Tracie Jada O’Brien is a longtime advocate and role model for the transgender community, having overcome challenges in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District in the 1970s. She has served as an addiction treatment counselor and Director of Day Outpatient Services at Steppingstone of San Diego and coordinated Southern California’s first Transgender Support and Care program, Project S.T.A.R., in 2004. Tracie founded San Diego’s Transgender Day of Empowerment and the Tracie Jada O’Brien Student Scholarship Program, supporting trans and gender-nonconforming youth. She is active in national and state-level transgender advocacy efforts and currently works with Miss Major’s House of gg, supporting Black trans and gender-nonconforming communities. During the pandemic, Tracie secured grants for emerging Black trans-led organizations, helping them continue their vital work.