HVTF Closing Panel on Friday, November 22nd
Enhancing Access to Services for Non-Binary & Gender Non-Conforming Community

Moderator: Elijah C. Nealy, PhD. M.Div., LCSW
Pronouns: he/him/his

Panelists:

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Wynn Heyward

Sylvia Cusack Johnson

Rowan Reyes

Panel Description: Accessing services (medical, therapeutic, government, school etc.) can be challenging for non-binary and gender non-conforming community members. This panel features voices from the community discussing their experiences, good and bad, when accessing services necessary for their daily lives. We'll also discuss ways in which service providers can make their work more inclusive and participate as an active ally for TGNCNB communities.

Panel Format: This panel will feature 4 non-binary & gender non-conforming community members and one panel moderator. Panelists will answer questions related to their experiences accessing services, and the audience will have an opportunity to pose questions for the panel.

Presenter Bios:

Sylvia is a non-binary trans woman and recent community organizing, planning, and development grad of the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. She serves as a co-facilitator for the JCC of Manhattan's NeuroQueer Support Group, which serves LGBTQ+ or questioning and disabled people ages 18+ for the remainder of 2019, and aims to use her social work practice to inform broader communities about the distress, as well as the health(care) disparities and discrimination Autistic and trans communities face through workshops, writing, and more. She is a long-time resident of the Hudson Valley, and lives in Westchester.

Rae Leiner: Artist. Organizer. Radical Dreamer. Creatrix. Strategic thinker. Healer. Rae Leiner is a Black identified multi-racial Queer organizer and activist possessing an undergraduate degree from Antioch College('05). Rae’s professional trajectory is primarily focused on social justice and movements for transformative change. The co-founder and Executive Director of the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center, an organization created by and for the voices and leadership of QTBIPOC to fight for equity in the mid-Hudson Valley. With over 15 years of professional experience in the not-for-profit field/social justice movements, and 5 years as a community organizer.

Rowan Reyes (they/them) is a queer, non-binary trans social justice educator. They are Senior Director of Community Education and Social Change and Coordinator of Outreach to LGBTQ+ Communities at the Center for Safety & Change. Rowan is also a parent, a poet, and a facilitator of queer spirituality rituals and embodiment workshops. They are proud to co-facilitate Gender Joy, a group for caregivers of young gender-expansive kids offered through the Rockland County Pride Center.