Kimi Barbosa

they/elle, he/él, she/ella

Kimi Barbosa (she/ella, they/elle) is a queer/pansexual, neurodivergent individual, and proud kin to two hard working parents who immigrated from the beautiful land of Minas Gerias, Brasil. Kimi’s background and lived experiences informs their dedication to an intersectional and community-led approach to improving mental health outcomes for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Kimi is a first generation college graduate and earned an Associate of Arts in Social and Behavioral Sciences, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Sonoma State University where she was recognized with AKD International Sociological Honors and Cum Laude Honors, and then a Master’s in Public Policy from Mills College with a focus on nonprofit management. Driven by their commitment to social change, Kimi has shared over a decade of their life serving youth and communities of color, advocating for inclusive policies and practices in the nonprofit and public sector. Kimi is committed to cultivating transformative, non-extractive, and equitable workplaces and is thrilled to bring her experience to Positive Images. Outside of their work, Kimi takes great joy in raising a cool little human and having family outings.

Jess Carroll

any pronouns

Jess (any pronouns) grew up in the Roseland community of Santa Rosa. After graduating from UC Davis she started her career in non-profits working with youth and young adults in the foster care system, suicide prevention programs, and mental health treatment. After 12 years away, Jessica returned to Sonoma County and immediately reached out to Positive Images knowing that they had the skills, knowledge, and experience to serve the unique needs of the local LGBTQIA+ community. With positivity, warmth, and excitement Jessica hopes to create space at Positive Images (and the greater Sonoma County) where all LGBTQIA+ folks are accepted, respected, valued, and loved. Outside of PI, you can usually find Jess (and Puppy Frank) on the rugby field!

Chase Overholt

he/they, él/elle

Chase is a Fund Development Specialist and Community Activist. They are a Member of the Board of Directors for Los Cien Sonoma County and work alongside many organizations in Sonoma County. With a background in wealth management and tax preparation, Chase has a highly developed skill set in building non-profit budgets and fund development. They sit on the steering committee for the Sonoma County Community Centric Fundraising Roundtable and feel passionately about changing the face of fundraising. Known for orchestrating and hosting large scale fundraising events, Chase also donates his time to Emcee and host galas and events for other non-profits in the area.

Winner of the 2023 Diversity in Business Awards from the North Bay Business Journal, Chase is a Sonoma State University graduate and one of only a few in his department to be awarded the mark of “Graduation with distinction.” He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Pure Mathematics while serving in many leadership roles across the campus.

Chase is a published author of two cookbooks. In his free time, Chase loves to create new recipes and travel to new places. Chase is also the founder of Vegan Sonoma, an online platform which promotes vegan tourism in Sonoma County. Their passions include gymnastics, sudoku, drag, jumping in bodies of water, and musical theatre.

Laura LeCave

she/her/ella

Welcome to Laura's world!

Laura has a bachelor's degree from Sonoma State University in Human Development and a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. Laura's journey is woven through education, advocacy and community empowerment.
With a foundation in early childhood education and a calling to nurture young minds, she has served as an early intervention specialist, fostering curiosity and a love of learning. She is also equally committed to parent education and believes that empowering parents enriches not only families but communities as well. Additionally, Laura's heart beats for activism and inclusion. As a volunteer with several LGBTQ organizations, she has worked to create safe and affirming spaces. Laura's passion goes further: she advocates for the representation and empowerment of people of color and she believes in the importance of providing platforms and opportunities for all voices to be heard and celebrated.
Laura is lucky to be trilingual: Spanish, French and English. This allows you to connect with diverse communities, ensuring that communication is never a barrier to understanding and support.
In the midst of these passions, Laura is inspired by two seemingly different but equally captivating hobbies: cycling and photography. Both give you the freedom to explore, capture moments and appreciate the beauty of the world from different perspectives.
Join Laura on this journey of education, advocacy and creativity. Together we will build inclusive spaces, amplify voices, and capture the beauty around us, one click and one sale at a time.

Drew Rose

he/they

Drew Rose (he/they), originally from Appalachia, studied sociology at West Virginia University before moving to Northern California for gender-affirming healthcare. In California, Drew began a career in outdoor education and environmental stewardship.

Soon after arriving in Santa Rosa, Drew sought a sense of community and came across Positive Images through volunteer work. Drew then earned a Master’s degree in education, along with an elementary teaching credential before dedicating three years to teaching 5th and 6th-grade students in local schools.

In their current role as Training and Education Manager at PI, Drew fulfills his passion for community building and advocating for LGBTQIA+ youth, while also providing education in allyship. Drew has facilitated hundreds of presentations for students, teachers, and parents all over Sonoma County, and deeply enjoys connecting people to resources. With 15 years of experience working in nonprofits, Drew brings a sense of professionalism, compassion, and integrity to the PI team.

When he’s not at PI, Drew can be found swimming, playing the guitar, cooking, or hiking with their partner Bobbi and their rescue pup, Tucker. Drew currently serves on the California HIV/AIDS Research Program Advisory Council, and is co-President of PFLAG Santa Rosa/ Sonoma County.

Marian Mejia

they/she

Marian (they/she) is a first-generation queer Filipino person from the SF Bay Area (shout out to the 510 & 650!), proudly raised by a single mom and their paternal lola. Marian received their BA with Distinction in Geography, Environment, & Planning with a Society, Environment, & Development emphasis from Sonoma State in 2020. While in college Marian dedicated themself as a student leader, and their passions for building community, leading with intersectionality, and combatting social injustice grew. In 2019, they canvassed for NBOP to advocate for the rights & justice of immigrants, housing, and the environment; an experience that deepened their understanding of grassroots action, and access & equity in Sonoma County. For three years Marian worked as a council member & Global Crew Director for Earth Guardians, overseeing all functions and development of their core youth activist program. In 2021, Marian had the privilege to attend the UN's COP26 as a youth delegate and learned from amazing queer & BIPOC activists from around the world.

Guided by the identities & lived experiences that shape them, along with a combined 7 years in advocacy & non-profit spaces, Marian is dedicated to fostering more belonging and increasing access to care for Sonoma County’s LGBTQIA+ community—especially for our queer/trans communities of color. They believe by prioritizing and uplifting QTBIPOC voices, we can further bridge seemingly disparate issues together, and cultivate stronger cultural shifts and solidarity amongst our communities.

Marian has been with PI since 2021, and as a Programs Coordinator they facilitate PI’s weekly support groups & youth leadership team meetings, the monthly QTBIPOC Hangout & Queer Art Club spaces, and is one of the first people happy to greet you at the community center! They also lead & maintain PI’s social media, creating graphics & content with the support of the rest of the team. Outside (and sometimes inside) of work, Marian enjoys dancing, watching anime, drinking boba, and spending quality time with loved ones.

Joy Anderson

they/them

Joy (they/them) is proudly queer, nonbinary, and disabled, all identities which shape how they see the world and advocate for those around them. Born and raised in Sonoma County, Joy has lived in Santa Rosa for most of their life. They have had the immense pleasure of being a part of the Positive Images community for over six years and served as the organization’s Outreach Coordinator from 2019 to 2021.

After earning two Associates degrees from the SRJC in Sociology and Social Justice Studies, Joy transferred to UC Santa Cruz in the fall of 2021 to complete their education. Joy graduated from UCSC in June 2023 with highest honors and multiple accolades; their research acknowledging the strengths of LGBTQIA+ families earned them the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research.

After being away from PI for the last two years, Joy is ecstatic to have the opportunity once more to share their dedication, passion, and warmth with their community. Joy prioritizes the voices of disabled and neurodivergent people in their work and strives to be a good accomplice to QTBIPOC folks, who have been the foundation of queer liberation. Joy feels proud to be fighting for a world, both personally and professionally, which uplifts the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people of all walks of life.

When not at PI, Joy loves to obsess over frogs, relax with their partner and cat Esther, and values connecting with nature and spending time with loved ones.

Vanessa Hamill-Meeriyakerd

she/they

Vanessa Hamill-Meeriyakerd (she/they) is a disabled, queer, demigender, fatter irl individual. They graduated from San Francisco State University with an MFA in Poetry. During their studies, Vanessa was heavily involved in community organizing, holding various leadership roles in the Queer and Trans community. Both on campus and within the Bay Area, they hosted conferences, workshops, fundraisers, and town halls to effect social change within their communities; additionally they co-founded several efforts with peers in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility including helping to develop a system of reporting and accountability within their department against instances of racism, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, sexism, and other acts of discrimination. After completing their degree, Vanessa worked in not-for-profit peer mental health work. They focused on inequity in mental health systems, particularly by addressing the digital divide, and the intersections of marginalized communities most affected by it, particularly in both the trans and unhoused youth communities, by providing digital education trainings as well as physical resources (including access to devices and cell service). Connecting people with accessible and comprehensive resources and education has always been a considerable passion and dedication for Vanessa in their work and they look forward to continuing that effort at Positive Images within their position as the Data and Trainings Coordinator. Outside of academia and activism, Vanessa is the spouse of their wife Yopher and an avid lover, writer, and the forever Game Master of various table-top RPGs. They love cooking, reading, and various other hobbies they’re constantly picking up (crocheting, printmaking, tattooing, sticker-making, wood carving, digital drawing, face painting, etc).

Ronimar López-Bazán

they/them/theirs

Ronimar López-Bazán (they/them/theirs) is a first-generation, queer Chicane graduate who earned their Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics with a concentration in Secondary Teaching from Sonoma State University (SSU) in 2023. Ronimar was also one of the few awarded "graduation with distinction" by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. As an undergraduate, they spent time in peer roles supporting and advocating for other students through student support programs like Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) or the Center for Academic Achievement and Student Enrichment (CAASE). They also worked as a Student Assistant with the H.U.B (Honoring the Present, Uniting the Present, Building the Future) Cultural Center, where they gained facilitation and programming experience.

After serving some time as the Queer Student Alliance (QSA) President, they realized the issue with white-dominated Queer spaces was that "we have to create our own spaces" which led them to co-find Colorful QT’s, a peer-led support group for Queer and Trans Students of Color at SSU. During their my senior year, they joined a research team for the Transformative Inclusion in Post-Secondary STEM Toward Justice (TIPS: Towards Justice) project and coded quantitative data investigating Sonoma State as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), particularly in the Mathematics and Statistics Department. Ronimar also shared their experience on the podcast, ¿Qué pasa, HSIs? With Dr. Gina Garcia.

Serving Queer and Trans BIPOC communities and accessible education are two main drives that motivate Ronimar to help cultivate a more accepting and welcoming commmunity. In their free time, Ronimar enjoys meditating, dancing, spending time with their pets, or feeding their neighbor’s goats with their niece.

Alex Alcantra-Rodriguez

they/them

Alex Alcantra-Rodriguez (They/Them) is a queer trans nonbinary and neurodivergent person born in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. At the age of nine, Alex and their immediate family had to permanently move to Northern California for better work and life opportunities. They attended and graduated from Calistoga Junior High School, home of the Wildcats! Whoohoo! They are also a proud DACA recipient of almost 10 years. Alex is a self taught artist, specializing in stippling and dabbles in painting from time to time since 2021. Because of their passion for creating, they opened their small business, Soy Sauce Art, with the joy of sharing their art with others. When Alex is not preoccupied with pen and paints, they model as another creative outlet, choosing to show up as a representative of a different gender, body type and ethnicity and as a way to further connect with fellow creatives who love exploring their passion.
As an immigrant, Alex has always understood the importance of community, especially one that is inclusive and diverse. With this internship they hope to be of service to the queer Latine community, with the understanding that education and representation is key to bridging the gaps that exist within it. Their life experiences have taught them that being bilingual and bicultural is an integral part of their identity and hope to help empower more QTBIPOC individuals and their families.
Currently, Alex lives with their beautiful and talented spouse Kodak, and their two rescue poodles Chandler and Jo. Alex is also a proud co-parent to Kodak’s younger brother who resides together with their little family here in Sonoma county.

Nico Trudeau

He/Him

Nico (he/him) is one of PI’s new Program Assistants, and being from the Bay Area he is a lifelong lover of dance, theater, and all things queer. Throughout high school, he spent his time volunteering with the City of Santa Rosa Parks and Recreation summer camps, and dancing with his company at The Movement Lab at their shows and community events. Nico has always been a social focused person, wanting to spend all his free time with friends or on stage performing; this focus is exactly what led him to Positive Images, and further to the Leadership Development Program. After graduating from Santa Rosa High School, Nico went through the cosmetology program at Lytle’s Beauty College which left him both more knowledgeable and more driven to find safe and comfortable spaces for queer and neurodivergent individuals.
Since joining the Leadership Development Program, Nico has been delighted to have a new direction in life in the form of giving to his community what he needed as a kid, and is excited to see where this new path takes it.

Crimson Diggs

They/Them

Crimson (they/he) is a student at Santa Rosa Junior College, and one of PI's Youth Interns. Before moving to Sonoma County for school, Crimson primarily grew up in Sacramento, and was homeschooled throughout middle and high school where they taught themselves programming, and digital art. As an adult they have done self-directed education, learning about a variety of topics and issues that has helped them better understand the state of the world. They are currently working to earn a degree in mathematics, in the hopes of transferring to UC Davis as a statistics major to help drive social change, and use their statistics degree in sociological research.
Before Crimson settled on their current path, their dream was to be a programmer or an artist working on indie video games. They have a deep love for story-rich video games created by independent developers, and spend much of their free time playing video games and making art. No matter where their path takes them, Crimson knows they want to make a positive difference in the world at a fundamental level and believes working for PI they're able to do so.