CHLP’s Kytara Epps Honored by National Black Justice Collective with the 2025 100 to Watch Black LGBTQ+/SGL Emerging Leaders Award
CHLP Public Health and Advocacy Strategist Kytara Epps was honored as one of the National Black Justice Collective's (NBJC) 100 to Watch Black LGBTQ+/SGL Emerging Leaders. The award was presented at the OUT on the Hill Reception and Rustin-Murray Advocate for Justice Awards event at the Human Rights Campaign Office in Washington, DC, on September 25.
The award recognizes emerging leaders who reflect the beauty of intersectional activism and the resilience of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) communities. From championing reparative justice and inclusive education to transforming cultural narratives through art and innovation, this cohort exemplifies what is possible when power is harnessed for a purpose.
At CHLP, Kytara’s work centers on repealing or reforming HIV and STI criminal laws that target people based on their health status. She collaborates with the Positive Justice Project as well as a host of state-based organizations and national partners to change policy and laws through advocacy, education, and legislative action. Kytara also leads CHLP’s reproductive justice and health initiatives and partnerships. Her work embodies CHLP’s abolitionist values, rooted in the belief that health and safety come from community care, not criminalization.
“I feel very honored to have been nominated and selected as part of NBJC’s 100 Emerging Leaders list, said Kytara. “Being on a list of Black queer leaders invested in equity and liberation spurs me to deepen my commitment to liberation for all of us.”
The award comes as Black LGBTQ+/SGL communities face an unprecedented surge of legislative and social attacks: over 850 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced across state legislatures in 2025 alone—the most in U.S. history—alongside federal executive orders erasing transgender recognition and protections, and a 52% spike in hate incidents targeting transgender people. 15,723 documented attacks on the health, education, and economic opportunity of Black people; billions in slashed funding of programs, grants, research, and contracts that addressed historic and continuing exclusions of Black people; and the erasure of Black data and history. At this critical moment, investing in Black LGBTQ+/SGL leadership isn’t optional—it’s essential for community survival and resistance.
“The leaders we honor today aren’t just building the future—they’re defending the present,” said Dr. David J. Johns, CEO and Executive Director of NBJC. “They’re not waiting for permission to lead. They are transforming the spaces they enter—including policy, culture, business, and art—and building the infrastructure needed for Black LGBTQ+/SGL communities to thrive for generations.”
NBJC is a national civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ+/SGL people, including people living with HIV/AIDS, through coalition building, federal policy change, research, and education.
Since the program’s 2015 debut, inaugural honorees have proven their power by rising to elected office, founding more than 20 transformative organizations, creating groundbreaking art and entertainment, and shaping policy at the highest levels of government and Fortune 500 companies—proving the program’s power to identify and amplify leadership that drives systemic change.
