born April 19, 1988

Out of the gate DeShanda say she a lover of good shoes, which won and got my attention. She also a good storyteller, loves serving youth in Milwaukee, and was one of the 40 under 40 for Milwaukee. DeShanda good people. 

DeShanda was born in Yuma, Arizona, but has been in Milwaukee since she was three. She went to Washington High School and was the only kid at her church who didn’t get graduation money. Because she gay. Those people gave money to all the other kids, but not her. DeShanda mom read her journal when she a teenager and found out she had a girlfriend. This made her stepfather kick her and her mom out and they had to go live with a cousin. 

Now DeShanda’s Senior Vice President of Programs & Services for Pathfinders. She able to relate to the youth, especially LGBTs that been kicked out of their homes for being gay. She found out about Pathfinders while she was getting her degree in social work at UW-Madison. She experienced a lot of racism while she was there. But that didn’t stop her from her calling of advocating and serving people’s housing instability in Milwaukee.