Bella Bautista (she/her)

Founder & Executive Director, This Doesnt Define Me

2025 Fearless Youth Advocate Award Winner

Bella Bautista is a fearless civil rights champion and one of only forty ever-recorded transgender collegiate athletes in the United States. She has testified before the Georgia State Legislature, consulted with members of Congress, and her advocacy has been recognized nationally in Teen Vogue, Telemundo, Univision, the Associated Press, The Washington Post, and the Human Rights Campaign.

Breaking barriers in both activism and pageantry, Bella made history as the first trans woman to compete at Miss Georgia USA and Miss Supranational USA. She is currently pursuing justice through a $1.5 million lawsuit against the Bartow County Sheriff’s Department, challenging discriminatory policies at the local level.

Motivated by her lived experiences, Bella founded This Doesn’t Define Me, an Afro-Latina, trans youth–led nonprofit serving Black migrants, immigrants, people living with HIV, and trans communities. She also co-organized Georgia’s landmark No Kings protest, which mobilized over 1,000 people in defense of immigrant justice in Marietta, Georgia.

Bella Bautista is the inaugural recipient of the Fearless Youth Advocate Award — a recognition of her groundbreaking leadership, unwavering courage, and commitment to building a more just and equitable world.