This week, NCLR announced our new Senior Youth Policy Counsel (he/she/they and prefix Mx.) and we could not be more excited that the person filling this role is our own Danielle (Danny) King!
Since our founding 45 years ago, NCLR has been at the forefront of protecting and advocating on behalf of LGBTQ youth, a value we cemented with the historic and groundbreaking creation of our Youth project in 1993. Danny’s new role with NCLR will continue this legacy of supporting the most vulnerable individuals in our community.
Danny is no stranger to the NCLR family, however. They started at NCLR as a Gender Justice Attorney in 2021 and when asked why they choose to work with us, they said:
“NCLR’s long history of significantly advancing LGBTQ Rights and stellar reputation in the LGBTQ Community. I feel privileged to be a part of such an amazingly impactful organization.”
– Danielle (Danny) King, NCLR Senior Youth Policy Counsel
And we feel privileged for Danny to be working with us! As they step into their new role, they plan to engage in policy advocacy that addresses the root causes of why LGBTQ youth – particularly youth of color – are overrepresented in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Danny says that by empowering youth in this way, the racist and classist structures that lead to lifelong disparate outcomes for LGBTQ BIPOC folks can be identified and combatted. Intersectionality, Danny says, is a necessary component of this work.
In fact, Danny knows these systems on a personal level. Their own former foster youth experience led to their passion and drive to want to make significant policy changes to the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Danny wants to abolish these systems and instead find ways to “better support families and children to live their best lives.”
Danny King obtained their J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, their M.A. in urban affairs (with a focus on public policy and racial & ethnic issues in urban environments) from CUNY-Queens College, and B.A. in English from Michigan State University.
We are excited about what is in store for Danny’s future at NCLR. To find out more about NCLR’s historic and impactful work supporting LGBTQ youth, visit the Youth page on our website.