Preston Mitchum, Esq., LL.M. (he/him/his)
Secretary
Preston Mitchum (he/him) is a Black queer attorney, advocate, and activist with a focus on the power of Black people, young people, and queer, trans, and nonbinary people. With a decade of legal and policy experience, he has a background in racial and gender justice, LGBTQ liberation, and reproductive health, rights, and justice policies.
Prior to joining The Trevor Project as an inaugural Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs, he served as the Director of Policy at URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity. While there, he shaped state and federal strategies on reproductive health, rights, and justice in the South and Midwest, with issues on abortion access, comprehensive sexuality education, and LGBTQ+ health equities. Previously, he has worked at Advocates for Youth, the Center for Health and Gender Equity, Center for American Progress, and the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health. In addition, Preston is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center teaching LGBTQ Health Law & Policy.
Preston deeply believes in community organizing and training younger generations. He serves on the Board of Directors for Collective Action for Safe Spaces (co-chair) and International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP). He is also the Vice President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Omicron Eta Lambda Chapter and the outgoing co-chair of the National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s Social Justice Committee.
Preston has been featured in Washington Post, BET.com, The Root, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, CNN, Fox News, and others. He has many accolades including being named a 2021 Rockwood Fellow for Leaders in Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice, and was named one of the 2020 Best LGBTQ Lawyers Under 40 by the LGBT Bar Association. Preston was the first openly LGBTQ Chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.
He holds a LL.M. in Law and Government from American University Washington College of Law, a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Political Science from Kent State University. Preston resides in Washington, DC where he actively pushes for safe spaces for Black LGBTQ residents.