Introducing: Cee Jay!

Y'assou! (That's Greek for 'hello'.) My name is Cee Jay Levine, and I'm helping to design information for the peer mentorship program. Working with Bobby Peck, I will be creating resources on the legal aspects of transitioning. I'm very excited to be helping with this project; it's the sort of thing that I wish had existed when I was a young person here in Pittsburgh.

Aside from the time I spent attending Allegheny College, I have lived in Pittsburgh my whole life. While I have an M.A.T. in Elementary Education, I'm currently working for the University of Pittsburgh as an Animal Care Technician. I also work for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as an Assistant Supervisor for the Teen Docent program, a job that I've held for the past four years (I've been at the museum for 10). What free time I have is spent reading, writing, dancing, and practicing trombone. Oh, and I love science fiction, and frequently reference it in my interactions with others.
May the Force be with you!

Giving you a much-anticipated ITL update!

Dear faithful readers and supporters,

It's been a while and don't we know it!  We've had some changes over the past few months and we want to let you know all about it.  In January, our Peer Mentorship Design intern Quinn stepped down. We support their decision and wish them well.  In the process we learned what we do well, and what we can do to better support future interns.  Quinn also came up with some great ideas for the Peer Mentorship program, and we hope to incorporate those as we move forward.

Since we are still committed to having a solid Peer Mentorship program for trans youth ready to go this fall, we decided to ask some of the candidates who applied for the internship if they were willing to take on a piece of the program.  After discussion, we are happy to report that four qualified trans-identified youth have joined our team, working both independently and with each other to design a comprehensive program with the following four units: Wellness, Legal, Communication and Service.  Be on the look out for introductory blog posts from each of them!

On February 24th, all four Program Design interns will have the opportunity to meet members of our Advisory Committee, and to make connections that will utilize the Advisory Committee members' expertise for development of the program.

Save the date: Wednesday, May 1st from 6:30-8:30.  On May 1st, the Program Design interns will be presenting their work to an intimate crowd of community members and supporters. 

On the financial front, we've been applying for grants, and our current Peer Mentorship Program Design project is completely funded.  Any amount you decide to donate at this point goes directly to funding the Peer Mentorship Program, beginning this fall!

Thank you for your continued support,

Rayden
ITL Advisory Committee Chair

Introducing Advisory Committee Member: Jessica McGuinness

Jessica McGuinness is a transgender woman who worked as an EMT in the South Hills of Pittsburgh for 12 years. Her coming out letter to her coworkers was published in the book American Heroes Coming Out From Behind the Badge, edited by Greg Miraglia. She has done speaking engagements at a number of colleges, community centers and bookstores, has done outreach work for the transgender community and has been heavily involved in several advocacy issues. She was featured on the cover of the LGBT publication Pittsburgh's Out in April and has done several radio interviews including one on KDKA with Marty Griffin.

Jessica is currently employed by the Pitt Men's Study.

Welcome, Jessica, to the Initiative for Transgender Leadership's Advisory Committee!

Trans: The Movie Benefit Film Screening Recap

Wonderful Night at the Warhol + over $1,000 raised

On Saturday night November 3rd, more than 100 people came to the Andy Warhol Museum to join Persad Center and ITL for the Pittsburgh premiere screening of TRANS, a documentary that focuses on the stories of several people whose transgender identities cause them to seek gender affirming medical care.

The stories are poignant, and the film's production values are impressive.  In addition to the screening and a post film Q&A with the film's Producer Mark Schoen, attendees had the opportunity to make pin-on buttons with artwork of their choosing, and to make their own silk screened tee shirt with assistance from Warhol staff and volunteers from the GSA at Pittsburgh's CAPA High School.

ITL is especially grateful to the Warhol and Persad for cosponsoring the screening to benefit ITL's current Internship. The event was a great pleasure, and an equally great success.

Announcing TRANS: THE MOVIE Benefit Film Screening

We hope you will join us!

RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/229296863863835/

Questions? Contact transleadership@gmail.com

Follow us twitter.com/TransLeadership

Introducing: Quinn!

Meet Quinn, the Initiative for Transgender Leadership's intern who will design a peer mentorship program for trans* youth over the next 10 months!

Quinn Elliott, 21, graduated from the Ellis school in 2009.  Quinn enjoys cooking, and their favorite dish they've made so far is a creamy and hearty ginger-coconut butternut squash soup with chickpeas and veggies.

During their time organizing with Transition Pittsburgh, Quinn learned a lot about sustainable practices, from urban farming to renewable energy resources. For the past couple years they've been trying to connect with others who are interested in intentional community, while also saving up to intern at an established one such as Idyll Dandy Arts queer intentional community.

Quinn believes strongly in free, learner-centered education, and so has begun independent studies in biology, chemistry and philosophy with the intention of attending a democratically-run university to study holistic health and education.

Quinn’s outlook comes from a place they describe as radical, intellectual curiosity.

As the ITL intern, Quinn intends to be/become focused, confident, and accountable. They are committed to providing trans* youth of Pittsburgh access to safe spaces and empowering knowledge about health and wellness from a unique, radical, gender/queer perspective.

We're Excited: NEWS on a fine, late-summer day

Months of concentrated work have suddenly burst into rewards.

We have selected an Intern to develop a Peer Mentor Program (PMP) for trans youth.  The Intern was selected from a pool of 7 excellent candidates.  Quinn Elliott will begin work September 11th, 2012.  Stay tuned for a blog post about Quinn. The remaining 6 have shown interest in participating as advisers during development and likely Peer Mentors for the program launch Summer or Fall 2013.

We have received two in-kind donations to support the Internship:

• Office space at GLCC Pittsburgh by Persad Center (http://www.persadcenter.org/);

• Laptop from PalominoDB (http://palominodb.com/).

Fabulous 5 needs 2 more donors.  Become one of the five people who commit to donate $100/month for 10 months. You are making it possible to pay a talented trans youth a good wage while developing professional skills and creating a Peer Mentor Program!

In Partnership with the Andy Warhol Museum (http://www.warhol.org) & Persad Center, we are hosting the Pittsburgh Premier of Trans: the Movie (http://www.transthemovie.com/).  Saturday, November 3rd, 6-10pm.  Save the date!

Paid Internship to Design Our Next Project

Application: Internship to design a Peer Mentorship Program for Trans Youth

The purpose of the Initiative for Transgender Leadership (ITL) is to positively impact community life through professional and leadership development of transgender youth.

ITL Internship

The ITL Internship is a paid, professional development opportunity for one trans-identified young person (age 16-26) to research and design a Peer Mentorship Program for trans youth in Pittsburgh, and to find and enroll trans youth into the program.

The ITL Intern must possess a strong work ethic, organizational skills, and communicate well with the ITL team and with other trans youth. The ITL Intern will receive supervision and support from the ITL team and will have access to experts who work in fields that affect the lives of trans youth.

The ITL Intern will work approximately 10 hours each week for 40 weeks from September, 2012 – June, 2013 and will be paid a total of $4,800 in monthly installments (approximately $12/hour).

ITL Peer Mentorship Program

The ITL Peer Mentorship Program (PMP) will be a 10-month program designed by the ITL Intern in which trans-identified young people can gain new awareness of themselves and their resources so that they produce victories in their own lives and in the lives of other trans youth.

The ITL Peer Mentors will meet regularly from September, 2103 – June, 2014 to develop themselves as leaders in their own lives, in their peer group and their community. Peer Mentors will have access to the ITL team of local experts who work in fields that impact the lives of trans youth. Peer Mentors will be paid for successful completion of the ITL PMP, and may have additional opportunities to be paid by ITL for at-large peer mentoring after completing the PMP.

ITL Internship Application

Below are the three areas of information Applicants need to supply in order to qualify for our 10 month paid Internship. Please submit your application in 12-point font, single spaced pages, with no less than .8” margins on all sides. At the top of each page, please include your name. At the top of your first page, please also include: your date of birth, mailing address, phone number, and email address.

I. Show us what you can do!

Submit an exhibit or presentation--show us a project, piece of art, an essay, event organized or created by you that shows planning and learning on your part. This may be a link, an attachment, newspaper article, or a testimonial by a mentor or peer. Tell us about the learning and planning you did to produce your exhibit.

II. Provide short answers (300 words or less) to the following questions:

Tell us a bit about who you are
Tell us about your experience with being a mentor or mentee
Briefly describe your experience with research/information gathering

III. Please answer the questions below in an essay format. Each answer is not to exceed one full page single spaced:

Why do you want to design our Peer Mentorship Program and what do you think trans-identified youth need?
Describe a time when you met someone whose experience was different from yours and it opened your mind to a new perspective.
Describe a time in your life when you listened to advice then made your own decision. What did you learn about yourself?

* Trans includes transgender, transsexual, gender non-conforming and genderqueer.

Send your application to transleadership@gmail.com by 5pm on Friday, August 10th, 2012.

transleadership@gmail.com
transyouthleaders.blogspot.com
twitter.com/TransLeadership
facebook.com/PghTransLeadership

PTHC: Philly Trans Health Conference

Here we are in Philly surveying Trans Youth about what they need and want.  What are the obstacles we could address in the Peer 2 Peer Mentor Program we are developing?

To take the survey, please click here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dE80ZWg1NnVKYXJ5UkUybTVtODN6TUE6MQ

May 31st - June 2nd, 2012 find us in the West Concourse of the Philadelphia Convention Center, table 39.5.

[Edit: The survey is now closed. Our intern will be analyzing the data and report back the findings in the future!]

Widening L e a d e r s h i p

This Summer, ITL is adding to our skills and perspective with an Advisory Committee.  Over the next 2 months, we will be welcoming our new members by way of short biographies here on the Blog.  Below is our 1st member:

Adil Mansoor is an artist, activist, and educator originally from Chicago, IL.    Since moving to Pittsburgh in 2010, he has worked with the MGR Foundation, Gateway to the Arts, and the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater as a teaching artist.  Currently, he is an artist educator with The Andy Warhol Museum developing and facilitating a new arts-based teen dialogue program, Dine and Discuss.  He also serves as the stage director and student mentor for Dreams of Hope, a queer teen performance group.  He is a founding artistic associate with Chicago based FYI (For Youth Inquiry), a performing health collective creating participatory theatre engaging young people in conversations about sexual health and sexual violence.  Adil hold a Bachelors of Science in Education and Social Policy and a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Northwestern University. 

Welcome Adil.