Staff

Brian C. Johnson

Chief Executive Officer

Brian C. Johnson has served as the CEO of Equality Illinois, the statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization, since 2016. In this role, he leads efforts to build a better Illinois by advancing equal treatment & full acceptance of the LGBTQ community. As CEO, Brian oversees the three non-profit entities that make up the organization, each with its own board of directors: Equality Illinois Institute, the 501 (c)(3) arm that focuses on education of the public, media and policy makers on LGBT issues; Equality Illinois, the 501 (c)(4) entity that advocates for the adoption of particular policies aimed at making Illinois a more equal and accepting place for the LGBTQ community; and the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee (PAC), which endorses and supports political candidates on the state and local levels who will champion a more equitable future for Illinois. Prior to his time at Equality Illinois, Brian spent nearly two decades as a leader in social justice. His passion for fighting for equity was catalyzed by having served as a first-grade teacher, and Teach For America corps member, in Baton Rouge, LA. Seeing first-hand how systemic injustice impacted the lives of passionate and capable children, Brian committed his career to fighting to make sure America lived up to its promise as a fair and equitable country. Brian came to Equality Illinois from Leadership For Educational Equity (LEE), where he served as the Vice President of Regional Impact. In this role, he helped lead the nationwide efforts to recruit nearly 300 teachers and former teachers to become candidates for public office while simultaneously launching community led organizing efforts in a dozen cities across the country including Chicago, New York, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Brian has served in a variety of leadership roles in non-profits throughout the country. He served as the Executive Director of Teach For America in Los Angeles where he led the efforts to place and support nearly 800 effective teachers in public schools throughout Los Angeles. He also headed up the Larchmont Schools, two racially and socio-economically diverse public schools in central Los Angeles. Under his leadership, both schools were recognized as among the academically highest performing schools in the state of California. Brian earned his AB, magna cum laude, from Princeton University, his JD from Stanford Law School, and his MBA, as an Arjay Miller Scholar, from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is also Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow since 2020. He lives with his husband Toby and their daughter Josephine in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago.

Mony Ruiz-Velasco

Deputy Director

Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
mruizvelasco@eqil.org

Mony Ruiz-Velasco is a human rights advocate and the Deputy Director at Equality Illinois where she works to advance a more equitable Illinois for all LGBTQ+ communities. For more than two decades, Mony worked to combine organizing, advocacy, and legal efforts on behalf of immigrant rights and social justice. Before joining Equality Illinois, Mony was the Associate Director for Network Power at Alianza Americas, a transnational human rights organization that advocates for immigrant justice. She was also Executive Director of PASO – West Suburban Action Project where they advocated for local and statewide policy change, provided legal services, and organized local communities for systemic change. Mony also worked at the National Immigrant Justice Center for nearly thirteen years, where she became the legal director. Mony has been advocating for LGBTQ+ families for decades. She has also provided legal counsel and representation to thousands of immigrants and their families focusing on women, LGBTQ immigrants, survivors of crimes and other vulnerable populations. Mony has worked regionally and nationally on anti-deportation and anti-criminalization campaigns. She advises and assists legislators and their staff regarding policy and legislation at the federal, state, and local levels. Her work includes the Violence Against Women Act, the Illinois Trust Act, RISE Act, VOICES Act, and previous efforts on immigration reform. She is currently on the board at NIJC and the advisory board for Define American. She previously served as the Board President at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights and was on the board of Equality Illinois. In 1999, she graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas and attended Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi where she obtained a BA in English degree. Mony grew up in Mexico and in South Texas. Mony is queer, lives with her partner, Denise, and is the proud mother of three beautiful children, Christopher, Emma and Liam.

Norma Seledon, PhD

Director of Leadership Development & Capacity Building

Pronouns: She/Her/Ella
nseledon@eqil.org

Norma Seledon is a Mexican immigrant and has been a resident of Chicago for over 50 years. She has over 40 years of professional commitment to community and grassroots development around issues of gender equity, youth and queer leadership, education attainment by underrepresented groups, domestic violence, sexual assault, substance abuse, cultural competence, racial equity and environmental health. She is a former director of community-based organization Mujeres Latinas en Acción and has served on various non-profit and government advisory committees including the Mayor’s Advisory Council on Women’s Affairs, Latino Affairs, the Governor’s advisory on violence prevention, and co-directed Amigas Latinas, an affinity group for Latina Lesbians. She has a 35-year history of developing grassroots leadership development programs for women, youth, and Latino communities. She most recently was employed by the Family and Community Engagement Office of Chicago Public Schools where she managed parent involvement funds for the district and developed leadership development curriculum for parent leaders. She sits on various non-profit boards, and consults around various areas which include organizational wellness, coalition building, facilitation and board and staff development. She has provided training on topics of leadership development, engagement, minority access to higher education, domestic violence prevention, anti-racism, homophobia, cultural sensitivity and organizational conflict resolution. In 2016 she was inducted into Chicago’s LGBTQ Hall of Fame. Norma holds a BS in Psychology from Loyola University, an MA, in Higher Ed Leadership from Northeastern University, and a Ph.D. in Community Psychology from National Louis University. Her community research interests center on asset-based personnel engagement, evaluation, women’s leadership development, grassroots organizational wellness, intergenerational organizing, and race relations. Since 2020 Norma has increased her engagement in Racial Equity Access, Diversity and Inclusion training with service to over 30 organizations and several hundred participants. Most recently Norma has served as a meeting facilitator and a bridge between city programs and grassroots organizers. Norma’s values/approaches include asset-based engagement, participatory methodology, liberatory thinking & action and intergenerational wisdom sharing. Norma’s consultation & coaching is always tailored for specific needs and value matches. She considers all her work collaborative. She is open to accompany individuals and provide support from various perspectives including social justice, artistic expression, healing, organizational wellness, conflict resolution, professional development, cultural affirmation and spirituality.