Linda Riley has announced that she is giving DIVA back to the community that has always supported it
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY WETHERALL PHOTOGRAPHY
At the DIVA Awards on 26 April, Linda Riley announced that Nancy Kelley will be taking over DIVA magazine as Executive Director. To coincide with this new announcement, DIVA magazine will be registering as a charity, giving back to the community that has supported it over the last three decades.
Linda Riley has been the Publisher of DIVA for eight years after taking over the magazine in 2016. The LGBTQIA activist and icon focused her time as Publisher on making sure that DIVA was a trans-inclusive, diverse magazine that spoke to the entire community of LGBTQIA women and non-binary people. She also founded Lesbian Visibility Week in 2019, a week-long celebration of LGBTQIA women and non-binary people.
Coming to the helm of DIVA is Nancy Kelley, a British lawyer, policy adviser and human rights advocate who served as the CEO of Stonewall from 2020 until July 2023. This year she was made the Director of Lesbian Visibility Week and has worked alongside organisations such as ILGA World, LGBT Foundation, Curve, and more to create global conversations about this year’s campaign #UnifiedNotUniform.
Continuing on Linda’s legacy, Nancy is committed to bringing greater visibility to the LGBTQIA community, advocating for change and equality globally.
In a moving speech Nancy said, “In a world where the backlash against our rights is increasingly fierce – DIVA is going to be there, with you – with us, every step of the way. We will be a mirror – reflecting your life and your world back to you. So all LGBTQIA+ women and non binary people can feel seen and know they are not alone. We will be a stage – celebrating your incredible talent, creativity and drive. Making space for the LGBTQIA+ women and non binary people who so much their lives getting elbowed out of the spotlight. And we will be a megaphone – amplifying the voice and reach of LGBTQIA+ women and non binary people fighting for liberation and justice here in the UK and around the world.”
Roxy Bourdillon, editor-in-chief of DIVA, said, “I’m thrilled that Nancy is joining Team DIVA as our new executive director. Working closely with her, in her capacity as director of Lesbian Visibility Week, has been both joyful and inspiring. As we embark on this new chapter for DIVA, I am so excited about the future. Nancy’s vision to make DIVA a megaphone for all LGBTQIA women and non-binary people in the UK and abroad is powerful and vital. I am so looking forward to DIVA making even more people in our intersectional, international community feel seen, celebrated and, crucially, championed.”
She added, “The work that Linda has done as publisher of DIVA has been extraordinary. She has found so many bold new ways to empower and uplift our community, elevating DIVA from a magazine to so much more.”
Linda commented, “DIVA wouldn’t exist without the incredible support of not only all of the people in this room, but also the wider LGBTQIA community and our allies in both the UK and beyond. The impact we have already seen has been beyond anything I could have hoped for, but there is so much more we can, and need, to do, and I know that this is the right way to achieve that.”
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
