University of Southern California

Donald Gabard MS ’78, MPA ’88, PhD ’90

(he/him/his)

Founder and Former President, USC Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association

Donald Gabard is the founder and former president of the USC Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association. A triple USC alumnus and longtime champion of LGBTQ+ causes, he worked with university leaders and founding USC Lambda board members to create what has become the home of our LGBTQ+ Trojan Family. In addition, he served as co-president of USC Lambda during its first two years—a time of exponential growth for the organization, both in terms of membership and programming.

During his tenure as co-president, USC Lambda hosted its first Homecoming reception, as well as its inaugural Scholarship Awards dinner. Gabard’s exemplary leadership and tireless efforts laid a solid foundation for the USC Lambda of today: a dynamic alumni organization that fosters community, awards scholarships to deserving LGBTQ+ and allied USC students, and promotes education and increased visibility for LGBTQ+ Trojans.

A North Carolina native, Gabard graduated from USC with a master’s degree in physical therapy in 1978; he later returned to earn his master’s and doctorate in public policy. His specialty area in physical therapy was pediatrics, and he was among the first in L.A. to treat pediatric AIDS patients. Gabard also treated adults with AIDS who were refused service by other providers.

In 1987, Gabard participated in the founding of Caring For Babies With AIDS, as both a program designer and one of the organization’s first providers, pro bono. Based in Culver City, California, this nonprofit was the first pediatric AIDS hospice in the western United States. He later authored the concept paper for AIDS In-Home Care Training Programs, which was funded and implemented by the City of Los Angeles in 1988. That same year, he won the Samuel C. May National Research Award from the Western Government Research Association for his work in AIDS research. In 1994, Gabard was both a panelist and featured speaker at the American Association for the Advancement of Science on the intersection of ethics in sexual orientation and human genome investigations. Over a 20-year span, he served as a medical ethicist on three hospital ethics committees simultaneously, often safeguarding the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2011, Gabard founded By Your Side, a volunteer-based program providing end-of-life support for patients at LAC+USC Medical Center. The program, through funding from the Archstone Foundation, was widely disseminated to hospitals.

A 1996 recipient of a USC Alumni Association President’s Award, Gabard continues to play a vital role in USC Lambda, most notably in scholarship fundraising. Now retired from being a tenured professor, he enjoys traveling—passionately chasing Christmas markets in Western Europe, Canada and the U.K.—as well as gardening, specifically cattleya orchids.

Alexandra Billings

(she/her/hers)

Actress, Singer, Author, Activist and Assistant Professor of Acting, USC School of Dramatic Arts

Alexandra Billings is an award-winning actress, singer, author and activist who’s currently an assistant professor of acting at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.

Over the course of her decades-spanning career, Billings has achieved unprecedented success as an openly transgender actress. Her one-woman autobiographical show, Before I Disappear, ran for more than 10 years off-Broadway. In 2005, she became the second transgender actress to play a transgender character on television, when she co-starred in ABC’s Romy and Michelle: A New Beginning. Although Billings is probably best known for playing Davina on the Amazon series Transparent, she has also guest-starred in such series as E.R., Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder, and now has a recurring role on Amazon’s The Peripheral.

A dedicated AIDS and LGBTQ+ activist and advocate, Billings received the 2016 Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award, which recognizes LGBTQ+ people who live openly and freely in the public eye. In addition, she has received five After Dark Awards and one Joseph Jefferson Award. Her memoir, This Time for Me, was published in 2022 to critical acclaim.

Danielle E. Harvey ’00, ML ’19

(she/her/hers)

Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations

Danielle E. Harvey is the associate vice president for alumni relations at the University of Southern California. As a senior manager of the USC Alumni Association, she leads a diverse team of professionals responsible for engaging all alumni lifelong and worldwide through a vast array of programs, services and events. Her portfolio includes the award-winning USC Women’s Conference, Reunion Weekend and Alumni Leadership Conference, and she provides leadership to the USC Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association, regional engagement programs, industry and affinity networks, and generational groups.

With more than 18 years of experience in alumni relations and development, Danielle has a proven record of accomplishment in program development, board and volunteer management, organizational leadership, strategic planning, relationship building and fundraising. Her passions include teaching, mentoring and empowering women and children in addition to writing and other creative outlets.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the USC Rossier School of Education and an executive master’s degree in leadership from the USC Price School of Public Policy.

Lucille Warren ’22

(she/her/hers)

Student, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy

Lucille “Lucy” Warren is a St. Louis, Missouri native and USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences alum who’s currently pursuing a graduate degree from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Deeply involved in student advocacy, she served as both the student body vice president and chief diversity officer for the Undergraduate Student Government. In this capacity, Warren spearheaded a number of projects, from expanding gender-neutral bathrooms and disability accommodations on campus to leading Title-IX & Title-IV reporting mechanisms.

On the academic front, Warren is both a Presidential Scholar and a USC Lambda Scholar. She served as a research fellow at USC Dornsife’s Security and Political Economy Lab, where she worked on projects focused on education equity, foreign aid allocation and police brutality. She also helped craft the justice and equity strategic plan for the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Science, and is a former member of the Presidential Working Group on Sustainability’s DEI Committee.

Outside of USC, Warren served as a policy intern at both the U.S. Department of Labor and the City of Glendale, California. Passionate about using technology to advance intersectional equity and improve access to public resources, Warren hopes to work in policy analysis and strategic planning after graduating from USC.