Center on Halsted CEO Joli Angel Robinson named to Out Magazine’s 2025 Out100
By Jake Wittich
Center on Halsted CEO Joli Robinson has been named to Out Magazine’s 2025 Out100 list, recognizing her among the year’s most influential LGBTQ+ leaders.
Robinson earned the honor for her work leading one of the Midwest’s largest LGBTQ+ community centers and for advancing equity, belonging and leadership development across Chicago.
Robinson was featured in the “Groundbreakers” section of the annual list, which highlights changemakers building a more inclusive future.
In her Out profile, Robinson said her approach to leadership is rooted in community care.
“Each day, I align my priorities, goals, and heart with a focus on centering community,” Robinson said. “At the core of my work is creating affirming, inclusive spaces where others—and myself—can fully show up as our authentic selves in both work and life.”
Before joining Center on Halsted in 2023, Robinson spent more than 15 years in public service and nonprofit leadership, including as CEO of Housing Forward in Texas and co-CEO of the Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation organization.
Since arriving in Chicago, Robinson has led Center on Halsted through a period of renewed visibility and expansion, emphasizing intersectionality and cross-movement collaboration.
Under her leadership, the center has expanded partnerships in mental health services, economic empowerment and youth leadership programs.
Her recognition in the Out100 marks a milestone for the Center on Halsted, which was also represented on this year’s list by Precious Brady-Davis, the organization’s chief strategy officer and a commissioner with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Illinois Ninth District Congressional Candidate Kat Abughazaleh is also named on the Out100 list.
The Out100 issue will be celebrated at a gala in Los Angeles next month, spotlighting Robinson and other honorees from across the country who are shaping LGBTQ+ life and culture.