Founder
Christopher J. Cuevas
Principal and Managing Partner
Colibri Consulting Group
A lifelong peace practitioner, educator, and community organizer, Cuevas leads their work for cultural transformation by centering the unapologetic and unwavering power of radical love. A child of immigrants and a transgender person of color, they interconnect their lived experience and drive the necessary heart work of building a culture of peace, compassion, and change through organizing at the intersections of racial, gender, and economic justice, queer/trans liberation, migrant rights, and disability justice movements. Cuevas founded Colibri Consulting Group, a movement-centered capacity builder and strategy center, to support and resource the leadership of those at the forefront of these movements.
Through their work with state, national, and transnationally recognized initiatives and organizations, they have designed and led campaigns addressing structural racism, health equity, and queer/trans liberations. Cuevas was honored by Equality Florida as their 2017 Voice of Equality honoree, in 2018 by the Public Broadcasting Station as an American Graduate Champion, in 2022 by the Contigo Fund as their inaugural Legacy Award honoree, and recognized by POZ Magazine in its annual POZ 100 list of advocates making a difference in the fight to end the HIV epidemic.
In 2016, following the horrific massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, FL, Cuevas co-founded and served as the inaugural executive director of QLatinx, a racial, social, and gender justice movement working toward the advancement of intersecting LGBTQ+ Latine issues. Under the direction of the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Cuevas led efforts to address health disparities and introduce comprehensive measures directly supporting communities living with HIV in the U.S. South. Cuevas is an alumna of the Trans Justice Funding Project’s grantmaking fellowship, where they drove nearly $1 million to transgender-led and serving initiatives across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and American Samoa.
An avid peacebuilder, Cuevas served on the Board of Directors for the Peace and Justice Institute, an internationally recognized center for peace education. In 2019, Cuevas was appointed by the Mayor of Orlando to serve on the Advisory Board for the city’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, working to highlight and address the needs of the city’s growing multicultural community. Cuevas previously served as a trustee for Philanthropy Southeast, the premier philanthropic network focused on the American South and U.S. Caribbean territories, where they led efforts to champion equitable and trust-based practices in southern philanthropy. Christopher led the LGBTQ+ Equality grantmaking program for the Laughing Gull Foundation, the nation’s largest southern funder of LGBTQ+ initiatives, where they managed a $2 million grant portfolio and mobilized resources to queer and trans-led organizations working at the intersections of racial, gender, and economic justice. Currently, Cuevas serves as program officer for a national intermediary that resources Latine-led organizations in the United States, advancing the health and well-being of communities living with and affected by HIV.
Published Works
