Geena Rocero

Geena Rocero is a Filipino-born American model, TED speaker, and transgender advocate residing in New York City. She is best known for her extensive international modeling career and her advocacy work on behalf of the transgender community. She is also the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company created to elevate transgender and gender-nonconforming stories globally.

Rocero was born in 1983 in Manila, Philippines, to a working-class family. She began competing in beauty pageants at the age of 15. At age 17, she immigrated to San Francisco, California. She later relocated to New York City in 2005 and became a United States citizen in 2006.

At the age of 21, Rocero was discovered by a fashion photographer while in a restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Following her discovery, she signed with NEXT Model Management. She spent 12 years modeling for international swimsuit and beauty editorials, earning a wide fan base through her fashion work.

Throughout her career, Rocero achieved several notable historical milestones in the modeling industry. In 2014, she appeared on the fifth anniversary cover of C☆NDY magazine alongside 13 other transgender women, including Janet Mock, Carmen Carrera, and Laverne Cox. In 2016, she and Tracey Norman became the first two openly transgender models to appear on the cover of an edition of Harper's Bazaar. She was featured as the Playboy Playmate of the Month for August 2019, becoming the first openly transgender Asian-Pacific Islander model to pose for the publication. She made history again in 2020 as the first trans woman included in the iconic Playboy Playmates of the Year.

In addition to modeling, Rocero is a prominent advocate for transgender rights. On March 31, 2014, corresponding with International Transgender Day of Visibility, she publicly came out as transgender during a TED talk in Vancouver, Canada. Excerpts from her talk were subsequently featured on NPR's TED Radio Hour podcast in September 2014. That same year, she launched Gender Proud, an advocacy and awareness campaign that evolved into a media production company focused on transgender rights, employment, and youth.

As a media producer, Rocero served as Executive Producer for the 2015 digital series "Beautiful As I Want To Be" for Logo, which paired transgender youth with mentors from the community. She also produced and presented the film "Willing and Able," which addressed transgender employment and athletes. Together, the two films earned a GLAAD Media Award. Rocero later made her directorial debut in 2021 with the four-part documentary series "Caretakers," which highlighted Filipino-Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rocero has shared her advocacy on prominent global stages, addressing transgender rights at the United Nations Headquarters, the World Economic Forum, and the White House. Her media appearances also include a feature on Caitlyn Jenner's television show "I Am Cait." She serves as a board member for the NY LGBT Center and acts as an ambassador for The Stonewall.