University of Southern California

Over the course of her career, visionary leader Julie Rousseau has been a student-athlete, a head coach in high school, college and professional athletics, and an educator.

Rousseau led on and off the court as head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks, assistant coach of the Stanford Cardinals women’s basketball team and head coach of women’s basketball at Pepperdine University. At USC, she empowers Trojan student-athletes from all backgrounds to become tomorrow’s leaders.

Since joining the Trojan Family in 2020, Dr. Rousseau has also served as an adjunct professor. She was appointed to lead the USC Athletics Black Lives Matter Action Team in 2020-21, and through her work encourages all Trojans to promote and support the Women of Troy, USC’s renowned women’s athletics program.

Laura Taylor is a board-certified family practice physician at Keck Medicine of USC and medical director of the USC Gender-Affirming Care Program, which provides high-quality, comprehensive medical care for transgender, non-binary and gender diverse patients.

Dr. Taylor is a member of professional organizations including the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and the U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health. She is also an advocate of training the next generation of physicians and serves as clinical assistant professor of family medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Dr. Taylor grew up in Pittsburgh and has called Southern California home since 2019. When she’s not working, she loves spending time with her wife, two children and their labradoodle. She also enjoys hiking, camping and exploring new places.

Amber Acosta is a proud Puerto Rican and Mexican first-generation student. After many years in the workforce, she returned to school at age 30 to earn her master’s degree in public policy from USC Price.

Acosta, a 2024-25 Lambda Scholar and the inaugural recipient of the Donald L. Gabard Scholarship for Advancing the LGBTQ+ Community, also serves as a strategic development specialist for the Housing Authority for the City of Los Angeles, where she enhances both community engagement and support services. She is deeply motivated by care for others and making a real impact on their lives, whether though policy, digital equity or community work. In her free time, Amber enjoys hosting a Saturday coffee shop, running and finding new ways to grow.

For decades, alumna and trustee Amy Ross PhD has been one of the Trojan Family’s most passionate and engaged volunteer leaders.

Ross, a founding Board Member of the USC Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association, served as its president from 1994 to 1996. In 2014, she made USC history as the first openly LGBTQ+ president of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors. 

Since 2015, Ross has served on the USC Board of Trustees, and since 2021 on the USC Health System Board, which appointed her as vice chair in 2023. She also serves on the boards of the USC Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation and USC Arcadia Hospital.

Ross’ Trojan story began in a Health Sciences Campus lab, where she began a job as a technician in the 1970s. She was encouraged to apply to the doctoral program at the Keck School of Medicine at USC and went on to have a long and distinguished career as a medical researcher and educator.

Ross was senior vice president of scientific affairs at the cell therapy company Nexell Therapeutics and an associate biologist at the California Institute of Technology. She is a founding member of the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals, which, in 2014, presented her with the Walt Westman Award for her dedication and commitment to the organization’s mission.

Ross holds a bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from Cal State Northridge and a doctorate in experimental pathology from the Keck School of Medicine of USC.