Laverne Cox

Laverne Cox is an American actress, a documentary filmmaker, and a tireless activist and advocate for the LGBTQI and TGNC communities. A career performer, Cox rose to prominence for her role as Sophia Bursett in Netflix’s award-winning series “Orange Is the New Black.” She became the first openly transgender individual to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in any category.

Cox has been vocal about her struggle working in performing arts, first as a gender-nonconforming individual, and then as a trans woman. She faced a lot of shame, and she mostly auditioned for and was cast for trans roles. Often discouraged by discrimination, Cox has been continually inspired by Candis Cayne’s character on “Dirty Sexy Money” and kept pursuing her dream against all the odds (see https://lavernecox.com/about/).

Cox continues to make historic strides in her career and inspire through her activism. She is an empowering advocate, a leading voice in the anti-violence movement. She supports gender-nonconforming individuals in moving beyond binary expectations to live more authentically as individuals. Cox was one of Glamour magazine’s 2014 Women of the Year, one of The Grio’s 100 Most Influential African Americans, and one of the Top 50 Trans Icons by The Huffington Post. She received the Courage Award from the Anti-Violence Project and the Reader’s Choice Award from Out magazine, among other accolades.