Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga

Jennifer Barnes-Balenciaga (she/her) is the Director of the Crystal La’Beija Organizing Fellowship (CLOF) a national fellowship program which empowers recipients to address issues impacting the lives of transgender women, transgender men, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people in the house ball community.

Jennifer was an 11-year resident of the City of Atlanta where she was appointed the first LGBTQ+ liaison in Atlanta, Georgia by State Representative Park Cannon of District 58 in January 2018 and served in that capacity until September 2022. During her tenure, Jennifer contributed to many Atlanta political and governmental legislation like HB290, collaborated to commemorate many Georgia LGBTQ+ leaders, including Miss Lawrence Balenciaga, and helped lead many queer movements within her community—World AIDS Day events, HIV testing initiatives, Black/LGBTQ+Pride/rallies, etc.

Jennifer was an on-the-ground HIV Prevention Specialist and continues to volunteer around many HIV-related initiatives. She has also been a Youth Policy HIV Advisor for Georgia Equality and has presented at many HIV-related conferences such as NAESM and USCA, and even at congressional gatherings through AIDSWatch.

The multi-awarded Barnes-Balenciaga hails from Cincinnati, Ohio and has been seen on Season 2 of POSE FX. She has published in many distinguished publications, such as The New York Times, TEENVogue, Harvard Public Health, and VeryWellHealth to name a few. She holds numerous organizational and committee affiliation–Co-Investigator for RESPND-MI (MPX-NYC), Vice President of Cincinnati Black Pride, and Social Media Committee Chair for Sankofa Black Women’s Conference. She is a member of the illustrious House of Balenciaga, a leading institution in the House and Ballroom Scene.

Jennifer is now a resident of Manhattan and is pursuing an Associate in Arts Degree in Political Science at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) where she is expected to graduate in the spring 2023.