Artie Hartsell (they/them) is a North Carolina–based organizer, educator, facilitator, and writer whose work centers justice, community safety, belonging, and story. For more than two decades, they have led efforts across social work, nonprofit leadership, faith communities, and LGBTQ+ advocacy—designing programs that turn learning into action, safety into possibility, and belonging into power.

Artie has built and led organizing programs in major advocacy organizations, developed political education curricula, and mobilized communities across the state. They hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth and families, trans health, harm reduction, policy advocacy, and crisis-responsive care, and they have worked directly with LGBTQ+ young people and adults living with HIV.
 

Their academic background also includes undergraduate studies in religious education, minors in YMCA Studies and Youth Ministry, and graduate coursework toward a Master of Divinity with a concentration in LGBTQ+ Studies—training that shapes their community-centered and trauma-informed approach to facilitation, organizing, and safety planning.
 

Through Pride Education Services, Artie provides training and consultation for educators, congregations, and organizations committed to equity, community safety, and inclusive practice. The cornerstone program, Project Embodied Welcome, supports faith leaders and communities as they move from welcome to celebration of LGBTQ+ people while cultivating safer, braver, more connected congregational cultures. Pride Education Services also includes strategic planning, meeting facilitation, and training for community, issue, and political organizers and social workers who want to develop their macro practice.
 

Artie’s work bridges strategy and spirit, grounded in the belief that sustainable change grows from relationships, reflection, and shared courage. Their approach integrates community organizing, adult learning, and critical social work practice to help groups move from intention to implementation—and to build the conditions for safety, resilience, and collective power.
 

An eighth-generation North Carolinian, Artie roots their organizing in the South’s unique context, culture, and connections. They’ve trained thousands of leaders through political education programs blending civics, movement strategy, community safety, and collective action.
 

Artie serves on the boards of a Southern Appalachian LGBTQ+ cultural and mutual aid organization and Invisible Histories, reflecting their commitment to storytelling, memory, and movement building.

Whether you’re building a movement, leading a congregation, or finding your place in the story of justice, Artie’s work helps people and communities grow toward courage, connection, and celebration.