Lex Ortega calls the desert their forever home. After being raised in the Coachella Valley, Lex attended Stanford University as a first-generation college student and discovered their north star of working with and for LGBTQ+ community groups and spaces. Lex has served on community-based projects including the California Voting Rights Act Working Group for the City of Palm Springs, Palm Springs Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Committee, the Palm Springs Dyke March, feminist collective Wyld Womxn, and even as a promoter and organizer of queer women’s events in Palm Springs. Lex is a past president of Leadership Coachella Valley, the 2023 Desert Fast Pitch winner, and selected as one of Palm Springs Life’s 40 Under 40. Lex currently serves as Vice Chair on La Mesa for Alianza Coachella Valley and is dedicated to queer and trans-centered spaces that are intersectional and rooted in power.