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-{{ovation.company}}A Place For Us: Getting Through the Darkest Times with Hope, Healing, and Resistance
LGBTQ+ activist and gun safety advocate Brandon Wolf shares his powerful story of self-discovery, community, love, and resilience in the face of adversity. A survivor of the Pulse Night Club mas shooting, Brandon faced an unimaginable tragedy and shares his transformative journey from young outsider to galvanizing activist. “With our backs against the wall,” he says, “we find a way out together.”
More Than Surviving
In this talk, Brandon takes the audience on a journey from growing up as a queer, Black man in America to finding chosen family and belonging thousands of miles from home to narrowly escaping the tragic shooting at Pulse Nightclub. The group will explore how to do more than simply survive adversity by turning pain into purpose and acknowledging that with our backs against the wall, we only find the way out together.
Unlock the Potential of Authenticity
This conversation, designed for businesses, organizations, and equity initiatives, explores the untapped individual and team potential when we create spaces that foster authenticity. When we are able to bring our whole selves to our work without fear of shame or discrimination, the possibilities are endless.
Advocating From The Intersections
As the country comes to terms with the task of creating an inclusive democracy, Brandon’s insight into the power of advocating authentically and at the intersections of identities is invaluable. This presentation explores the need for intersectionality in movement building; the limitless power of sharing our authentic stories and the links between the multiple crises facing our nation. There has never been a more urgent time to bring new voices to the table.
Backlash 2023
After decades of progress on LGBTQ equality, the nation is reeling from intense backlash against the community. This talk breaks down current legislative and social efforts to unwind progress on LGBTQ issues, identifies the key players, and explores what it will take to move the country forward once more.
Brandon Wolf is a nationally recognized LGBTQ civil rights advocate, leader in the movement to end gun violence in America, and survivor of the 2016 shooting at Pulse Nightclub. After narrowly escaping that night, during what was the deadliest mass shooting in US history at the time, Brandon channeled his life into fighting for a safer world for future generations and honoring victims of injustice with action.
He is a frequent face on MSNBC and CNN, and an opinion contributor in Oprah Daily, CNN digital, Newsweek, USA Today, and others. Brandon has graced the cover of Dazed Magazine and LGBTQ publications nationwide, having been named one of the Logo TV’s 30 LGBTQ Changemakers, Huffington Post’s 30 LGBTQ Influencers under 30 and Business Equality Magazine’s 40 LGBTQ Leaders Under 40.
Brandon’s work has made him a respected thought leader on the political intersections of LGBTQ civil rights, racial justice, and gun violence. He was a national surrogate for Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Presidential Campaign and an advisory committee member for President Biden’s General Election bid. In 2019, he became the first survivor of the Pulse tragedy to testify before Congress and was returned in 2022 to testify on the rise of anti-LGBTQ hate violence before the House Oversight Committee. Brandon is a co-founder and current Vice President of The Dru Project, a nonprofit organization that empowers safe spaces in schools for LGBTQ youth, and currently serves as the Press Secretary for Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ civil rights organization.