Ashton Hessee, J.D. (she/they) is a second-generation high school graduate, first-generation college and law school graduate, and developing LGBTQ+ Rights movement lawyer. She recently graduated cum laude from New York Law School this past May where she was awarded both the Chief Justice Rose E. Bird Award for Motivation in Public Interest Law and The Dean’s Award for Student Leadership. They have served the LGBTQ+ community through direct legal services, national policy advocacy and litigation, as well as in the international human rights field. They have engaged with the local Queer legal community as a regularly contributing writer for LGBT Law Notes, a member of the board of directors of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York, and a member of the New York City Bar Association’s LGBTQ+ Rights Committee.