THE DEFENDER
THE DEFENDER
Managing Editor
The Kansas City Defender
Montalvo supported Black digital news organization, The Kansas City Defender, through copyediting, grant fulfillment and support of its community survival programs.
Most notably, Montalvo built the infrastructure for The Defender’s Editorial, and founded {B/qKC}, a digital archive highlighting Black queer Kansas City history, through the organization.
Montalvo conceptualized new programs for The Defender, including their first-ever Young Black Writer’s Social. Read about the social on The Defender. >
Montalvo creates The Defender’s first-ever fellowship program. Pictured is Montalvo among first class of Young Defender Fellows. >
Montalvo and Ryan Sorrell creat The Defender’s Writer’s Guide, a guiding tool for reporters in writing for the organization. Contact Montalvo for access. >
A video shot and edited by Montalvo recapping The Defender’s first Holiday Party (of which, they dually conceptualized). More from the Defender’s social media here. >
Montalvo raised over $50k for The Defender in less than a year of being hired. Learn more about The Defender. >
glaad
glaad
Interning at glaad in Spring 2020, Montalvo served in various roles before and during the pandemic. Check them out below.
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• Pitched 28 nominees - of which 16 were selected - as part of a Committee to implement GLAAD's first “20 Under 20” Rising Stars: a group of youth who embolden the LGBTQ+ through digital media; this ultimately led to a feature in Teen Vogue.
• Offered to edit articles from Campus Ambassadors to be featured in GLAAD’s blog for queer youth - saving the company time.
• Pitched 28 nominees - of which 16 were selected - as part of a Committee to implement GLAAD's first “20 Under 20” Rising Stars: a group of youth who embolden the LGBTQ+ through digital media; this ultimately led to a feature in Teen Vogue.
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• Led GLAAD’s inaugural “Organizing Team” of 9 others in developing new initiatives for GLAAD’s 204 total campus ambassadors - including the creation of an orientation video for new ambassadors to answer feedback around onboarding.
• Conceptualized and launched the program’s “Monday Night Chats” on Slack - which offered a safe space for students to share their experiences as well as transition the platform from solely announcements to a place of conversation.
• Spoke for and represented GLAAD at the High School Democrats of America’s “Virtual PRIDE” alongside Chasten Buttigieg and Joshua Rush to inspire young LGBTQ+ people in taking action for the 2020 election.
• Aided GLAAD in spreading their mission by featuring in HelloGiggles and Cosmopolitan articles to highlight queer visibility.
Check out 20 Under 20 Rising Stars: a project they worked on that featured in Teen Vogue:
STARTLAND EDUCATION
STARTLAND EDUCATION
Marketing Manager
Startland Education
As Marketing Manager for Startland Education Montalvo led strategic branding efforts, managed social media, developed sales materials, and created a team of student contractors. Montalvo’s most notable projects in this role were piloting the launch of the Startland Education brand and website, creating a series of videos and Instagram Reels to promote the Education branch’s work in human-centered design, and founding the “Next-Gen Ambassadors Program”: a semester-long project where college students were led through a real-world, design-thinking project.
captured by Sydney Siemens, a Social Media Intern Nasir Montalvo managed during Summer 2022.
Promotional flyer created for Startland’s Early Educator Fellowship. Check out the landing page, designed by me. >
Startland’s Next-Gen Ambassadors program, created by Nasir Montalvo. Read about it here. >
Promotional video for Startland Education’s Social Change Internship. Watch the whole thing. >
Intro card for Student Spotlight Instagram Reel. Watch the whole thing. >
COLLEGE
COLLEGE
Montalvo served in several student-facing leadership roles while at Stevens Institute of Technology. Check some out below.
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During their time at their University, Montalvo immersed themselves into the campus community in order to build more tight-knit bonds and tackle issues of representation amongst the most public-facing roles on campus.
Beginning as an Orientation Leader in their Sophomore year, Montalvo helped create a fun welcome weekend for incoming freshmen, and mentored a group of 20 similarly-majored students in the Fall semester through monthly meetings and occasional check-ups to guide their transition into college.
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In their Junior year, Montalvo would go on to become a Resident Assistant within Freshmen Housing. During this time, Montalvo fostered a safe and friendly community within an area of approximately 40 residents. In their Senior year, Montalvo also began a DEI initiative where them and their co-RA would post “Bathroom Clippings” to dismantle large topics of social justice through easily digestible ‘clips’ in the communal bathrooms. Montalvo would be awarded the “Inspiration Award” their first year as an RA for the actions they took to create more inclusive halls.
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Finally, Montalvo served as a Summer Counselor for Stevens’ Pre-College Program – an exploratory summer opportunity for high school students to take part in college curricula in 1-2 week intervals. Montalvo would oversee the program’s first Clark Scholar’s pipeline group – a group of underrepresented, first-gen high school students from Washington D.C. – by helping to create programming to ensure a positive experience and empower them in pursuing higher education.
Montalvo is the founder of their student government’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and founder of the movements #WeWillNotSITBy | #RenameGFH in light of the construction of Gianforte Family Hall (named after the anti-trans Montana governor, Greg Gianforte.)
