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Comings & Goings
Heng-Lehtinen joins National Center for Transgender Equality
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].
Congratulations to Jay Vilar for appearing on the cover of Natural Awakenings magazine. Vilar said he feels he was chosen for the honor because, “As a nutritional therapist practitioner, I work with clients to improve their health through proper nutrition. I was accepted into a program at the Rodale Institute (Organic Research Farm) that studies how the health of the soil impacts the health of the plant, which ultimately impacts the health of the human. I was studying how to grow nutrient rich foods that will improve someone’s health. I was commended for taking my work all the way back to the health of the soil and making that link to human health.”
Vilar is the founder and nutritional therapist practitioner of Nourish, LLC, a nutritional therapy company whose mission is to educate the world on how to heal and optimize the body with food and lifestyle. To carry out that mission he spends his time teaching people how to use food to heal their body and speaks to businesses on how to optimize focus & productivity using nutritional science. His intention is to align himself with a like-minded organization and be part of a team that shares the vision for a healthier world through proper nutrition, regenerative agriculture, and community building.
Prior to that he was Nutritional Therapy Company Vice President, Business Development with Delucchi Plus. He has had an interesting background working in strategic digital communications with Time Inc., and before that with the Washington Business Journal. He was a consultant with Plan A Consulting, a company that helps people implement their start-up business plan. Earlier in his career he was a manager and event planner with the Human Rights Campaign
Vilar received his bachelor’s from George Mason University; Nutritional Therapy Association/ Nutritional Therapist Practitioner George Washington University and was an ASC Regenerative Agriculture Fellowship
Congratulations also to Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen who joined the National Center for Transgender Equality as deputy executive director for policy and action. Upon his appointment, Executive Director Mara Keisling said, “We are so excited to have such a dedicated and thoughtful advocate on our team. Rodrigo has dedicated his career to the core values of inclusion, justice, and equality that are at the heart of NCTE and the transgender movement. His work has already changed the lives of transgender people and their families across the country, and we are so excited to have him with us.” Rodrigo said “I am honored to join NCTE at this pivotal time. The organization has consistently led the charge on groundbreaking advances for transgender people across the country. With Americans now more open to transgender rights than ever before, it’s exciting to be part of this team and grow acceptance for our community.”
Prior to joining NCTE, Heng-Lehtinen was vice president of public education, Freedom for All Americans where he oversaw a full range of legislative lobbying, field organizing, and communications strategies. Before that he was membership manager for GLAAD. Earlier in his career he was also a field organizer for the National LGBTQ Task Force and worked as campaign director for his mother, former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
He earned his bachelor’s in Latin American Studies from Brown University.
Congratulations also to Wes Combs who received an award from BEQ Pride a business magazine as one of its leaders over 50 who helped create a legacy for Stonewall.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
Comings & Goings
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Cuba under pressure and without answers
Tenn. lawmakers pass transgender “watch list” bill
Vance speaks at Orbán rally in Hungary
Amendments to India’s transgender rights law criticized
