MJ Okma is an award-winning advocacy and public affairs strategist based in New York City with over a decade of experience including work at national LGBTQIA+ organizations, political action committees, and New York-based human services organizations.

MJ began his political advocacy career in opposition research, being drawn to the field from his personal experiences as a transgender man raised in a conservative environment. During the 2016 presidential election, he was recruited to lead a tracking and rapid response team for a national Democratic Political Action Committee. Following the 2016 election, MJ brought his skills to GLAAD where he crafted messaging to combat anti-LGBTQIA+ policies and legislation nationwide. In this role, MJ also had the opportunity to help educate journalists and media professionals on best practices to report accurately and respectfully on anti-transgender violence, HIV, and religious exemptions court cases that targeted the LGBTQIA+ community.  

Through his work at GLAAD, MJ felt driven not only to develop the messaging to combat harmful legislation and policy but also to learn how to craft alternatives, so he stepped away from GLAAD to focus on local government relations work at the Human Services Council of New York (HSC), a membership organization of over 170 human services nonprofits. At HSC, he developed and helped implement strategies that resulted in historic investments from New York City to increase the indirect rates and salaries for underpaid human services workers under government contracts.

He then took these skills to SAGE, where he successfully secured $20 million of funding for a new program through the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal to incentivize the creation of LGBTQIA+ affirming affordable elder housing; built community coalitions that led to the passage of all the organization’s top priority bills in Albany; and worked directly with the New York City Council to hold and drive turn-out to two historic oversight hearings: the first-ever dedicated oversight hearing on the needs of LGBTQIA+ older adults and the first oversight hearing on HIV and aging in nearly two decades. 

This multifaceted background and MJ’s personal and professional passion for LGBTQIA+ justice, transgender equity, and community-rooted services bring a unique perspective to all our work at Okma Strategic Consulting.

MJ [at] okmaconsulting.com