Leadership that moves power
I lead with a simple conviction: communities should not be invited into decisions as an afterthought. We should have the power to shape the agenda, the resources and the measures of success.
Leadership. Justice. Health. Humanity.
I am Erika Castellanos.
I am a trans woman living with HIV, a global health and human rights leader, a writer, a wife and a mother. My work is rooted in one belief: people most affected by injustice must have the power to shape the solutions.
BelizeNetherlands
15+ yearsglobal health and organisational leadership
80 countriesreached through movement and institutional work
Community firstas a principle, not a communications line
What I work for
The work is serious because people live with its consequences.
I have spent my career moving between community rooms, boardrooms and global institutions. My role is not to make those spaces look inclusive. It is to help change whose priorities determine what happens next.
Health, HIV and human rights
My work connects global health policy with lived reality. I bring together evidence, institutional knowledge and the expertise that people carry in their own bodies and communities.
Institutions that are accountable
I am interested in what makes organisations stronger, more honest and more useful. Strategy matters, but so do culture, governance, care and the courage to change how power operates.
Writing and reflections
A place to think in public.
I write about leadership, power, health, identity and philanthropy. I also write about the human being inside the work, because professional life is never entirely separate from the life we are trying to live.
Leadership and power
Who gets to lead, whose knowledge counts and what meaningful participation requires.
Global health
HIV, trans health, community systems, financing and the institutions that shape our lives.
Life and reflection
Family, creativity, rest and the ordinary practices that keep us human.
Beyond the work
Thread, fabric, family, and four muddy paws.
Leadership is only one part of my life. I am also a wife and mother, a maker who finds calm in crochet, quilting and sewing, and the human responsible for Max and Mambo, two dogs with very strong opinions about how a day should be organised.
Meet the rest of meSpeaking and conversation
Bring community authority into the room.
I speak about global health, HIV, trans equality, organisational leadership, power and what institutions must change if participation is to mean anything.
Start a speaking enquiry