Living Queer explores LGBTQ+ lives thriving during turbulent times. Hosted by scholar-advocate Erwin de Leon, this limited series showcases queer individuals from diverse backgrounds who share their stories of resistance, resilience, and reempowerment.

About the Host — Erwin de Leon, PhD

Erwin de Leon, PhD, is a scholar, educator, and advocate whose work bridges academia, organizational leadership, and lived experience. A gay immigrant of color, he brings a deeply personal perspective to issues of equity, justice, and LGBTQ+ empowerment. His career has been defined by a commitment to elevating marginalized voices and strengthening the organizations that serve them.

Currently a lecturer in the Nonprofit Management Program at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies (SPS), Dr. de Leon teaches courses on leadership and management, ethics, and DEI, preparing future civil society leaders to center equity and accountability in their practice. He also served as the SPS’ inaugural Chief Diversity Officer, guiding institutional efforts to embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in its administrative operations and across its academic programs. His research and publications explore nonprofit impact, immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities, and the role of civil society in advancing social justice.

Beyond academia, Dr. de Leon has held senior roles in mission-driven organizations, including think tanks and charitable institutions, where he provided leadership in organizational strategy, research and evaluation, and capacity building. He has written extensively on immigration, civic engagement, and LGBTQ+ issues, and continues to serve as a trusted advisor on strategic approaches centered on equity and justice. His board service includes the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center of New York and the Saamarthya Foundation, reflecting his enduring commitment to advancing community resilience and empowerment.

As host of this podcast, Dr. de Leon combines intellectual rigor with empathy and a storyteller’s sensibility. Through conversations that highlight resistance, resilience, and re-empowerment, he invites listeners to engage with the diverse experiences of LGBTQ+ people navigating these turbulent times — and to imagine together what it means not only to survive, but to thrive.