JASMYN, which serves the LGBTQIA+ community in the Jacksonville area, has named Francisco Castro as the nonprofit's new CEO.

Board chairman Blake Osner said Castro joins the Jacksonville Area Sexual Minority Youth Network during a "pivotal time" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, as the Trump administration works to "erase them" and their hard-won rights .

They "face more challenges today than ever, many from some of our own political leaders," Osner said. "Efforts to make our communities more equitable for everyone are being deleted everywhere from major corporations to institutions of higher learning. … Francisco is the right person to keep JASMYN shining as a beacon of hope for our LGBTQIA+ youth."

Castro has about 30 years of experience in finance and nonprofit leadership, most recently as development director for Boston's Fenway Health and AIDS Action Committee. Previously he was finance and development manager for Greater Boston PFLAG and executive director of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. He has also been a vice president at Regions Bank and Citibank.

He brings relatable life experience.

"Along with being an out and proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, I am also a person of color who is open about my HIV -positive status," he said. "I understand JASMYN’s mission and the struggles our LGBTQIA+ youth face first-hand … I see myself in the young people we serve and I hope to show by example that being LGBTQIA+ will not keep them from fulfilling their dreams."

In a separate statement, he called Trump's "dangerous executive orders … an assault on basic human rights and our humanity." LGBTQ+ youth "are feeling invalidated and devastated by the dismantling of safe and affirming spaces," he said, but at JASMYN the orders "strengthen our resolve."

Castro succeeded founding CEO Cindy Watson , who retired in December 2023.