After a short but eventful stint as executive director of The Aqua Foundation for Women, Mateo Ventura Bruer is moving on. His last day was July 31. He became the first trans man to lead the organization. During his 18-month tenure, he was instrumental in the return of TransCon and 15 other events that raised tens of thousands of dollars.

“I’m extremely proud of the work I’ve done with Aqua these past 18 months and wish them the best moving forward,” Bruer said. “I cannot thank the Board of Directors enough for their support and the opportunity to further develop my leadership skills in this role.”

In the announcement, Aqua officials lauded his accomplishments. “Mateo’s spirit of integrity will persist at Aqua and I wish him only the best going forward,” board member Cho-Hee Shrader said. “We recognize the transformative work that Mateo has done in South Florida, and look forward to hearing about his successes for equality going forward.”

Despite the positivity of the official statements, the last half of Bruer’s tenure was tense.

In November, he made a post on his personal social media calling for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. At the end, he used a hashtag that has long been used by people calling for the elimination of Israel.He apologized, saying he wasn’t aware of its history.  However, the organization felt the heat and eventually issued a statement, saying, “Aqua Foundation for Women apologizes for the offense caused by a hashtag used in our Executive Director's recent personal post about the Palestine-Israel conflict.”

Their working relationship would never be the same, and some inside the organization said it was only a matter of time before they would part ways.Bruer is now working for NDN Collective, an organization dedicated to lifting up indigenous peoples.