Erika Castellanos

Erika’s background is in sex work issues and HIV activism. In the early 90s, Erika was a volunteer in an HIV hospice in Southern Mexico; at a time with limited treatment, her role as a caretaker involved providing comfort and dignified death for the clients. Diagnosed in 1995, she became more active in the HIV response and joined the demand for treatment and eradication of stigma and discrimination which was rampant in healthcare settings. In 2010, she founded the first network of people living with HIV in Belize and co-founded the Belize national trans organization. Since then, Erika has contributed to and been active on regional networks: REDCA+, REDLA+, CRN+, and REDLACTRANS and became the vice chair of GNP+ in 2015. In 2015 she also joined the UNAIDS PCB as the LAC delegate and, in 2017, became the first openly trans person to be elected as a member of the Board of the Global Fund as a board member for the Communities Delegation. At GATE she works on trans, gender-diverse, and intersex (TGDI) issues with a dynamic team on the 3 programmatic pillars of GATE: Health, Human Rights, and Movement Building. GATE works closely with regional and national TGDI organizations on issues of social justice, inequalities, decriminalization, depathologization, and access to health care among other pressing issues that the TGDI communities face globally. As the Executive Director, Erika oversees all areas of GATE’s work and works closely with the Director of Finance and Operations on fundraising and increasing resources for GATE and for TGDI communities globally. Erika is fluent in English and Spanish and currently learning Dutch. She lives in the Netherlands with her husband, their two children, and their two dogs.