MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Diane Burkholder (she/her) is a half-Midwesterner, half-Californian, Black mixed-race, queer equity consultant and community organizer rooted in Sociology (CSULB) and Ethnic Studies (SFSU). Since 2016, she has led The DB Approach, her anti-oppression consulting practice, partnering with grassroots groups, nonprofits, universities, healthcare systems, and arts organizations to build strategy, leadership, and cultures grounded in justice.

Diane co-founded the Missouri HIV Justice Coalition, helping modernize Missouri’s HIV criminalization laws, and One Struggle KC, an anti-police brutality organization. She also served as co-chair of the American Humanist Association’s LGBTQ Alliance, advancing secular activism and equity nationwide.

Since returning home to Long Beach in 2020, Diane has helped shape the Long Beach Community Health Needs Assessment Collaborative and contributed to LBDHHS’s Black and LGBTQIAIS+ Health Needs Assessments. She currently co-chairs the LB HIV Planning Commission and, in 2023, co-founded Queermunity LB—a community space for 30+ queer and trans people of color in Long Beach and the South Bay.

When she’s not building coalitions or facilitating brave conversations, Diane is likely chasing sunsets—or living under the benevolent rule of her cat, Rosa (Parks).