Omer El Ad, a CEO of the Gila Project for Trans Empowerment, an NGO that acts to improve the lives of trans community members through individual empowerment, community building, and advocacy. Before that, Omer founded and directed Ma’avarim’s Trans Social Work Team, the only social work solution in Israel for transgender people (funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Security). Omer is a social worker and social activist, holding a BFA in the visual arts from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, and an MSW, with honors, from Simmons University in Boston. For over a decade Omer worked with the homeless in the USA, focusing on the connection between homelessness and mental health, before moving up into management roles and becoming involved with equity and diversity processes in various NPOs. Omer also makes a point of volunteering, helping in a range of projects including fundraising for social justice NGOs, running an extensive mutual aid initiative during COVID, and volunteering at animal shelters. Lives in Tel Aviv.