Preston Mitchum

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 can also find Preston on your television screens as a cast member on Bravo’s reality TV show, “Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard.”