Tannia Esparza is a Queer Xicana from Santa Barbara, CA. As the Executive Director, Tannia carries Young Women United’s change making vision, cultivates a diverse resource base, and supports staff in strategically building YWU’s work. For the last decade, Tannia has been active in social justice movements working on racial justice, gender justice, and LGBTQ justice. As a Family Advocate for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, Tannia worked to center the experiences of LGBTQ Families of Color in combating homophobia and transphobia in Los Angeles public schools. Tannia believes in the power of embodied knowledge and collective healing and applies this in her own life through her work as a performance artist. She recently developed her first one-person show, Returning to Maiz, a Queer Xicana creation story celebrating intergenerational storytelling.