Eric Paulk is a lawyer and advocate working on issues impacting LGBTQ communities and communities of people living with and vulnerable to HIV acquisition. He currently serves as Deputy Director at Georgia Equality and oversees all day-to-day operations, developing and managing local, state, and federal policy and advocacy activities that advance equity and fairness for LGBTQ communities and improves public and private responses to the HIV epidemic. Prior to joining Georgia Equality, Eric served as the Tyron Garner Fellow at Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest organization dedicated to advancing the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and individuals living with HIV. At Lambda Legal, Paulk’s work focused on HIV law and policy initiatives with an emphasis on legal issues disproportionately impacting Black LGBTQ communities. Eric has spoken at leading law schools and national advocacy conferences on HIV criminal reform, the impact of the school-to-prison pipeline on Black queer youth, and the intersections of race, poverty, HIV, and LGBTQ issues. He serves on the Board of the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, is a former Board Chair of GLSEN New York City and serves on the Fulton County Complete Count Commission. He is also an accomplished author publishing social commentary for online outlets including Huffington Post, Plus Magazine, The Atlanta Voice, The Atlanta Daily World, Project Q Magazine, and others. He is an NLC Fellow, former Victory Institute Victory Empowerment Fellow and Semi-Finalist for the Echoing Green Fellowship for Black Male Achievement. Most recently, Eric was named as one of the state’s top 40 leaders under 40 by Georgia Trend Magazine. Mr. Paulk is a graduate of Morehouse College and received his law degree from Pace University Law School.