Education & Advocacy
I was 13 when I first began questioning my gender identity. “Transgender” wasn’t a term that I would hear until I was 20. It would be another six years until I felt comfortable enough to finally embrace who I truly was. Since that time I have been educating and advocating on behalf of the trans and non-binary community. I have been fortunate to have been given a platform, through my films, as a sexual health and wellness educator at Tool Shed, or as Project Coordinator for Forge to reach a diverse range of individuals including students, family members, healthcare providers, business leaders, and more.
Education
Speaking at a community event hosted by Milwaukee Magazine and 89.7 FM WUWM in 2017.
After coming out as transgender in 2005, I made my first short film Whatever Suits You, a biographical account of discovering my gender identity. A year later, I made my second short film, an educational piece on the differences between sex, gender identity, expression, and sexual orientation, Playing With Gender.
The success of those films allowed me the opportunity to teach others about my background as a trans woman and the broader trans community. I have spoken about transgender media representation at Marquette University, was a panelist at the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Trans Health Symposium. I’ve been a guest speaker at community groups and high school GSAs (Gay Straight Alliances). I have presented at conferences and taught inclusive business practices for organizations and businesses. Throughout, I have tried to present the issues and complexities of the transgender experience in a personal and accessible way.
Advocacy
With Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, and members of Milwaukee’s Equal Rights Commission.
Much of my advocacy work for the trans community occurred during my tenure as Project Coordinator & Community Organizer for Forge, a national transgender anti-violence organization.
I served on a workgroup that helped to update the Milwaukee Police Department’s policies and procedures around trans and non-binary community members. I partnered with the National Center for Transgender Equality, to develop a policing scorecard. I worked with the City’s Equal Rights Commission to help ban conversion therapies, and increase access to public accommodations.
In 2018, when a leaked memo revealed the Department of Health & Human Services efforts to establish a new legal definition of “sex” under Title IX, Forge & many other LGBTQ Community based organizations organized a protest at City Hall. I was asked to speak, in what was one of my proudest moments as an activist.
Through my work at Tool Shed and Trans Tool Shed, I’m pleased to have been able to help provide quality resources & gender expression materials to countless trans and non-binary individuals. In 2019, I was hired to help consult with the Milwaukee Art Museum after the artist Jamie Nares came out, to help ensure that their retrospective of Nare’s work would be respectful to the artist and the trans community. While my current role as Transgender Education Specialist isn’t as directly on the front lines of transgender rights, I am still committed to trying to improve the lives of trans and non-binary folks.
Interested in having me as a speaker/presenter? Contact me.
