Aidan Dunn, Executive Director
Youth Gender Project, San Francisco
          Transgender basics:

• Transgender movement and social change
• Sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression
• Subcultures; diversity amongst communities
• Issues particular to TG youth (family, school, consent, etc.)

Cecilia Chung, Deputy Director
Transgender Law Center, San Francisco 
          Social context of risk and increasing access to services:

• Obstacles (bathroom access, housing, employment, violence, etc.)
• Survival activities that put people at risk
• Best practices (client centered, inclusive data collection, documentation)
• Building relationships with the most marginalized (e.g., runaways)
• How to make your agency more accessible 
  

Bali White 
NDRI “Transgender Project” and Columbia University, New York City
          House/ballroom community 
 
Moderator 
 
Ben Singer is a PhD Candidate in English at Rutgers University working on an ethnographic dissertation: “On the Medical Margins: Transgender Risk Reduction in Public Health.” Since 1993, he has worked as a consultant and trainer in the public health sector, specializing in reducing health disparities through improving access to culturally competent care. He integrates academic tools, leadership building and group facilitation skills with evidence-based research, case studies, harm reduction philosophy and diverse experience in multiple communities. He has applied these techniques to projects ranging from HIV/AIDS prevention to threshold reduction for access to healthcare services in government, academic, community and private settings. He has consulted on local, state and national levels with the CDC, HRSA, Philadelphia Department of Health, AIDS Activities Coordinating Office, and other health and human service organizations. Mr. Singer has applied his knowledge to the successful design and implementation of government-funded projects that includes founding the Trans-health Information Project (TIP), a program of Prevention Point Philadelphia and the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative, with funding by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From 2002-2004 he served as Director of TIP, contributing to program design, authoring curricula, managing staff, overseeing utilization of direct services, and presenting consumer based health information workshops, as well as technically assisting other local social service providers. In addition to presenting on transgender issues to government and community-based organizations across the country, Mr. Singer most recently taught Transgender Queries in Medicine, Law, Politics and Culture at Barnard College, in New York City. Contact: bsinger@critpath.org and 215-243-0459
 

Transgender Conference Calls: Presenter Biographical Information

Aidan Dunn is currently pursuing a BA in Community Studies at City College of San Francisco. Since 2003, he has served as Executive Director of the Youth Transgender and Intersex Educational Services (TIES), San Francisco. He is Vice-president of San Francisco Pride, Chair of the Intersex Committee, a member of the LGBT Advisory Committee to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, and serves on the Intersex Task Force of the Committee. The Committees’ mission is to advise the San Francisco Human Rights Commission on human rights issues related to LGBT people. Mr. Dunn presents trainings on transgender issues across the country, including “Beyond Binaries: Youth and Gender Identity” at Yale University, as well as “Transyouth and Transadults: Bridging the Age Gap” and “Transyouth 101 for Providers.” He consults with local, state, and national health and human service agencies, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on transgender issues. Mr. Dunn’s previous work includes serving as an intern for LYRIC youth agency and as a peer educator at the Cole St. Clinic. He presently works with San Francisco Transgender Empowerment, Advocacy and Mentorship (SFTEAM) to develop leadership in transgender communities. Contact: aidan.dunn@sbcglobal.net and 415-865-5625.

Cecilia Chung earned her BA in International Management at Golden State University, and received “Community Health Outreach” certification from the California State Office of AIDS. Since 2005, she has served as Deputy Director of the Transgender Law Center (TLC), a civil rights organization advocating for transgender communities. TLC’s mission is to connect transgender people and their families to culturally competent legal services, increase compliance and enforcement of laws and policies that protect California’s transgender communities, and to change laws and systems that fail to support transgender individuals. In her capacity as Deputy Director, she oversees transgender client utilization of direct services, public policy advocacy, and educational efforts to advance the rights and safety of diverse transgender populations. Ms. Chung is an openly HIV-positive transgender woman from Hong Kong, who has been an advocate for people living with HIV for the past 15 years. She is currently a San Francisco Human Rights commissioner, and has served as member of the San Francisco HIV Service Planning Council. She has consulted with University of California, San Francisco, the National Minority AIDS Council and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on transgender HIV prevention, and on the HIV issues of Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Contact: cecilia@transgenderlawcenter.org and 415-865-0184.

Bali White received a BA from Columbia University in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, and she will be entering the Environmental Policy master’s program in the fall of 2006. She is Research Associate on The Transgender Project (www.ndri.org/transgender) of the National Development and Research Institutes in NYC. This is the largest study to date of male-to-female transgender individuals. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Silvia Rivera Law Project, which provides free legal services for transgender people of color and low-income trans people. Ms. White’s decade of public health experience includes a focus on the health factors impacting global transgender communities. Most recently she has served as Assistant Project Director on the House Ball Study (HBS), an ethnographic study of the House/Ball queer people of color social network in New York City. She has also worked with the NYC Department of Health and Housing Works, an organization that advocates for homeless populations in New York City. Ms. White is a community organizer and advocate addressing transgender identity, legal, healthcare and social concerns at the local, state and national levels. Contact: bali@tmo.blackberry.net and 646-286-9740.