Staff

Rosa Yadira Ortiz serves as the community educator located in the Midwest Regional Office of Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people with HIV. Rosa has nearly ten years of experience working in both nonprofit organizations and higher education with the aim to create and support spaces that affirm and celebrate the multiple identities of the LGBTQ community, particularly that of young people, people of color, and immigrant communities.

Prior to Lambda Legal, Rosa worked as the Assistant Director in the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) at the University of Chicago. In this role, Rosa oversaw the diversity programming of the office, developed the Emerging Minds Project to create an intentional space for social justice dialogue amongst students, chaired The University’s campus MLK Commemoration Celebration while also managing the budget, soliciting donations, overseeing the design and marketing efforts, as well as securing national speakers to serve as the keynote. In her role at OMSA, Rosa has worked to build bridges amongst the LBGTQ and student of color community through conducting LGBTQ 101 trainings, facilitating and hosting intersectional programs, and helping to support the creating and sustainability of the Office of LGBTQ Student Life. Rosa has also worked with the McNair Scholars Program as the Graduate Assistant at DePaul University and at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies Metropolitan Chicago Initiatives as a primary research assistant on the North American Transnational Communities Project funded by Rockefeller Foundation.

Rosa has been active leader in the LGBTQ community in Chicago most notably with Amigas Latinas, where she has served on the board since 2007 and is presently the Board President. Rosa has been involved with Chicago Dyke March as a core organizer and fiscal manager for over five years and was an active participant in the decision to move Dyke March throughout various parts of Chicago and towards a citywide movement of queer and dyke visibility. In 2003, Rosa was named by Windy City Times as a 30 under 30 honoree and in 2008 was a finalist for the Founders' Award for Young Women Advocates from Chicago Foundation for Women.

In 2007, Rosa received her Master’s in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University with an emphasis on race, gender and sexuality. While at San Francisco State, she served as the research assistant for Dr. Amy Sueyoshi, was a teaching assistant in Raza Studies and Human Sexuality Studies, and volunteered with San Francisco Women Against Rape [SF WAR]. Rosa completed her Bachelor’s degree in Latin American and Latina/o Studies with a double major in Spanish from DePaul University.