Staff

Erika Castellanos

Executive Director

Erika’s background is in sex work issues and HIV activism. In the early 90s, Erika was a volunteer in an HIV hospice in Southern Mexico; at a time with limited treatment, her role as a caretaker involved providing comfort and dignified death for the clients. Diagnosed in 1995, she became more active in the HIV response and joined the demand for treatment and eradication of stigma and discrimination which was rampant in healthcare settings. In 2010, she founded the first network of people living with HIV in Belize and co-founded the Belize national trans organization. Since then, Erika has contributed to and been active on regional networks: REDCA+, REDLA+, CRN+, and REDLACTRANS and became the vice chair of GNP+ in 2015. In 2015 she also joined the UNAIDS PCB as the LAC delegate and, in 2017, became the first openly trans person to be elected as a member of the Board of the Global Fund as a board member for the Communities Delegation. 

At GATE she works on trans, gender-diverse, and intersex (TGDI) issues with a dynamic team on the 3 programmatic pillars of GATE: Health, Human Rights, and Movement Building. GATE works closely with regional and national TGDI organizations on issues of social justice, inequalities, decriminalization, depathologization, and access to health care among other pressing issues that the TGDI communities face globally. As the Executive Director, Erika oversees all areas of GATE’s work and works closely with the Director of Finance and Operations on fundraising and increasing resources for GATE and for TGDI communities globally.

Erika is fluent in English and Spanish and currently learning Dutch. She lives in the Netherlands with her husband, their two children, and their two dogs. 

Cori Zaccagnino

Director of Finance and Operations

Cori has a Degree in Business, a Masters in Global Affairs and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

In her spare time, she is a trainer of movement and mobility.

Naomhán O’Connor

Director of Communications

He joined GATE in September 2017 as Communications Assistant, was appointed Communications Manager in January 2021 and Director of Communications in January 2024. He holds a BA in International Media and Communication Studies from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Marketing from Ulster University.

Naomhán’s previous experience includes social media communications and campaign filmmaking and photography for various NGOs and arts festivals. As a trans activist, he collaboratively founded and ran the European Trans and Intersex Summer Camp, founded Non-Binary Northern Ireland, co-led the Northern Irish gender recognition campaign to reform the UK Gender Recognition Act, co-founded Transgender NI and collaborated with TENI in their work to introduce non-binary legal gender recognition to the Republic of Ireland.

In his spare time, he can be found exploring the Northern Irish countryside. Press Queries: press@gate.ngo

Andreo Gustavo

Communications Assistant

Andreo holds a Masters in Humanitarian Action, Cooperation and Development, but used to play CSI while taking his Forensic and Criminal Sciences degree.

His previous working experience ranges from health (Portuguese translation of SOC-8 from WPATH – World Professional Association for Transgender Health), communications (Communications Consultant at UNICEF -NYHQ), persons with disabilities (Personal Assistant), and HIV/AIDS (Project Assistant)

He plays an important role in the daily lives of Portuguese trans people, having founded the first Portuguese digital platform for sexual and gender diversity inclusion called TransParente.

Andreo is fluent in English and Portuguese, can communicate well in Spanish, and understands a bit of French. He loves the countryside and a good view of the ocean!

Levan Berianidze

Human Rights Lead

They are a graduate of the Social Justice and Human Rights MA program at Arizona State University and the Gender Studies MA program at Central European University. Levan has vast experience in LGBTQI and feminist movements in the Eurasia region, which spans over nine years.

As an executive director at Equality Movement, Levan managed to evolve the organization into the largest and the most influential LGBTQI organization in the Caucasian region over a period of four years. As part of their activism, Levan has won strategic cases in the European Court of Human Rights and the Georgian Constitutional Court, organized the largest and the first-ever LGBTQI public demonstrations (IDAHOT) in Tbilisi; organized an international campaign with HRC and AllOut, and pushed the Georgian government to establish a human rights department within the police forces; and organized a series of queer events – HOROOM – one of the most important safe spaces for mobilization, education, and empowerment of the LGBTQI community in Georgia.

Anil Pavadatan

Health Lead

Anil holds a Degree in Psychology and worked for many years in the fields of HIV, human rights and access to health care, with organizations including the AIDS Law Project, the SA HIV Clinicians Society and Gender Dynamix.  During his time with Gender Dynamix, Anil had the opportunity to work on various projects aimed at extending access to health rights for trans and gender diverse community members in Southern Africa, and is a co-author of the South African Gender Affirming Healthcare Guidelines. 

Anil lives in Polokwane, South Africa, and is the proud parent of two children. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, growing indigenous plants and writing children’s fiction. 

Anwar Ogrm

Movement Building Lead

Anwar is based in Paris, France, and joined GATE in July as our Movement Building Lead.

Before joining GATE, Anwar lived in Berlin, Germany, where he worked for the Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ), and Transgender Europe (TGEU) and held a wide range of positions from Community Building intern to acting co-Director.

The core of his expertise lies in community and capacity building, organizational development, and cross-movement engagement.

Prior to working in the nonprofit sector, he worked as a child and youth worker and mainly worked with kids from working class and migrant descent.

Anwar is fluent in French and English, and has a decent level of German and Moroccan dialect. 

In his spare time, he is a sexual health peer counselor and trainer for local trans organizations. He also trains in French pastry and is the proud uncle of several queer babies and kids.