Joelle Bayaa-Uzuri Espeut (she/her/hers) currently serves as Advocacy Director for The Normal Anomaly Initiative, Inc, and has worked with NASTAD, Yale, AIDS United, GLAAD, Gilead/Compass Initiative, Transgender Law Center, SUSTAIN, and CDC, and has appeared in Houston Chronicle, Time Magazine, Pink News, and Fox26 Houston’s “Isiah Factor Uncensored”. She currently serves on the Yale CIRA community advisory board. In 2023, she became a graduate of the American Express Leadership Academy, as well as a graduate of the Victory Empowerment Fellowship program of the LGBT Victory Fund. She has been awarded the ‘Carrying The Torch’ Award at 2022’s Houston Trans Pride and the 2022 Monica Roberts Award from The Houston LGBTQ Political Caucus. She currently serves on the Board for allgoPOC. In 2024, she became the first Black Trans Woman to be voted female-identifying Grand Marshal for Pride Houston. In January 2026, she was voted onto the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus board as Vice President.