Today we’d like to introduce you to Joseph Zolobczuk.
Hi Joseph, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Please also see this article, published in 2019, which describes a bit of my background:
https://lmgfl.com/joseph-zolobczuk-yes-institute/
Originally from Western NY, I experienced anti-gay bullying in middle and high school in the 1990s. After a challenging coming out experience, I relocated to Miami and sought out the work of YES Institute, then called Project Y.E.S. The co-founders of the nonprofit Connie Barden, MSN, RN, CCRN, FAAN, and Martha Fugate were pioneering transformative work with parents, families, school districts, psychologists, faith leaders, and medical personnel to address the lack of knowledge and the stigma facing lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, and the high rates of violence and suicide they face due to rejection and othering. Both of my parents also participated in YES Institute’s educational courses, which helped us become closer and more authentic with one another. In the early 2000s, YES Institute was among the first organizations in our area to provide education and family resources on transgender youth topics. Every year, we provide education to school faculties, therapists, and hospitals, to strengthen the safety net and awareness for helping professionals who care for youth and young adults in their work.
Over my 29 years serving at YES Institute, I’ve had the honor to empower, support, and work with hundreds of families over the decades in their journey towards restoration, acceptance, and unconditional love. We provide communication and education courses, and assist parents in navigating resources best suited to their family context and preferred languages.
One of our many success stories was documented by one of our incredible moms, Isabelle Camille in her book, “Sole’s Mom: A Transgender Journey of Love, Loss, and Letting Go” (July 15, 2024) dedicated to the work of YES Institute. We’ve supported her and her son Sky for over a decade. A retired MDCPS teacher, Isabelle now actively lends her voice and passion to sharing about her journey, and to inspire others parents with possibility and love. Isabelle was featured during the 2024 Miami Book Fair, an NBC6 South Florida segment, and local Haitian Radio segment, and will also be appearing at the upcoming 2025 Little Haiti Book Festival.
This year, we are convening a new initiative to empower, strengthen, and support parents whose children are diagnosed with autism spectrum and gender dysphoria (Research reference: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10313553/) For parents, facing one the these realities with the child brings numerous challenges as well as unique joys, however, this co-occurrence can increase the complexity and difficulty finding safe, caring schools, kind peer socialization environments, knowledgeable therapists and medical providers, as well as access to parental and family peer supports.
For me, there is no more rewarding and meaningful work than community-based and nonprofit mission service. In addition to my work at YES Institute, I’ve interned at National Voices for Equality, Education, and Enlightenment (https://nveee.org/) while completing my Master’s program at University of Miami’s School of Education in Community & Social Change in 2012. I’ve also served on the advisory board with Kindness Matters 365 (https://kindnessmatters365.org/) based in Palm Beach. In 2023 I served as a Community Advisor Council member for The Miami Foundation, while this year, I’m serving as a Community Grants review advisor. I also provide life coaching and mentoring to other up-and-coming nonprofit leaders, as we bring forth the next generation of dynamic community change-makers.
https://miamifoundation.org/joseph-zolobczuk-biography/
You can also see this article published last year:
“YES Institute: Educating Adults on Orientation, Gender to Save Lives.” (2024)
https://outsfl.com/feature/yes-institute-educating-adults-on-orientation-gender-to-save-lives
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To learn the skill of being able to be in conversation, relatedness, and present new possibilities with people who have years of deep seated beliefs and strong viewpoints – especially on topics such as gender identity and sexual orientation – which over the last few years, have become cultural flashpoints in our national discourse…this is not an easy or smooth road. However, it is a very worthy road, and it’s a road myself and our staff, board, and volunteers commit to everyday. Why? The life of a young person is at stake. Gay and transgender youth have 24-45% suicide rate (FL CDC YBRSS, 2021, Trevor Project surveys), and people with autism have alarmingly high suicide rates
(Research: https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-023-00544-7).
It’s not the loss of only one life, which in itself is a tragedy. It’s also the devastating ripple effect. Students are impacted by the loss of a friend or classmate, parents must contend with one of their worst nightmares, planning a funeral for their own child. We are left in a void of what they could have become and the contributions they could have made.
I mention my dear friend, champion, and extraordinary mom, Diana Cochrane with Francesco’s Foundation, based in Long Island, NY. YES Institute is providing consultation with Francesco’s Foundation in the development stages of their nonprofit, and Diana is a parent speaker with us. Diana’s work began when her son Francesco died on October 21, 2021 at 17 years old. He had been the target of malicious anti-gay rumors and cyberbullying. Diana is now working on safe gun storage legislation for minors and LGBTQ educational initiatives within New York State, in the hopes that reforms can prevent another senseless tragedies, and cultivate a better future for New York families and their children.
https://francescosfoundation.org/
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am known for leading the YES Institute Communication Solutions™ and Toolbox courses which benefit a wide variety of professionals and families contending with “us vs. them”, “I’m right, you’re wrong” agendas and frameworks. I teach how using a three-step model can transform relatedness, shift conversations to mutual purpose focuses, and open up new possibilities – even among people who disagree with one another.
Presently, myself and research colleagues from University of Miami School of Nursing are studying a protocol for family-based intervention for Hispanic youth and their parents that will provide insight into the family acceptance process regarding sexual orientation.
(In Press.) Lozano, A., Estrada, Y., Scott, D., Tapia, M.I., Santos, H.P., Carrico, A.W., Zolobczuk, J., Manker, A., &
Prado, G. Familias con Orgullo: Study Protocol for an efficacy study of a family-based intervention for Hispanic
sexual minority youth. PLOS ONE. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38100451/
I also worked to publish with coauthors one of the first, and to our knowledge, only anti-gay bullying study in Florida comparing middle, high school and college students. Our aim was to better understand this phenomenon to derive better guidance and insight for schools on student psychological safety:
2018 McEwing, E., Zolobczuk, J.M., Huynh, K.D., Gonzalez, A.A., & Lee, D.L. Incidences of school-based anti-
gay and gender-related bullying: Differences across levels of education. Florida Public Health Review, 15, 25-35.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/fphr/vol15/iss1/3/
What’s next?
In February 2026, YES Institute will hit our 30 year milestone of nonprofit service to the South Florida community, and it will also be my 30-year work anniversary. I sought out the support of YES Institute at 18 years old, looking for resources for myself and my parents contending with the realization I was gay during an era when this was not discussed in our family, community, or even in the news media, only in small part though the HIV epidemic coverage. I started as a volunteer, and our first major grant awarded by The Health Foundation of South Florida allowed Martha and Connie to hire me as a youth liaison, along with a grant writer, Joan Schaeffer, who is also a dear friend and donor to YES Institute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAGYIP-Aiik
Next February, we are hosting a fundraising gala aboard the Biscayne Lady Yacht in Downtown Miami, which will coincide with our launch of a commemorative book highlighting three decades of the impact of our work in Miami and beyond, while also invite current and new donors to invest in an Inclusive Futures campaign to uplift the life-saving work of our mission and programs – now vitally needed more than ever. Our longstanding donors, family foundations, and private investors in YES Institute keep our programing independent and thriving, in an era where government grants come with restrictions, or are being cancelled outright. Our independent funding allows us to support and care for families, some of whom we’ve known when their parents sought YES Institute when their child was 4 years old, and whom we still support today, such as the Eduardo and Patricia:
https://yesinstitutemiami.blogspot.com/2013/09/four-year-old-says-im-not-boy-im-girl.html
Pricing:
- Family resource meetings and community navigation are no cost.
- We charge nominal registration fees for our in-person or Zoom courses in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, scholarships available.
- We also provide staff development workshops to large and mid-sized businesses, we can generate quotes for companies based on scope of work and services.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yesinstitute.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yesinstitute/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YES.Institute/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/yesinstitute
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yes_institute
Image Credits
No credits necessary, these were taken by staff who have all signed media releases with YES Institute. We try to not show direct faces of people who do not want to be featured, we receive verbal consent when we take a photo alerting them photos may appear on social media.
