to equity and inclusion.

In addition to their clinical work, Renae produces community wellness events like Queerly Connected and is a founding member of the LA Queer Events Coalition, creating spaces where queer and trans people can gather, heal, and celebrate. They also host the podcast My Therapist is Out!, exploring mental health through a queer lens.

As a speaker, consultant, and activist, Renae is passionate about building systems of care that honor the full humanity of queer and trans individuals—and equipping providers with the tools to do the same.

Abdullah “Abby” Hall
Compliance

Abdullah “Abby” Hall (they/them) is a nonbinary singer, actor, producer, and Artistic Director of the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, the premier all trans identified chorus in the United States since 2017. Under Abby’s leadership, TCLA has represented the TGI community nationally, performing for the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and the National Anthem at the 2020 Democratic debates on CNN. The chorus has also collaborated with artists including Wrabel, MUNA, Phoenix Claea Rousiamanis, Jennifer Leitham, Mila Jam, Angelica Ross, Alex Newell, Maggie Szabo, Andy Grammer, G Flip, Justin Tranter, Demi Lovato, and Noah Cyrus. Abby produces TCLA’s Spring and Winter performances in residence at the Lily Tomlin Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center Renberg Theatre.

A twenty year veteran of Business and Legal Affairs at Paramount Pictures, Abby is currently CEO of The Hollywood Disruptor and a producer with Picture Lock Entertainment. They studied voice with Anne Marie Ketchum and trained at the Sanford Meisner Institute, Howard Fine Acting Studio, Lesly Kahn, LA Film School, and the Groundlings. Abby is proud to be part of TCLA’s mission of shifting the trans narrative from victim to victorious. Abby is so proud to be a part of TCLA changing the Trans-narrative from victim to VICTORIOUS. 

Hannah Perez
marketing

Hannah (she her) is a queer creative leader and community builder guided by a deep care for people and the spaces they move through. She believes community is essential, not optional, and that healing and belonging grow when people feel safe to show up fully as themselves.

Her work focuses on creating community centered spaces rooted in inclusivity, empathy, and real human connection. Hannah believes movement and wellness should feel accessible rather than exclusive, and that the most meaningful spaces are built with intention and heart. Across everything she does, her aim is simple and consistent: to help people feel valued.

As a member of the LA Queer Coalition, Hannah supports queer and trans communities through collaboration, creativity, and shared care. She brings a bold, visionary approach to community building, one that prioritizes people over performance and sees lasting change as something created through presence, listening, and compassion.

At her core, Hannah leads with care. When people know someone truly cares, they feel braver, more connected, and more capable of creating change together.

KAITLYN PIETRAS
visual communications & social media

Kaitlyn Pietras (she/her) is a queer LA based visual artist and grief worker whose practice lives at the intersection of ritual, grief, and art. Her work has appeared on stages and in unexpected spaces across the United States and abroad, from the Metropolitan Opera to a parking garage in Detroit. This embodied sense of design and atmosphere allows her to craft experiences that are deeply felt emotionally, spiritually, and somatically. 

Through her project (a)Wake, she  creates meaningful spaces and ritual for those navigating life’s most profound transitions. Kaitlyn is passionate about tending to personal and communal grief, connecting with her ancestors, and serving the LGBTQIA+ community. Her writings on grief are an extension of her practice, exploring how art and ritual can shape communal healing.

Alyssa Marquez
talent management

Alyssa Marquez is a queer performer, educator, and producer based in Los Angeles, and the founder of Empowerment in Heels, a movement-based practice rooted in burlesque, confidence-building, and embodied self-trust. Through classes, workshops, live performances, and community events, Alyssa creates accessible spaces where people of all genders can explore movement, sensuality, and self-expression without shame or perfectionism.

In addition to teaching, Empowerment in Heels produces showcases, performances, and fundraising events that center queer artists and redistribute resources back into the community. With over eight years of experience and more than 15,000 students taught, Alyssa’s work prioritizes agency, pleasure, and collective care over hierarchy or spectacle. As a producer and organizer, Alyssa is deeply invested in strengthening local queer arts ecosystems, building chosen family, and creating sustainable platforms where queer creatives can be seen, supported, and celebrated.

Stephen Berg
Vendor & Volunteer Management

Stephen is an event producer, coordinator, and connector for LAQC, blending a Seattle-rooted sensibility with ten years of NYC experience across nightlife, real estate, event production, and LGBTQ+ community activism. He loves the full arc of event creation—from big-picture concepts to bringing people together through LAQEC’s quarterly Town Halls—and is driven by building meaningful, lasting community connections.

PONY GOLD
AV & TECH MANAGEMENT

Pony Gold is an LA based filmmaker, community activist, and I.A.T.S.E. Local 600 Union member working in the camera department in film and television.

Since moving to Los Angeles, building and serving their community has been a priority. They first started their affiliation with DTLA PROUD in July 2020 when they were brought onto the documentary film, “Proud In The Pandemic” as Director of Photography.

Pony is also involved in activist group, Los Angeles Queer Coalition with the mission to provide current information and resources to the queer community. 

Amidst all of the changes and challenges in the world, they find it helpful to combat the feeling of helplessness by serving those around them, knowing that one person CAN actually make a difference.