Montrose Center Honors Amanda McMillian at Out for Good

For Amanda McMillian, being named the first recipient of the Montrose Center's LGBTQ+ Health Advocate Award connects two organizations whose work together stretches back decades. 'It's a tremendous honor and very humbling,' McMillian admits. 'I've been at United Way of Greater Houston for six and a half years now. Our partnership with the Montrose Center goes back three and a half decades.' That partnership reflects a broader understanding of health. United Way of Greater Houston focuses on long-term financial stability, but McMillian says access to health care can profoundly affect someone's quality of life and financial well-being. For LGBTQ+ people, genuine health equity requires more than having an insurance card. 'It means having a healthcare home where you feel safe, and you feel that you belong,' she explains. 'You have a place for preventive care and wellness, you've got the same opportunity to nurture your mental health as your physical health, and those feel far too far away for far too many people in the LGBTQ+ community right now.' Those needs rarely exist in isolation. Health, housing, food security and financial stability are often interconnected, something United Way has sought to address through its Integrated Client Journey strategy. 'Individuals often have interconnected needs, so the solutions also need to be interconnected,' McMillian imparts. For LGBTQ+ people facing additional barriers, she adds, 'that trust and that feeling of safety is a real linchpin.' A Trusted Community Hub That is where she sees the Montrose Center playing an essential role. 'It's a trusted community hub,' emphasizes McMillian, pointing to programs including the Law Harrington Senior Living Center and HATCH Youth. 'Because you've got a place to go where you will be safe and you can access what you need.' Health has been central to the Montrose Center's mission since its earliest days, a legacy the new award brings to the forefront. 'So much of what we do is grounded in health. We've been a behavioral health clinic for nearly 50 years, and our services have expanded, but our mental and behavioral health services are still the heart of our work,' explains Meleah Jones, the Center's Director of Development. Honoring McMillian also recognizes a partnership that has helped sustain that work. 'We're really proud to be a United Way affiliate,' Jones says. 'They've been giving us tremendous funds that support our counseling work and other vital services. So it was just the perfect fit.' Countering Misinformation with Facts Additionally, for McMillian, advocacy is increasingly important as LGBTQ+ people encounter barriers to care and misinformation surrounding their health. 'There's so much misinformation out in the world, and misperceptions,' she says, 'that I think the most basic thing we can do is just make sure that we are countering misinformation with facts.' That also means 'normalizing having these conversations' and ensuring people remain focused on facts surrounding gender-affirming and LGBTQ+ health care rather than 'the culture war narratives that are out there,' McMillian adds. Throughout a career spanning Houston's corporate, civic, and nonprofit communities, McMillian believes some of her most important leadership lessons have been surprisingly simple: listen deeply, communicate effectively, and be willing to have difficult conversations. She applies a similarly straightforward philosophy to creating communities where LGBTQ+ people can live authentically. 'I think it's visibility. I think it's presence, and I think it's consistency,' McMillian says. 'We've got to show up over time, and then we've got to demonstrate care for each other. … I don't think we're doing our basic jobs as human beings if we're not creating a community where everyone feels safe and everyone has the opportunity to thrive.' McMillian also stresses that even in supportive environments, asking for help can require tremendous courage. 'It's still really hard to ask for help. It takes so much courage, even when you've done everything you can to make it easy,' she points out. 'Imagine how much courage it takes when it's hard.' At Out for Good, she hopes attendees leave remembering that they have the power to shape what comes next. 'Every single one of us can make a difference. Every single one of us can do something to help our neighbors,' says McMillian. 'There's always a way.' This is the first of two profiles of the honorees at the Montrose Center's 2026 Out for Good gala.Read about the Montrose Center's other 2026 honoree, T.R.U.T.H. Project founder Kevin Anderson, here. What: Out For Good When: Saturday, October 3, 2026 Where: Marriott Marquis Houston, 1777 Walker Street Info: tinyurl.com/outforgood2026