Chris Cozad & Gloria McCauley

Chris and Gloria have shared their time, talent, energy, guidance, and leadership with a variety of organizations in their 32 years together.  Chris and Gloria first stepped into activism in the early 80’s during the first days of the AIDS epidemic.  Faced with the death of many friends and the new ban on gay men donating blood, they spearheaded a local chapter of Blood Sisters, a group dedicated to encouraging lesbians to give blood in honor of gay men who could not.  For the past 18 years, the primary focus of their work has been with the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO), which the pair founded in 1996.  Gloria serves as BRAVO’s Executive Director and Chris is President Emerita of the Board.  BRAVO serves the entire State of Ohio and the mission is to eliminate violence perpetrated on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identification, domestic violence and sexual assault through prevention, education, advocacy, violence documentation and survivor services, both within and on behalf of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities.

Chris and Gloria have been unyielding champions of LGBT equality and education.   They have traveled extensively in Ohio and around the country providing training, technical assistance and consultation to communities, organizations, conferences, law enforcement agencies, and service providers. In addition, they have also consulted with the CDC, FBI, the Department of Justice and the White House on violence issues. As a result of their work with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), both have served on the Board of NCAVP.