Desire K. King was born and raised in Uganda. She received a degree in Health Nursing from Nsambya School of Nursing in 1998, where her passion for working with marginalized communities began. Uganda’s strict criminalization of LGBTQ communities sparked Desire’s motivation for advocacy and activism as part of the “Rainbow Refugee Community”. This advocacy work ultimately led to Desire fleeing Uganda and immigrating to Canada where her career in supporting marginalized communities continued. Since 2013 Desire has been an active volunteer at Afro-Canadian Positive Network Society, where she supports community members through outreach, and advocacy on matters surrounding HIV and Criminalization, Immigration, and Housing.
Desire’s career working with marginalized communities has expanded with her work at CGSHE in 2017, supporting the operations team in running our frontline research activities. Further complimenting this work Desire’s background supporting folks living with HIV, made her a natural fit for the Community Engagement Associate role with the SHAWNA Team. To further round out Desire’s immense skillset and experience, she recently received her Immigration Consulting Diploma, pulling together her lived and work experience with immigration. In her spare time Desire enjoys singing gospel songs and attending her sons’ games. She loves cooking and hosting friends, building community.