TGX Economic Empowerment Project

Crystal Whiteaker (She/Her) 

Project Manager, Leadership and Brand Development Coach, and Photographer

Founder and CEO of Crystal Lily Creative, and Author of Brave Leadership is a Choice: An Inclusive Guide to Creating Belonging. Crystal is a coach, photographer, and inclusive leadership and brand development consultant who helps mission driven brands and leaders create values-aligned human-focused environments through aligned decision making. Crystal brings 20 years of practical, creative, relational, process driven experience across multiple industries. She is a Professional SPEAKer who emphasizes core values to help people connect, communicate and lead with belonging in mind. Recognized as the 2024 Empowerment Leader of the Year by BRA Network and recipient of the 2025 Innovation and Impact award by the Los Angeles LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Crystal cares deeply about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and is an advocate for leaders and organizations that provide resources and support for healing. Beyond her work, Crystal enjoys spending time in nature, connecting with people, practicing/teaching yoga, and exploring new places.

Rex Wilde (They/Them)

TGX Advisor and TGX+ Inclusion Consultant

Rex Wilde (they/them) is a nonbinary LGBTQ+ speaker, educator, and business consultant. In March 2019, Rex produced the Transcend Career Fair, the largest transgender career fair in the world. This event, featuring over 75 businesses and 500 transgender & gender diverse participants, received national media coverage from CBS, NBC, and Telemundo.

Since 2017, Rex has worked as a TGX+ equity consultant, working with organizations across the US on creating systemic change for transgender and gender expansive communities.  With over 12 years of experience in facilitation and organizational change, Rex's approach to intersectional inclusion of TGX+ folks has been renowned by organizations including Spectrum/Charter, UPS, The Getty Center, and the California Workforce Development Board.

Rex is the current Co-Chair of the TGX Initiative for the National LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and sits on the Advisory Board of the QTGX Initiative for the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce (LAGLCC).

Sydney Rogers (She/Her)

TGX Advisor

Sydney identifies as a Black Trans Femme, bringing more visibility and healing to the TGI (Trans, Gender Diverse, Intersex) community through artivism. She currently holds positions: Program Manager of the Trans Economic Empowerment Project and Equity Manager of Community Programs at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Director of the TG/Enby Project, and Founder of  Infinite Souls Consultations and  Big Mama Story Time. She strongly believes in being trauma-informed and advocates for mental health healing, empowerment, and social justice for all, particularly in the BIPOC TGI communities. 

She received the 2023 Williams Insititute/Trans Latina Coalition UniTy Community Leadership Award. She has performed in many theatre performances, international film projects, music videos (Including Lady Gaga), and global social justice campaigns. She has sat on and moderated many panels and discussions with organizations such as the Los Angeles LBGT Center, ONE Institute, LMU, Pomona College, Equality California, and Trauma-Informed LA. She is recently graduated from Simmons University with her Masters in Social Work.

Kat Ralph, LCSW (They/Them)

Therapist and Facilitator

Kat Ralph is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker based in Los Angeles, California who is passionate about creating affirming, collaborative, and client-centered spaces for healing and self-discovery. Originally from Texas, Kat moved to California in 2021, their early career began as a school social worker at Denton High School before transitioning into private practice work, where they now focus on supporting Queer, Trans, and Neurodivergent clients.

As a Queer, Trans, Non-binary, and Neurodivergent clinician, Kat brings both professional expertise and lived experience to their work. Growing up in a small Texas town with limited representation of Trans and gender-diverse individuals, Kat knows firsthand the impact of visibility, safety, and supportive spaces. Their own journey of gender exploration in their mid-twenties was both liberating and transformative—and it deeply informs the empathy, care, and understanding they bring to therapy.

Kat believes that therapy is not one-size-fits-all. They work collaboratively with clients to find the approach that best fits their unique needs and goals. By showing up authentically in every session, Kat creates a space where clients can do the same—because healing begins with being seen, heard, and celebrated exactly as you are.

Randy Gomez (He/Him)

Tax Accountant and Bookkeeper

Randy Gomez holds a Master's in Business Administration with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship. Along with being a licensed Enrolled Agent who is allowed to practice tax preparation and tax controversy representation before the Internal Revenue Service, he specializes in providing proactive tax planning and consulting services to high-net worth individuals and closely-held businesses across a wide range of industries. Randy brings over 12 years of tax preparation and tax-planning expertise and prides himself in providing excellent boutique services to his high-net worth individuals and closely-held companies.

Randy has developed an extensive amount of expertise with his clientele. His expertise covers a wide range of professional fields which include: Legal, Healthcare, Engineering, Professional Athletes & Fitness, Entertainment, Mental Health, Start-Ups, Real Estate, Construction, and the field of Communications.

Tamiah Bantum (She/They)

Creative Direction and Videography

Tamiah Bantum is an award-winning actor, performance capture artist and director. She is a movement specialist, storyteller, and advocate for marginalized voices in film with 16 years of professional experience.

Across her work, Tamiah strives to elevate the voices of marginalized communities and folks with intersectional identities. As a queer Black & Burmese woman, Tamiah champions authenticity and collaboration in every project and fosters inclusion and belonging whenever she is on set.

Courtney "Paige" Ray (She/Her)

Website Designer and Photographer

Paige works with passionate freelancers and entrepreneurs to build and launch their business with ease and confidence. As a website designer and photographer, Paige helps business owners create websites and visuals that reflect their mission with clarity. Her photography has been featured on The Today Show, Variety, Glamour (Paris), The Hollywood Reporter, The Huffington Post and more.

Tristan Katz (They/He)

Marketing Strategist

Tristan Katz is a nationally recognized speaker, facilitator, and consultant with a lifelong commitment to human rights and justice. Their work is rooted in an intersectional, anti-oppression, and trauma-informed lens that integrates decades of study into culturally competent marketing and business and LGBTQIA+ Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). Tristan has had the honor of presenting and facilitating for programs with Stanford University, HubSpot, Portland Public Schools, the Port of Portland, and Williston Northampton School, among others, and they regularly consult with authors, educators, movement leaders, and change-makers—folks whose work is often featured in NPR, NBC, The New York Times, and USA Today. Tristan is also a longtime yoga student and occasional yoga teacher, a Yoga Journal game-changer (2021), former board member of Accessible Yoga, and frequent guest speaker in industry-recognized certification programs in yoga and beyond. At the core of everything Tristan offers is the belief that marketing can be a tool for connection, truth-telling, and cultural change—not just sales.

Moorisha Bey-Taylor (She/They)

Intellectual Property Attorney

Moorisha Bey-Taylor is an award-winning Entertainment and Intellectual Property Attorney who works closely with creatives and small businesses to bring their brands to the utmost potential. She specializes in mechanisms that allow her clients to protect and monetize their creative capital such as copyright, trademark, and licensing agreements. She has spoken at the National Bar Association, American Bar Association, The United Patent and Trademark Office, Howard University School of Law, Spelman College, Seattle University School of Law, UCSD, UCLA, Black is Tech, Accra Art Week, and numerous local and national events – becoming a sought-after resource and thought leader in the field of intellectual property.

Attorney Bey-Taylor's clients include civil rights activists, social media influencers, fashion designers, Olympians, visual artists, photographers, filmmakers, musicians and trailblazing thought leaders globally. Moorisha also works with some of the world's largest brands most notably with Nike, Inc. where they serve as Outside Counsel to the Brand Marketing Department.

Moorisha has received three illustrious 40 under 40 Awards from both the National Bar Association and National Black Lawyers Association. They have also received The Outstanding Recent Alumni Award from the University of Oregon School of Law, The California Lawyers Association W. Manuel Pro Bono Certificate, Outstanding Service & Leadership Award from the Black Women Lawyers of Los Angeles, Inc. and Leadership and Changemaker Awards from the Los Angeles Urban League and the National Bar Association. Bey-Taylor also sits on the Board of Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Santa Monica College.