Nominated by
Matthew Ward
March 29, 2024
Adam is a non-binary, neurodivergent social activist who has freed themselves from the adversity of their past, which includes growing up in care, experiencing homelessness and experiencing trauma. Adam has used their past experiences to be a monumental force for positive change, having been recognised by universities and colleges, local governments such as Coventry and Birmingham City Councils and national organisations for their activism and community organising. Adam is still an unsung hero as there is often tough competition and voting systems in place which often overlook people with truly exceptional pasts and futures, such as Adam’s. I’ve known Adam for years, and have seen them grow from just another person who wanted to change the world, to being a driving force for good. They are an open book, open about their past and struggles, however they only talk about that when it is applicable. This is because Adam is so forward-thinking, always looking for how to fill niches and gaps within communities, to enable more people to become empowered.
Since 2017, Adam has held many roles within the LGBT+ Student Movement, and also the wider LGBT+ movement in the UK an abroad. Adam, as President of the Coventry University LGBTQIA+ Society in 2019 ensured that whilst having membership of over 100 members, the society was accessible, inclusive, and collaborative, ensuring intersections within the community felt safe, whilst also reaching out to local community organisations to collaborate on events, such as Coventry Pride, and Prism, the local youth group. The Society was awarded LGBT+ Society of the Year by NUS in 2019.
After this, Adam, on their study abroad year, founded the first ever LGBT+ Students’ Association in Luxembourg, which is still proactive to this day. Through connecting with local and national LGBT+ organisations in Luxembourg, Adam, as President of their second LGBT+ Society, ensured that links were made, policies created, and discussions began on destigmatising LGBT+ topics, as Adam was invited to speak with the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg twice about community cohesion.
Adam has also been involved with the national LGBT+ Student Movement, having been a part of the Liberation Steering Committee of NUS since they were first elected at Trans Students Conference in 2019. Adam was recently elected as Chair of Liberation Steering Committee, where they have ensured that trans voices are amplified in the policies brought forwards by universities all over the country, and ensures that policies bought forwards are given equitable platforms for delegates to have their voices amplified during the annual Liberation Conference.
Adam’s student activism hasn’t been limited to the LGBT+ community, as they have embodied their intersectionality and impacted other liberation groups. Adam helped to successfully arrange scholarships for care leavers at Coventry University, working with national and international organisations to invest in one of the most underrepresented groups in Higher Education. Adam has also pushed through policies at both Coventry University and in December 2023, at Queen Mary University of London, enabling Disability History Month to be backed and promoted by the Students’ Union. Adam has been involved in the organising of Black History Month, Disability History Month, LGBT+ History Month, and Women’s History Month. Adam wouldn’t be a changemaker if they were limited to solely on campus ventures within the LGBT+ community. As well as being involved in Higher Education, in the last 18 months alone, Adam has founded multiple organisations such as Trans Pride Birmingham, the first of its kind in the Midlands, which has recently seen resilience as it successfully doubled its numbers for their second year in 2023. Adam is also a founding member of the Trans Pride UK Collective which seeks to embed trans history within the UK, and was the founding chair the Trans Tea Room which provides a safe changing space for the trans community in the heart of Birmingham. Adam has also held dozens upon dozens of community roles including diversity officer for Out2gether Worcestershire, where they completed a diversity review for the whole county, and lead notekeeper of FLINT (Front for the Liberation of Intersex, Non-binary and Trans people) ensuring that the voices of the coalition and kept and amplified into action. Adam has also led on multiple direct actions across the Midlands in defence of LGBT+ rights, Migrant rights and trans rights.
Adam also regularly publishes poetry and writes for grass roots newspapers, both highlithing the memories and experiences of the trans community, whilst being an amplifying voice to empower those communities whom are so often under attack by the government and the right in recent years.
Adam also delivers training on a range of topics, to schools, universities, and national organisations on topics such as trans inclusion, humanising trans lives, and trans healthcare and the workplace. Adam also writes poetry and writes journal articles for newspapers, both of which stem from and amplify trans voices. These to me add to trans history and ensure that Adam’s experiences aren’t forgotten. Adam is often also found doing spoken word about their journey in life as well as the journeys of their fellow community members.
I have known Adam for years, and know that they have had a very difficult start in life. I think that this has empowered Adam to be the activist and changemaker that they are and inspire so many. I think Adam has, through their own learnings, found a way to create things to fill the niches of the LGBT+ community. Adam’s roles in University embeds a lot of what they do, which is shown that on each educational milestone, they actively engage within the student LGBT+ community whilst embracing the intersections of it. Adam’s adversity has enabled them to become an inspiration, a role model, and a changemaker, embracing many different fields and impacting people by transcending disciplines, borders, and communities.