THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Each year, "Women Who Dared" honors one public figure and one community organizer. These two individuals are chosen for their dedication and commitment to Chicago's women and girls, as well as longstanding leadership in their community. This year's honored recipients include Gaylon Alcaraz, the Executive Director of Chicago Abortion Fund, and State Representative Kelly Cassidy.

This photo is available for download at http://tinyurl.com/gayloncaf

Gaylon B. Alcaraz is an activist, organizer and champion of human rights. As the current Executive Director with the Chicago Abortion Fund, she works within the reproductive rights movement to advocate for low-income women seeking to control their reproductive freedom. Ms. Alcaraz served as a founding board member of Affinity Community Services, a community organization that advocates for the rights of black lesbian and bisexual women in the Chicago area. During her board tenure at Affinity, she assumed increased leadership roles across all areas of the organization's functions; she worked as Vice-President of the board before the end of her final board service. Currently, she serves on the following board of directors: Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health and the Midwest Access Project.

For more than ten years, she has worked on behalf of sexual minority women, and for notable causes such as anti-violence, gender equity, health prevention, reproductive rights, as well as race and culture issues. Gaylon has consistently applied her knowledge in practice towards quality improvement and increased access. Ms. Alcaraz has always challenged frameworks that do not allow for the exploration of diversity across multiple dimensions when working with, and on behalf of diverse constituencies. These passionate beliefs have led her to advocate on behalf of all women, black lesbians and children.

Also a published writer and poet, Gaylon's first book publication, "tales of a woojiehead" was released in 2002. She has been previously published in the Sun Times, Tribune, Defender, Streetwise, and Venus Magazine out of New York.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois she was awarded her BA and MA from DePaul University June 2008 and 2011. She has received awards from Northwest Suburban NOW, Choice USA, Chicago Foundation for Women, and Chicago NOW for her work in the reproductive rights/health and justice field.