Meet New Board Member Tamika Butler

BIKING ADVOCATE AND DEI CONSULTANT TAMIKA BUTLER JOINS THE CENTER'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ON A ROLL!

Before launching her own consulting firm specializing in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Tamika Butler served as executive director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to make Los Angeles a healthy, safe, and fun place to ride a bike.

“When I moved to Los Angeles, I was constantly in my car and was no longer the active person I had been in the Bay Area. My doctor said I really needed to take better care of myself,” recalled Butler, who identifies as a Black genderqueer woman. “A friend convinced me to get a bike and do AIDS/ LifeCycle, despite my concerns about being the chubby girl on a bicycle with small wheels.”

After completing the seven-day, 545mile bike trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles benefiting San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV-related services of the Center, Butler swore she would put away her bike and never touch it again.

“But as soon as I finished the ride, I missed it!” she confessed. “Suddenly, I was biking to the store, biking to hang out with friends. AIDS/LifeCycle literally changed my life and my relationship with my city! When I was on my bike, I could see my environment and be close to many different communities.”

A graduate of Stanford Law School, Butler’s first glimpse of the Center occurred when she met a colleague who worked for

the Center’s Legal Services as a counsel for youth experiencing homelessness. “I remember thinking what a place like the Center would have meant to me growing up—seeing other LGBTQ people like me as doctors, lawyers, and managers providing vital services to our community,” Butler said. “Everyone I met at the Center that day was full of warmth, compassion, and optimism. The Center is a fantastic organization doing It was such an amazing feeling—to phenomenal work. What I love about the be seen and valued.” Her affinity with the Center Center is that it's constantly evolving. I’m continued to blossom, and when excited about being a support for the Center asked to join its Board of Directors, she shifted into high gear. through its leadership transition, and I want “I couldn’t say yes fast enough! The Center is a fantastic organizato be a part of continuing to center race, tion doing phenomenal and critical equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work. work. What I love about the Center: it’s constantly evolving,” she said. “I’m excited about being a support for the Center through its leadership transition, and I want to be a part of continuing to center race, equity, diversity, and inclusion in our work.” Tamika and her wife Kelly reside in Los Angeles with their two-year-old son Atei. The family is expecting a newborn baby in March.