Vallerie Wagner
Community Activist

Vallerie Wagner is a community activist and former Director of Education and Social Services at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. While at the Gay and Lesbian Center, Wagner was responsible for overseeing the Community Outreach and Education Department (COED), the Health Education & Prevention Department (HEP), the Youth Services Department, the Legal Services Department and the California AIDS Clearinghouse.

Prior to joining the Gay & Lesbian Center, Vallerie worked as an engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California for 15 years where she was a Member of the Technical Staff on the Voyager and Galileo Projects. Vallerie received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1981 and in 1983 became the first female to receive a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Vallerie is a community activist advocating for the human rights of  lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender persons for more than 10 years. An advocate for bridging the gap between the lesbian and gay communities, Vallerie is also committed to empowering lesbians to recognize their strength both individually and collectively. She has served on several boards including the National Black Lesbian and Gay Leadership Forum (the Forum), United Lesbians of African Heritage (ULOAH), the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Los Angeles Unified School District's Gay and Lesbian Education Commission. She currently is chair of the Los Angeles Committee for Zuna's National Black Lesbian Conference.  In 1995, she attended the 4th International Women's Conference in Beijing, China as an open lesbian and participated in an international lesbian march through the streets of Hairou, China.

Vallerie has served on the Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation's Community Funding Panel and the LAPD Gay and Lesbian Advisory Commission and member of the Gill Foundation's National Leadership Project 2000.

Source:  Los Angeles Gay And Lesbian Center
Contact:  VDWagner@aol.com