About Jesse

Jesse Beal has been a social justice and LGBTQ+ activist, educator and consultant for the past fifteen years. They* present nationally at Creating Change, The National Conference for Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), and at many colleges, universities, and nonprofits. Formerly based in Massachusetts, they recently relocated to the Detroit metropolitan area.

In addition to their consulting and training work, Jesse is an experienced student affairs professional with a demonstrated history of working towards equity and inclusion in higher education. They served as the Director of the Women’s and Gender Center at Amherst College, the Acting Director and Assistant Director of the Office of Diversity Services at Suffolk University, and the Program Coordinator for Sexuality and Gender Diversity at Brandeis University. Jesse has also taught a recurring course at Tufts University about social justice pedagogy and young adult fiction. Prior to beginning their career in higher education, Jesse was a community organizer for a nonprofit committed to ending sexual violence and partner abuse. 

Jesse holds a Master of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS) from Brandeis University with a focus in intersectionality, critical race theory, feminist theory, and visual culture and a Bachelor of Arts with Highest Honors in WGS and Government from UT Austin.

In July 2015, Jesse received the National Voice and Action Advisor of the Year Award from Campus Pride, for their years of work and dedication to make campuses more inclusive for LGBTQ+ students. Campus Pride is the leading nonprofit organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create safe college environments for LGBTQ students. 

Jesse is passionate about creating spaces for empowering conversations about Trans and nonbinary identities, intersectionality, and anti-racism. They are also a Harry Potter aficionado, pop culture critic, dog-lover, foodie, and Red Sox fan.

*Jesse identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them/theirs pronouns.