Meet the Team

delfín w. bautista, MSW, MDiv.

Director

Sign: Virgo Sun 🌞; Scorpio Moon🌙; Libra Rising🌟

Pronouns: They/Elles/delfín

delfín is a social worker, writer, activist theologian, and diversity educator. Originally from Hialeah, FL, delfín is of Cuban and Salvadoran heritage. delfín has a Master in Divinity from Yale University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania. A queer and trans Latinx diva of faith and spirit, delfín is passionate about intersectional justice and resilience, especially around the experiences of queer and trans people of color. Currently, delfín is part of the faculty and planning teams for Campus Pride’s Advisor Academy and Camp Pride and is involved with different LGBTQIA2S+ faith based organizations including DignityUSA, Soulforce, Queer Christian Fellowship, and enfleshed. delfín enjoys cooking, eating, writing, cartoons, coloring, theologizing, spending time with their beloved, and queerly queering where no queer has queered before.

Chloe Simson

Trans Education Specialist

Sign: Leo Sun 🌞 Scorpio Moon 🌙 Aquarius Rising 🌟

Pronouns: they/them

Email: casimson@ucsc.edu

Chloe is a trans and neurodivergent leader in the queer community. Brought up in Southern California (Tongva and Chumash lands), they received a BA in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Sciences at Soka University of America. Before relocating to Santa Cruz, they were a queer community organizer and activist in San Francisco and the previous Director of the Queer & Trans Resource Center at San Francisco State University, where they also pursued their MA in Sexuality Studies. Their academic research has focused on trans and non-binary identity, drag, disability justice, and queer archival history, always with a focus on intersectional experience. Outside of work, Chloe enjoys hiking, environmental restoration, cooking and eating vegan food, and making ceramics.

Des Velázquez

Program Coordinator

Sign: Gemini Sun 🌞 Taurus Moon 🌙 Sagittarius Rising 🌟

Pronouns: he/they

Email: dvelazq8@ucsc.edu

Des is a scholar-practitioner whose work, research, and advocacy centers on trans and queer people in higher education, with an emphasis on the thriving of trans and queer folks who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color. He was born and raised on the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Muwekma Ohlone. He later completed a B.A. in Latin American Studies & History at Smith College in Massachusetts (2019) and an M.A. in Higher Education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (2023). Shortly after graduating from Smith, Des spent nearly three years in the nonprofit sector providing career development advising and programming for first-generation and low-income Bay Area college students. At U-M, Des served as the Research, Assessment, and Advocacy Lead at the Spectrum Center and a Research Assistant in the Campus Abolition Research Lab. Currently, Des is also an Executive Board Member of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals and a member of the Graduate Students & New Professionals Editorial Board for ACPA’s publication About Campus. Des loves writing, cooking, curating Spotify playlists, watching anime, going to concerts, and collecting earrings!

Cantú interns

Cantú student interns play a vital role in advancing the center’s mission by supporting social media, advocacy, and programming efforts. Through their work, they help build community, amplify LGBTQIA+ voices, and help create inclusive spaces for connection and empowerment across campus.

Social media interns

Kaleena
Atlas

Advocacy interns

Caishu
Elliot
Kate

Programming interns

Noah
Sam