Urvashi took great pride in her identity as a “dyke” and a “lesbian”. She was sometimes questioned about why she continued to embrace it when it seemed at odds with the nuanced, intersectional, non-binary and fluid spaces of new generations of queer activists. For her there was no contradiction: her activism always centered an expansive notion of intersectionality and justice.

“The lesbian agenda is the reconstruction of families, it is the reimagining of power, it is the reorganization of the economic system, it is the reinforcement of civil rights and dignity for all people, it is the end of the oppression of women, the end of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, it is the re-establishment of a proper relationship to our environment. When I list this laundry list of oppression it does not overwhelm me, it tells me how far I have to go in my struggle, it tells me who my allies are.”

—Urvashi Vaid, National Lesbian Conference 1991

Urvashi Vaid (she/her) was president of the Vaid Group, LLC, a mission-driven consulting and social innovation firm supporting nonprofits, foundations, businesses, and individuals working for equity and justice. She was also executive director of Justice Work, a social justice incubator and think tank.

Urvashi held leadership roles in philanthropic, advocacy, community, and academic organizations, including as executive director of the Arcus Foundation; deputy director of the Governance and Civil Society Unit at the Ford Foundation; senior fellow at the Center for Gender & Sexuality Law at Columbia Law School; executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force; and staff attorney at the National Prison Project, ACLU.

She authored Irresistible Revolution: Confronting Race, Class and the Assumptions of LGBT Politics (2012); Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (1996); a co-edited anthology titled Creating Change: Public Policy, Sexuality and Civil Rights (2000); and many reports.

She was a board alumnus of the Gill Foundation, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, LPAC, the Roadwork Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Provincetown Commons. Urvashi was a graduate of Vassar College and Northeastern University School of Law.