LezPod | Monica Alexandra LGBTQ Leader | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander

Kiera Hogan is an American professional wrestler currently working for All Elite Wrestling. She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling, where she is a former two-time Impact Knockouts Tag Team Champion.  Hogan has also worked in Women Superstars Uncensored, where she is a former WSU Spirit Champion. 

On July 20, 2019, Hogan announced that she is in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Diamante D’Rose, another female wrestler.  You can watch Kiera wrestle every week on TBS on Wednesdays!

Not only is this badass woman traveling to a different city to compete every week, but she is also trying to make a difference in the LGBTQ 🏳️‍🌈 community by sharing her story.

LezPod | Kitti Simmons on Drug Addiction/Mental Health | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander

We will be IG LIVE on @lezmiami and new episode will drop the following Wednesday!

LezPod | Celebrity Tik Toker Rach The Maverick | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander 

Meet Rach The Maverick, full-time content creator, business enterprise manager, Buddhist, LGBTQIA+ community member and a shining beacon for positivity.  Rach is extremely talented and has an artistic flair; this carries through her work and interactions with viewers. She is highly regarded for her talent as an informal educator and social media influencer.

Rach organically aligns with the mentality of living life to the fullest, being a strong empowered woman that supports and guides others, and being the absolute best version of yourself every single day!

Rach’s followers on TikTok and Patreon would describe Rach as real, organic, vulnerable, and sincere. She shares her life, lessons learned, trials, and tribulations across her platforms. Her TikTok presence currently has 148K followers with 180 Patreon members who dub themselves as “Maverick's Most Wanted”.

LezPod | Dr. Gisela Vega | Director of LGBTQ+ for University of Miami | Hosted by Alex Friedlander 

Dr. Gisela P. Vega who is currently the Director of the LGBTQ Student Center, and an adjunct faculty member in Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Miami. She is completing her 29th years in higher education. She has presented at national and international conferences, countless workshops, and is passionate about diversity education, social justice, leadership development, mentoring, gender & sexuality issues and addressing issues of access and choice in higher education.

She served as the inaugural full-time professional staff member at Florida International University in 2012 developing the LGBTQA Initiatives program, the first program of its kind established in a south Florida College or University.  In her most recent role as the Center’s Director, she has worked with staff and colleagues to establish the Gender and Sexuality Living Learning Community at the University of Miami. She is also a contributing Author in NACADA’s recent book, Advising Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer College Students. 

She holds her Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership from Florida International University, M.Ed. in Instructional Leadership, a B.F.A. in Art Education, and in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  Her experiences both personally and professionally have centered her work and research in helping individuals understand different identities including race, gender, and sexuality and their intersections.  Originally from Chicago, she loves travelling and has travelled around the world. She is of Panamanian and Puerto Rican descent and is a proud first-generation graduate. 

Dr. V. has been a recipient of the Aqua Foundation for Women’s Leadership Award in 2016, and the 2019 National GLBTQ Task Force Eddy McIntyre Community Service Award recipient.  Dr. Vega is originally from Chicago and currently lives in Miami with her spouse Madelin.

LezPod | Monica Alexandra LGBTQ Leader | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander

Jackie is most proud of building SheLife Events, SheLife started as a solution to a problem, finding a safe place to party but then it became more than just a party. It became about making a difference to those who participate in our events, to those who DJ, host, sing, film, dance, act, and play live instruments. I have seen our artists get more bookings after their participation from our events by someone seeing them through social media or someone experiencing them at our events. You can see the growth of their economic flow. I believe that SheLife has become a platform that sparks something inside of these souls and activates their internal source of talents that might not have been explored, a place for local artists to think outside of the box.  SheLife has played a part of the butterfly effect, our events have helped connect people, build romantic relationships, save a life, and be inclusive to other event organizers of our LGBTQ+ community. I see more a closer community now than three years ago.  Some say I am a brain but I believe nothing sets me apart from others, the only variable we all have is self-awareness. I believe we have all the qualities to make something extraordinary, we just have to learn how to TAP into that fire inside of us that will make that switch for you.  You don’t want to miss this episode!!

LezPod | Robin Schwatz Equality Florida and Aqua Foundation | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander 

We are proud to introduce you to Robin J. Schwartz this Saturday at 1PM live on @lezmiami 

Robin J. Schwartz is an activist and community leader who has served the LGBTQ community in multiple capacities over the past 20 years. 

The many causes she has championed include the advancement of LGBTQ women, support for young people who find themselves homeless, and racial justice. She has been an outspoken advocate for marginalized communities, lobbying LGBTQ leaders and organizations to give them a seat at the table.   Robin is one of the South Florida Board of Directors who founded Aqua Foundation for Women, and she served from 2010 to 2014 as the organization’s Executive Director and from 2018 to 2019 as its Managing Director. Her accomplishments at Aqua included: raising over $100,000 to launch the first formal program to address LGBTQ youth homelessness; increasing funding and programming for the Scholarship and Mentor Program; producing TransCon, an annual two-day conference designed to empower and educate the transgender and non-binary community and their allies; developing the Emerging Leadership Conference, a program for Aqua Foundation scholarship recipients that provides inspiration and skills training for future LGBTQ female identified leaders; and creating the Aqua Family BBQ, an annual event to bring parents and their kids together in a safe space where kids with same-sex parents could see other families that look like theirs.  In the wake of the George Floyd murder last year, Robin secured funding from Our Fund to provide antiracism training for the leaders of South Florida LGBTQ organizations. She recently secured an additional grant to conduct antiracism workshops. Robin also organized a book club for local white leaders focused on antiracism. During the height of the pandemic last summer, Robin reached out to her contacts at the Miami Dolphins to request local LGBTQ agencies be included in their program to distribute food to those in need.  Robin has held a number of highly visible volunteer positions in various LGBTQ organizations, including Vice Chair of Miami Beach Gay Pride, and so much more!  Don’t miss this episode!

LezPod | Rose Garcia The Real L Word | Hosted by Alex Friedlander

LezPod | Jessica Lam | Hosted by Alexandria Friedlander