The Change-Maker

by | Jul 1, 2022 | 0 comments

Christopher Peguero is a Wisconsin Native—of the Menominee Nation, to be specific, on his mother’s side. She recently retired as the Principal for the Oneida Tribal School in Oneida. Christopher’s father is Mexican-American from Laredo, Texas and worked with immigrant farm labor communities there.

Christopher grew up in Green Bay and completed his undergraduate degree at UW-Stevens Point in 1999. He then moved to the Pacific Northwest to start his career where he worked in the environmental non-profit sector (often at the intersection of environmental justice and equity). He met his first partner Kelvin who helped him come out to his family and friends. Tragically, Kelvin passed away a few months prior to Christopher turning 30 after a long fight with HIV/AIDS in 2004. 

Along with Christopher’s early experiences of homophobia and racism, this tragedy inspired Christopher to connect more deeply with the LGBTQIA2S+ community as well as social and racial justice movements in Seattle. Christopher became an outspoken leader of uplifting an intersectional liberation perspective from both the mainstream LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC communities at the time when marriage equality was at the forefront. That work continues for Christopher to this day.

Forward Fertility
Quigley
Atlas Counseling

In 2008 Christopher established SEqual, The City of Seattle LGBTQ Employees for Racial Equity. The employee resource group centered the employment experiences of QTBIPOC employees at the City of Seattle. SEqual was a professional leadership network that worked to identify opportunities to enhance anti-discrimination and anti-racist efforts in labor practices in partnership with human resources. SEqual successfully advocated for establishing transgender health benefits, produced a City of Seattle “It Gets Better” video to address LGBTQIA2S+ youth bullying and suicide, and held regular trainings for city employees.

On Barack Obama’s first election night in November 2008, Christopher met his future husband Anthony. In May of 2013, their daughter Adela was born. The following May, they welcomed their son Alexander.  

In 2015 Christopher prepared a proposal for, and established, Seattle City Light’s Environmental Equity Program. The program centers opportunities for community-led and co-designed engagement efforts to inform the electric utility’s environmental programs and policies. The program’s foundation builds green job pathways for environmental justice communities while increasing education and access to the outdoors.

Through Christopher’s leadership, Seattle City Light’s Environmental Equity Program sponsored over $2 million in sponsorship funds to regional BIPOC led environmental organizations to leverage community capacity for sustainable wealth development and power, helping to mitigate gentrification and displacement.

Again, Christopher’s personal experience in the environmental non-profit sector influenced him to establish an annual environmental equity trip to the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center in North Cascades National Park, bringing members of several BIPOC organizations and community youth interested in learning about careers in the outdoors.

Quigley
Forward Fertility
Atlas Counseling

At the City of Seattle, Christopher was a CORE (City Organizers for Racial Equity) Team member and racial equity lead. The programs developed community advocates to understand and analyze City of Seattle policies and build strategies to mitigate unequal impacts on BIPOC and marginalized communities.

In 2018, seeing ongoing racial and economic disparity, gentrification, displacement, and a rising homelessness crisis in Seattle, Christopher decided to run a political campaign for Seattle Council in Seattle’s most diverse city council districts. Although he did not win the election, the experience provided an opportunity to build trusting relationships with immigrant and refugee, BIPOC, environmental justice, low-income, and homeless communities. After the election, Christopher continued to advise City Council members and executives to better understand unintended impacts of policy while centering community-based solutions to mitigate those impacts.

In 2021 Christopher and his family moved to Fitchburg to be closer to family in the midst of the pandemic and the illness of his younger brother. Christopher is now the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Communities of Belonging Program Manager at Promega. Prior to his current role, Christopher was the Assistant Superintendent for the City of Madison Parks Division where he was the executive sponsor of Park’s Racial Equity and Social Justice Change Team.

Christopher says, “In all the leadership roles I have held, I have promoted the transformative power of collaborative, community-driven solutions versus extractive relationships with BIPOC communities. I believe that communities closest to the struggle of systemic racism and oppression are experts in knowing the solutions to overcome those struggles. When everyone in our community is able to thrive—we are all collectively stronger, healthier, and better for it.”

Christopher is happy to be home once again, bringing his work experience of LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC community liberation and justice. He hopes his perspective can bring new insight to the work happening in Wisconsin—especially at the intersection of racial, queer, and environmental justice.


2022 Pride in Color

The Change-Maker: From his time with the City of Seattle to his new role at Promega, Christopher Peguero has always advocated for equitable change.

The Frontrunner: Fifteen-year-old transgender track star Ayden Yee will be profiled in Here-TV’s docu-series, Road to the Runway, premiering August 1.

The Pastor: Cameron Overton (he/him) is the executive pastor at Zao MKE Church and a Black transman called to build the church into an intersectional and queer liberated space committed to the liberation of all people.

The Ancestral Flame: Maria Paula Lujum is the Youth Programs Manager for Centro Hispano of Dane County.

The Educator: Stacy Clark is a Community Health and Equity champion whose mission is to provide services and education to others that he may not have had as a young, black, gay male.

The Good Foot: Al Poliarco is the force behind Barefoot Hands Bodywork

The Dynamo: Clyde Mayberry is the CEO & Founder of the first African American Performing Arts Center in Dane County.

Article Tags

Rutabaga - Summer
Out Health

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rutabaga - Summer

Latest News

For the Better

For the Better

Jaime Toberman is a member of GSAFE’s Youth Activist Council (YAC) and wants us all to imagine embodying change.

The Northside is Blooming

The Northside is Blooming

Bloom Northstreet, a new offshoot of the popular Bloom Bakery on Monroe Street in Madison, opened in the latter half of 2022 and is a welcome addition to the ever-growing options on the northside of Madison. Traditionally a quieter side of town, the northside has seen...

A Rural Oasis

A Rural Oasis

Princeton-raised Matthew Trotter is building a purposefully curated ecosystem that both lifts up his home town’s history and celebrates a queerer version of up-north culture.

Trans, Disabled, & a College Athlete

Trans, Disabled, & a College Athlete

Emmett Lockwood holds the distinction of being the first openly transgender player on University of Wisconsin-Madison men’s water polo team. He is also a Disability Justice Activist with an advocacy that originates from coming to know he had no one else to be but himself.

Perfectly Queer

Perfectly Queer

Embracing queer celebration as a core tenet of their business, Auntie M’s Creations owner Nadine Mobley has been recognized as the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Business of the Year.

The Bonds that Sustain

The Bonds that Sustain

Akshat Sharma talks with Taymour Soomro, a Pakistani writer here on a Creative Writing Fellowship at UW-Madison, about his debut novel Other Names for Love, and telling authentic South Asian queer love stories.

Equitable Pet Care

Equitable Pet Care

Queer-founded project WisCARES has been providing veterinary care to vulnerable pet families in Dane County for 10 years.

A Space for Sapphics to Socialize

A Space for Sapphics to Socialize

In the past, there were hundreds of lesbian bars in the United States. Today, there are just a handful of spaces left for queer women and allies to connect. To fill that void, LPub is a “pop-up” bar that moves every month to a different establishment in the Madison area to facilitate queer women meeting each other in person.

Latest News

VIEW ALL LATEST NEWS

Recent Posts

Quigley
Atlas Counseling
Forward Fertility

Events

SUBMIT AN EVENT

VIEW ALL EVENTS

Jobs

SUBMIT A JOB POSTING

VIEW ALL JOBS

Popular Tags

Pin It on Pinterest