Jovana Calvillo (she/they) is a Master of Social Work, clinical student at Boston College who graduated from Williams College with a B.A. in Biology and Public Health. Jovana is working towards becoming a therapist who supports and advocates for queer BIPOC and people living with HIV at an individual and community-level. She is an intern at Youth on Fire, a homeless shelter for youth who come from various backgrounds, such as transgender youth and youth living with HIV. Additionally, she is a hotline volunteer at The Network/La Red, an organization that serves LGBTQ+, SM, and polyamorous survivors of partner abuse.
As a Post-Baccalaureate clinical fellow, Jovana worked at McLean Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, for two years working with youth with severe mental illnesses. She has advocated for and educated others on queer youth of color issues, as a Youth Resource peer educator and NYHAAD ambassador for Advocates for Youth. Jovana has co-led trainings for creating safer spaces for queer youth of color and served on a panel sharing her own experiences at the Gender Spectrum symposium. As a 2019 Youth Initiative scholar, she collaborated with Boston GLASS and contributed to their inaugural event focused on the experiences and celebration of queer youth of color living with HIV. Jovana is committed to decriminalizing HIV and sex work and has lobbied for these issues at local, state, and national levels.