Cathy J. Cohen is the David and Mary Winton Green Professor at the University of Chicago. Cohen is the author of The Boundaries of Blackness: AIDS and the Breakdown of Black Politics and Democracy Remixed: Black Youth and the Future of American Politics. She is co-editor of Women Transforming Politics: An Alternative Reader (NYU Press, 1997) with Kathleen Jones and Joan Tronto. Her articles have been published in numerous journals and edited volumes including the American Political Science Review, NOMOS, GLQ, Social Text, and the DuBois Review.

In addition to her academic work, Cohen was a founding board member and former co-chair of the board of the Audre Lorde Project in NY. She was also on the board of Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) at CUNY and the Arcus Foundation. Cohen was a founding member of Black AIDS Mobilization (BAM!) and was one of the core organizers of two international conferences “Black Nations / Queer Nations?” and “Race, Sex, Power.” Cohen has also served as an active member in numerous organizations such as the Black Radical Congress, ACT UP New York, African American Women in Defense of Ourselves, and Ella’s Daughters. She is also the founder and director of the Black Youth Project and hosted the convening from which the BYP100 emerged. Cohen also serves as a member of SSJ’s Executive Committee.