Chief Communications Officer
she/they

Thea Hillman (she/they) is an award-winning author and impact storyteller who has dedicated her career to leveraging the tools of marketing and advertising for good. Specializing in strategy, narrative shift, and behavior change, she has held key communications roles at mission-driven organizations including the San Francisco Human Services Agency, Tipping Point Community, 3Degrees, Underground Agency, and the San Francisco Environment Department. She has developed messaging for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, REI, Natural Resources Defense Council, Earthjustice, Openhouse, Horizons Foundation, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, and ACLU of Northern California, among many others.

With a background in community organizing, Thea is an outspoken advocate for queer, trans, and intersex rights and works intersectionally to make the world safe for differences of all kinds. Former board chair of the Intersex Society of North America, Thea was a key figure in the San Francisco Human Rights Commission investigation into intersex issues, testifying during the first public hearing held on intersex issues in the United States in 2004. Her book Intersex (For Lack of a Better Word) won the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Literature and is taught in universities throughout the United States. One of Thea’s notable career highlights was being mentioned by the Traditional Values Coalition in a report entitled “The Homosexual Urban Myth” as a radical who works to promote the homosexual revolution.

A California native, Thea has a bachelor’s degree in Community Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz and a Master of Fine Arts in English/Creative Writing from Mills College. She lives in Berkeley, CA, with her partner, son, and cat.

Email: [email protected]