On April 13, 2016, with support from Dr. Brenda J. Allen, Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion, Ed Cannon and Cammie Kennedy (members of the Faculty Council LGBTQ+ Committee) provided a Safe Zone Ally training to the School of Pharmacy at the AMC, with special guest Clare Byarugaba.
Clare Byarugaba is a Human Rights & LGBT activist and feminist based in Uganda. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Makerere University Business School. Driven by her passion to work for the realization of the human rights and freedom for the LGBT community, she became a visible and forefront leader of the movement, speaking out for the voiceless.
Clare has worked at the National Democratic Institute, the Parliament of Uganda and has been finance officer and Women’s coordinator for Ice Breakers Uganda. She worked as the coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a Coalition that successfully used its collective power to fight the notorious anti-homosexuality bill. Clare and the Coalition received the 2011 U.S State Department Human Rights defenders award for their outstanding work in Uganda. Additionally, Clare is advisor to the World Bank on LGBT issues for East Africa and was a lecturer at Colby College where she led a seminar class on Human Rights in a global perspective. Clare is also a co-founder for the Ugandan Gay Pride of 2012.
Clare currently works at Chapter Four Uganda as the lead Coordinator of the Equality and Non-Discrimination program. Despite the immense risk that comes with being an activist in Uganda, Clare continues to work tirelessly towards fighting the social and institutional injustices faced by the LGBT community in Uganda. For more information, or to support Chapter Four Uganda, please visit http://www.chapterfouruganda.com
The purpose of the Safe Zone Ally Education Program is to create a network of allies for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning) students in order to make the University community a safe and more supportive place. CU Denver’s Safe Zone Ally Education program is modeled after Safe Zone programs on college and university campuses all across the country, as well as businesses and corporations. CU Denver includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as protected categories in its non-discrimination policy, and is committed to creating a community where all people are welcome and feel safe.
Safe Zone Ally Trainings are free and open to all faculty and staff on both the CU Denver Downtown and Anschutz Medical Campuses. Please allow 2 hours. To schedule a training for your unit or department, or for more information, please contact:
Edward Cannon, Ph.D., Associate Professor, 2016 Diversity Faculty Fellow
Email: Edward.Cannon@ucdenver.edu Tel: 303.315.6335