Pride & Persistence

Join us for an inspiring evening of conversation, performance, and community at Pride & Persistence. This special program centers the lived experiences, creative power, and cultural leadership of Candace Nguyễn / Candace Persuasion, a Boston-based artist, storyteller, and community advocate, alongside Daunasia Yancey, activist, artist, founder of Boston Black Pride, and a widely respected voice for Black queer community building. Today, Daunasia serves as Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement, working to empower, protect, and uplift LGBTQIA2S+ residents across Boston.

Through performance and conversation, the evening will explore and celebrate themes of trans joy, queer liberation, identity, resilience, and community care.

Moderated by Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive, this gathering will offer a powerful space for reflection, affirmation, and connection-bringing together community members, allies, and partners from across arts, advocacy, science, and culture.

Giselle Byrd is the newly appointed Executive Director of The Theater Offensive, located in Boston, Massachusetts, where she is passionately continuing and amplifying the theater’s mission for uplifting and elevating the work of queer and transgender artists of color and LGBTQIA+ youth and their allies.

With over ten years of experience, holding multiple roles in talent management, production, casting, script coverage, brand partnerships, and fundraising, Byrd has used her expertise to help elevate both talent and brand collaborations with respective businesses and introduce brands and organizations to innovative solutions and a diverse array of emerging artists and celebrities who are redefining the foundations of the performing arts landscape. Additionally, she has used this extensive knowledge to help artists increase their visibility and provide them with the tools and resources to amplify their work and introduce them to vital markets, especially those outside of their comfort zones. She has also led businesses to develop numerous campaigns and build their corporate giving, while achieving additional funding. 

Aiming to inspire members of her community to find their voices and showcase their greatness, Byrd has represented clients who work in the entertainment industry, social justice activism, and digital media. Throughout her career in talent management, she collaborated with brands and organizations including (but not limited to): OPI, Gucci, Prada, Tiffany & Co., Viktor and Rolf, Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, Absolut Vodka, Babe Rose’, Google, The WNBA, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, The Ali Forney Center, GLAAD, Netflix, ViacomCBS, and BET.

As a producer, she holds the honor of being the first transgender woman to be accepted into Through Her Lens: The Tribeca Chanel Women's Filmmaker Program. Her documentary film debut, “Giselle’s Story,” directed by Susan O’Brien, was accepted into the Imagine This International Women’s Festival. Her subsequent film, "When We Arrive As Flowers," executive produced by Alexandra Billings, went on to receive acceptance into numerous film festivals throughout the country during the 2022-2023 season, continuing her personal mission of advocating and educating a diverse array of communities on the beauty of transgender life, through a cinematic lens.

Daunasia Yancey (she/her) is a Black queer femme leader who has been organizing for justice since childhood—starting the first Gay-Straight Alliance in a Massachusetts public middle school. She founded the Boston chapter of the Black Lives Matter Grassroots Network in 2014, leading mass mobilizations and policy advocacy for Black communities.

She is also the founder of The Rest Rail, a wellness organization providing cost-free vacations to BIPOC organizers, and Pay A Black Woman, rooted in economic justice and visibility. Daunasia also traveled to Rio de Janeiro to spotlight anti-Black state violence ahead of the Olympic Games.

Today, she serves as Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA2S+ Advancement in Boston, working to empower, protect, and uplift LGBTQIA2S+ residents citywide.

Candace Nguyen (she/her) is a Vietnamese Trans woman who is a Boston local. She was born and raised in Dorchester, being the first one of her family to be born in the US. She is a graduate of UMass Boston with an individualized major in Asian American Studies. 

Candace is most known for her performing in the drag scene in Boston as Candace Persuasian where she co created a show with an all trans cast at Jacques Cabaret, the oldest LGBTQ+ establishment in the US. 

Candace has also been deeply involved with working in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community. She started off at MAP for Health, which is an organization that is dedicated to improving AAPI sexual health education on topics such as HIV and STDs. Candace has also worked with the Boston Alliance of GLTBQ Youth(BAGLY), Fenway Health, and Massachusetts General Hospital helping Trans and Gender Non Binary folks to get Gender Affirming Surgery to serving as a Community Relations Specialist for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Advancement (MOLA) working on Queer issues and advocating for brave spaces in the city that she loves so much. Candace's current role in the city is one of the executive assistants for the Environment Cabinet. 

Candace even cameoed in Beyoncé’s Renaissance film after Beyoncé read her sign that says Trans is Beautiful in a sold out stadium which led her to be featured on PinkNews, Billboard, GayTimes and more. Candace has worked with BAGLY, Fenway Health, and Mass General Hospital. She was the recipient of the 2022 Trans Excellence Award presented to her by the Mass Trans Political Coalition. 