Tony Alvarado-Rivera, 22, (pictured left) is the current Educational Programs Assistant at About Face Theatre and as a member of the artistic staff of the Youth Theatre, Tony has organized and mentored GLBT youth for four years. Committed to his mission to reach out to GLBT youth, Tony co-founded the Alvarado-Garcia Scholarship in collaboration with the Association of Latino Men for Action (ALMA), which will be awarded to a Latino/a GLBT high school senior in August. Tony was also a part of the Coalition for Education on Sexual Orientation (CESO) initiatives to create safer schools for GLBT youth. As a Team Leader for CESO’s involvement at Morton East High School in Cicero (his alma mater), Tony facilitated training for staff members, counselors and assistant principals, and co-founded a PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) chapter in Cicero, a bilingual resource for the Latino community.
‘I have had the wonderful privilege of working with such inspirational role models over the past few years,’ Tony said. ‘It is through their words, wisdom and struggle that I have been able to join the revolution as a Queer Chicano.’ Tony said his role models have been his mother, his father, his brother, and Emmanuel Garcia.