Rosy Sunshine Galvan is a macro social worker from the Lower East Side of Manhattan currently based in Baltimore. She has over 20 years of experience in facilitation, community engagement, project management, and community-led program development. Rosy has worked across settings to implement and improve HIV prevention and care programs, LGBTQIA+ health services, and health equity initiatives. Recognizing that equity work is rooted in behavioral change, she uses evidence-informed strategies rooted in vulnerability and authenticity to create sustainable, systemic changes across sectors that address the root causes of inequities.
Rosy is also a painter, muralist, and digital artist who uses colors and textures to conjure joy and resilience. She has installed over 18 murals in DC, Baltimore, and New York and has exhibited her paintings in galleries and museums across the country. Her colorful art pushes back against urban design that negatively impacts the mental health of people in marginalized, often intentionally disregarded communities. Rosy’s paintings are purposefully textured for an interactive, sensory, and tactile experience. Bright colors, sharp lines, and dynamic dots celebrate our collective resilience and connection. Her designs uplift our vibrational frequencies, and her palette serves as an irresistible reminder to center our joy no matter what we have been through.
Rosy works at the intersection of her creativity and macro social work practice to conjure structural change, believing our imaginations are critical tools for transformation. She completed her undergraduate degree at Barnard College of Columbia University, double majoring in Sociology and Human Rights with a minor in Environmental Science, and has a Master’s in Social Welfare from the University at Albany.