Drew Heckman (he/him) is a queer advocate, organizer, and recovering attorney from Omaha, Nebraska.
Drew began his advocacy at home by founding the Queer Nebraska Youth Network, which provided social events, confidential online discussion, and connections to resources to over 1,000 LGBTQ+ young people. He later became the Human Rights Campaign’s first-ever Nebraska Field Organizer, leading the state’s work to change laws, polices, hearts, and minds. After law and policy school on the East Coast, Drew returned to the Midwest to join the LGBTQ Immigrant Rights Initiative at the National Immigrant Justice Center in Chicago. Representing LGBTQ+ asylum seekers from West Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean, he helped his clients achieve release from detention and permanent immigration relief in the United States.
As an Engagement Officer at Rainbow Railroad, Drew works to support the organization’s U.S. expansion efforts, refugee leadership initiatives, and private sponsorship program. Through the U.S. State Department’s Welcome Corps initiative, Drew organizes Communities of Care to welcome recently resettled LGBTQ+ refugees and help them navigate the transition to a new life.
Drew holds a B.S. in Sociology from Brown University, an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. In his free time, Drew enjoys nerding out about competitive trading card games, rollerblading on Chicago’s lakefront path, and snuggling with his little black cat Aloy.
