Individual | Inducted 2024
La Tony Alvarado Rivera is executive director of the Chicago Freedom School, a 17-year-old nonprofit organization that equips young people and adult allies with tools to develop actionable strategies for social change. Rivera began their activism as an 18-year-old high school senior who wanted to support LGBTQ youth who were being bullied and harassed in high schools throughout the city and suburbs. They helped form the Coalition for Sexual Orientation, now known as the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance.
In 2000, Rivera was the recipient of the Kasey Reese and Javier Barajas scholarship in recognition of their queer/Latine high school activism with the Chicago Chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and their work with About Face Youth Theatre. After being hired by the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association to coordinate a social support group for recently arrived and Spanish-speaking gay, bi, and queer men, Rivera became focused on HIV/ STI prevention training and outreach during the early 2000s. As a cultural organizer, they worked with Orgullo en Acción to produce the Latin@ PRIDE Picnic (2007-2010) and was the emcee for several Chicago Dyke March rallies over the years. They co-founded and facilitated PFLAG en Español, a social support group for Spanish-speaking parents and families of LGBTQ people, and was named one of Windy City Times’ “30 under 30” five times.
After a stint working with GLSEN at the national office in New York, Rivera began their tenure at the Broadway Youth Center in Chicago, where they developed an award-winning LGBTQ Mentor Program that fostered healthy relationships and intergenerational dialogue among the LGBTQ community. In 2020, Alvarado-Rivera was recognized with the Leader for a New Chicago award by the Field and McCormick Foundation. They also served on the education subcommittee for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition team in 2023.