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Preston Mitchum was born in Youngstown, Ohio, the son of Carla Postell. From a young age, his mother – primarily a fan of Malcolm X — taught him the importance of seeking the truth and never believing anything without research.
Though this got him into trouble for most of his schooling, he quickly turned this into his passion for writing, persuasion, and advocacy. Preston has two older sisters, LeShauna and Ebony, who instilled motivation, drive, and learning when – and more importantly, when not – to pick battles. While in middle school, he lost his little brother, Paris. He continues to carry Paris with him in the form of a tattoo on his right arm.
Preston attended Trotwood-Madison High School in Trotwood, Ohio, and graduated in 2004. Following High School, he enrolled at Kent State University, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, concentrating in Public Policy. He then pursued his Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina.
In 2010, Preston became student body president, and in 2011, he graduated cum laude. During law school, Preston published two law review articles: “Gene Patents and Informed Consent: The Mythical Reasonable Person Standard” and “A Robust Conception of Speech: Hate Speech and the First Amendment.” In addition, he was on the school’s Moot Court Board, competing in two oral advocacy competitions, making it to the semifinals in the Luke Charles Moore Invitational, a civil rights competition at Howard University School of Law. Law school instilled in him the importance of research and writing. Over the past several years, those dreams have become realized.
In the fall of 2011, Preston enrolled in American University, Washington College of Law for his Master’s of Law degree in Law and Government, with a concentration in constitutional law and civil rights, along with a specialization in gender and law. During his LLM tenure, he researched, wrote, and published three law review articles: “Screaming to be Heard: Black Feminism and the Fight for A Voice From the 1950s to the 1970s”, Homophobia as a Public Health Hazard: Gender Identities, Sexual Orientation, and the Human Right to Health,” and “Slapping the Hand of Cultural Relativism: Female Genital Mutilation, Male Dominance, and Health as a Human Rights Framework.” It was at this time he began studying the roots of feminism. With those roots, he began to understand the exclusion of Black women from mainstream feminist movements and wanted to ensure that the voices of marginalized groups would always be heard. Part of understanding feminism was first checking his privilege as a man (despite identifying as queer) and realizing that identities work together.
Preston remembers his “coming out” experience like it was yesterday. It has been over seven years since he logged onto Facebook and publicly announced his sexual orientation. “I can no longer stay silent, friends,” he wrote.
“I am gay and have been for a lifetime. I recognize that this may be a shock to some of you, but I would be remiss to only share half of me.” Coming out was both liberating and constricting for him. It was beautiful, although the consequences were occasionally ugly. He is glad he came out. But what about those people who aren’t? Upon publicly announcing his sexual orientation, he quickly realized that the last thing a closeted LGBT individual needed, faced with a hostile social environment, is to feel like those individuals most accepting of their identity won’t support them unless that identity is publicly proclaimed. He explained this in one of his first viral pieces, “On National Coming Day, Don’t Disparage the Closet.”
Preston is the Founder & Principal of PDM Consulting, a multi-purpose consulting firm focused on the power of Black people, LGBTQ+ people, and young people. Most recently, Preston served as the Director of Federal Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ young people, and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law.
Preston was the first openly LGBTQ Chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and, in 2021, was voted D.C.'s Most Committed Activist by Washington Blade readers and runner-up in 2022. He has been featured in Washington Post, BET.com, The Root, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, CNN, and others. He was named a 2021 Rockwood Fellow for Leaders in Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice and was named one of the 2020 Best LGBTQ Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.
Preston holds an LL.M. in Law and Government from American University Washington College of Law, a Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University School of Law, and a B.A. in Political Science from Kent State University.
Preston Mitchum (he/him) is a Black queer attorney, advocate, and activist hailing from Dayton, Ohio and living in Washington, DC. He is the Chief Executive Officer of PDM Consulting, LLC, a multi-purpose consulting firm focused on the power of Black people, LGBTQ+ people, and young people.
In his more than a decade of legal and policy expertise, Preston has served in nonprofit organizations that center the voices of historically oppressed communities. Prior to launching his own venture last year, Preston served as the Director of Federal Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project. He has also dedicated years of service to URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, Advocates for Youth, the Center for Health and Gender Equity, Center for American Progress, and the National Coalition for LGBTQ+ Health. In addition, Preston has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center teaching LGBTQ Health Law & Policy and at American University Washington College of Law teaching Sexuality, Gender Identity, & the Law.
Preston currently serves on the Board of Directors for SPARKReproductive Justice Now and True Colors United, and he was previously on the National Women's Health Network's Policy Advisory Council. For the second year, he is also the President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.Omicron Eta Lambda Chapter. Most recently, Preston served as the CoChair of Collective Action for Safe Spaces' Board of Directors and the National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division's Social Justice Committee. In the summer of 2021, Preston helped lead a 10-week protest against Nellie's Sports Bar, a popular bar in the nation's capital, after a video revealed a security guard dragging a Black woman down the stairs by her hair.
Preston has been featured in Washington Post, BET, MTV, The Root, The Grio, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, The Guardian, and others. He has earned many accolades including being named Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.'s Inaugural 40 Under 40, a Rockwood Fellow for Leaders in Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice, and was voted DC LGBTQ's "Most Committed Activist" by the Washington Blade in 2021. He was named one of the 2020 Best LGBTQ Lawyers Under 40 by theLGBTQ Bar Association. Preston was the first openly LGBTQ Chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and was a featured author in the 2022 book, The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System.
He holds a LL.M. in Law and Government from American University Washington College of Law, a Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Political Science from Kent State University.
You may also recognize Preston on your television screens as a cast member on Bravo's reality TV show, "Summer House: Martha's Vineyard."
