Elise Malary is tremendously passionate about justice and equality for LGBTQ Illinoisans and beyond.
Her journey towards getting involved in the community began at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) as a volunteer. Her duties involved assisting the prevention team with creating safer sex kits, phone banking fundraising and social media customer service for the annual AIDS Run/Walk event.
She later was hired at AFC as the Policy and Advocacy social media intern. Her duties included effectively writing for policy initiatives as well as mobilizing organizations through digital advocacy. The first major highlight during her internship was participating in legislative advocacy at the Illinois State Capital. The second major highlight was assisting Pride Action Tank and other partners such as Equality Illinois to pass the Equal Access amendment in the Chicago City Council, which removed discriminatory language from the Chicago Human Rights Ordinance.
Elise graduated in December 2016 from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in Communication. Her main concentrations were nonprofit digital communication, research, and social media marketing. She joined Equality Illinois in December 2016 and is excited to be a part of the Equality Illinois team and effectively executing her role in ensuring a better Illinois for the LGBTQ community.