Meet Our Scholars

From 2008 to 2014, Win Chesson served as the Director of Development at Immigration Equality, the national leader in LGBT and HIV immigration rights. In that time, the organization doubled its number of offices, tripled its budget, quadrupled client services, and secured asylum for over 500 LGBT people with a 99% success rate. Win won a Morehead-Cain Scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he graduated with Highest Distinction. At UNC, Win wrote for Lambda Magazine, directed the largest LGBT student conference in the South, and created an accredited seminar called “T is for Transgender: An Ally’s Guide to Activism.” Win is passionate about social justice philanthropy and outdoor adventure. He cycled across the United States to raise money for affordable housing, swam 28 miles around Manhattan on a four-person charity relay, and summited Mount Kenya. He swims for Team New York Aquatics (TNYA), the largest LGBT swim team in the world, and helped TNYA raise and give away over $100,000 in five years. Under his leadership as Board Co-President in 2012, TNYA won the LGBT International Aquatics Championships. Win has received multiple top ten national rankings as a Masters swimmer, including nine firsts.