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AJ Hikes (they/them) is a social justice advocate, community organizer, TED Talk Speaker, and unapologetically queer and Black. As Deputy Executive Director for Strategy & Culture, AJ is chief counselor and principal partner to the Executive Director, overseeing the critical functions of organizational strategic planning and priority setting nationwide, while providing executive leadership across the ACLU.

Previously, AJ was the ACLU鈥檚 first Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, leading the organization鈥檚 nationwide strategy to embed equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) across all aspects of the organization鈥檚 work and culture.

In 2017, AJ introduced the world to the More Color, More Pride flag, launching a global conversation around anti-racism in the LGBTQ community. On the heels of this monumental work, AJ released a TED Talk on mentorship and collective liberation that has been viewed over two million times and has inspired a network of intersectional accomplices who are transforming equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace.

Prior to joining the ACLU, AJ served as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Mayor鈥檚 Office of LGBTQ Affairs where they fought for the most impacted populations within the LGBTQ community 鈥� specifically youth, elders, immigrants, transgender people, and people of color. During their tenure, AJ advanced anti-discrimination legislation, enacted one of the nation鈥檚 most trans-inclusive police policies, and added black and brown stripes to the rainbow flag, sparking an international conversation about race and discrimination within the LGBTQ community.

A community organizer from an early age, AJ began their career in education access advocacy 鈥� as the youngest Upward Bound director in the country 鈥� at the University of Pennsylvania where their work expanded opportunities for youth of color experiencing poverty and homelessness.

AJ has been recognized nationally by Fast Company topping their 2023 Queer 50 List, by the Stonewall Gives Back Initiative as their Inaugural recipient of the Stonewall Brick Award for Community Activist of the Year and as OUT Magazine鈥檚 鈥淐ommunity Organizer of the Year.鈥� AJ earned a Master鈥檚 Degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and Psychology and English degrees from the University of Delaware.

AJ believes in employing an intersectional lens in all aspects of community work and leans daily on the words of sister Audre Lorde: 鈥淭here is no such thing as a single-issue struggle, because we do not live single-issue lives.鈥�

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