Meet Our Speakers

Alyssa Pfingst (she/they)

Alyssa Pfingst (She/her, they/them) is a New York-based LGBTQ+ and genderfluid book coach. They are the founder and sole operator of Amplify Book Coaching, which is designed to support authors as they aim to create, refine, and sell novels or graphic novels in multiple genres, providing essential support such as editing, developmental editing, mentoring, and key knowledge that assists authors at all stages of writing a book. Alyssa founded Amplify Book Coaching because they believe in amplifying writing skills, in the ability to be published, and in the voices of writers out there who have always felt compelled to tell a story.

WORKSHOP: Writing and Thriving Outside of the Binary: Building Success for Trans and Nonbinary Authors

Being seen, acknowledged, and heard as a genderqueer author can be a struggle on several fronts, especially with the rise of LGBTQ+ book bans, anti-LGBTQ+ and transgender legislation, and the othering trans and nonbinary writers face while writing in a heteronormative, cis-dominated world. For transgender and nonbinary writers, building an effective, loving, and queer-positive writing support system is essential in order to take your writing from a fresh new start to a finished, completed project. By letting queerness into your writing community, it allows your career as an author to thrive; your identity as a trans and/or nonbinary writer to flourish; and gives you the time, space, and energy to actually focus on your writing instead of explaining your queer identity to an audience you may not necessarily be writing for. This workshop addresses the common issues that trans and nonbinary authors often face, sets guidelines for how to achieve goals in building community, and highlights resources specifically built for LGBTQ+ writers, such as queer writing groups, fellowships and retreats, classes, and more.


Amanda Alvarado (she/her) 

Amanda "Mandi" Alvarado is a prominent Disability Advocate, Influencer, and Organization Leader with a deep commitment to advancing disability justice and inclusion. As the founder of Intersectional Access LLC, Mandi provides expert guidance through engaging workshops, thought-provoking presentations, and strategic sessions designed to promote disability justice and enhance organizational accessibility practices. Her consultancy reflects a dedication to fostering more inclusive environments through tailored solutions. Drawing from her lived experience as a disabled woman within the LGBTQ+ community, Mandi offers a rich understanding of intersectionality, which informs her advocacy and approach to inclusivity. Mandi’s perspective enhances her efforts to address the needs of diverse communities and promote equitable practices.

WORKSHOP: Intersectional Empowerment: Disability and TGNCB Justice

An insightful workshop exploring the intersection of disability and the TGNCB community. This interactive session will foster open dialogue and deepen understanding of the unique challenges faced by TGNCB individuals with disabilities. We will explore how systemic barriers, social stigmas, and cultural narratives intersect, shaping the lived experiences of the community. Through engaging discussions I aim to cultivate allyship and develop strategies for advocacy, justice, and empowerment. This workshop offers a space for learning, growth, and solidarity.


Amanda Redfern (she/they)

Amanda Redfern (she/they) serves as Triangle Community Center's Manager of Programming. They hold a BA in Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University, an MA in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and are currently completing a Masters in Social Work at Capella University. Amanda’s clinical and case management background focusing on social and emotional wellness of marginalized individuals has provided her with insight and empathy to effectively work with folks in the community. As Manager of Programming, Amanda believes in supporting TCC’s youth and senior programming, increasing accessibility to quality programs despite income or ability, and expanding creative skill-building programs designed to connect, educate, and empower LGBTQ+ folks in the area. Amanda takes great pride in recognizing gaps in services, connecting community members with program leadership, and developing new ways to solve issues of loneliness, identity, and skill building.

WORKSHOP: Vision Boards for Self and Community Care

Providers, educators, activists, and care workers of all kinds use so much time, passion, expertise, energy, and more to support those around us and who we work with, particularly when many of us are also members of the same communities who we aim to support. This workshop will offer some time and space for participants (particularly service providers, but open to all) to do something creative, informal, and self-care focused by building collage-style vision boards. We'd like to give providers an artistic option for envisioning how they want to show up in their work and practice, and how to build inclusive and affirming spaces for those they aim to support.


Andre Grossman

Andre is a sex educator with an interest in the intersections of consent and gender education. He serves as the Projects Coordinator for Education & Training at Planned Parenthood Hudson-Peconic where he heads curriculum development and the internship program. Before PPHP, he worked as a masculinity peer services coordinator where he facilitated conversations around masculinities and gender socialization working to understand how they affect people of all gender experiences.

WORKSHOP: Trans Inclusive Sex Ed

This presentation will provide participants a space to explore trans-specific sex education in a supportive and judgement free learning space. Sex education has historically been extremely ciheteronormative and gender essentialist, making the knowledge and perspectives shared in these spaces often unhelpful or even harmful to trans and gender nonconforming people. This workshop is designed to counteract this by explicitly and compassionately centering trans bodies, perspectives, and sexuality. Participants will have their understanding of sex education broadened and enriched through more in-depth exploration of sexual and reproductive anatomy and physiology and information on hormones and their function, including exploration of hormone replacement therapy. Participants will also participate in a lesson and discussion that explores trans sexual experiences and pleasure, with real world tips to navigate sexuality with and as trans people.


Aviva Frank (she/her)

Aviva (she/her) has been a sex educator for over 5 years and is passionate about comprehensive sex education and LGBTQ liberation. She holds a Master's degree in sociology and spent her academic career exploring the sociology of sex, sexuality, gender, and queerness. She brings this sociological perspective to the classroom, melding a structural understanding with an individualized approach. She believes that sex education is a powerful path toward autonomy.

WORKSHOP: Trans Inclusive Sex Ed

This presentation will provide participants a space to explore trans-specific sex education in a supportive and judgement free learning space. Sex education has historically been extremely ciheteronormative and gender essentialist, making the knowledge and perspectives shared in these spaces often unhelpful or even harmful to trans and gender nonconforming people. This workshop is designed to counteract this by explicitly and compassionately centering trans bodies, perspectives, and sexuality. Participants will have their understanding of sex education broadened and enriched through more in-depth exploration of sexual and reproductive anatomy and physiology and information on hormones and their function, including exploration of hormone replacement therapy. Participants will also participate in a lesson and discussion that explores trans sexual experiences and pleasure, with real world tips to navigate sexuality with and as trans people.


B Leavitt (they/them) 

PANEL DISCUSSION: If Not Now, When? The Joys and Challenges of Transitioning in Mid-Life


Cadence Pentheny (they/them) 

Cadence Pentheny (they/them) is Triangle Community Center’s Community Education Manager, and runs the LGBTQ+ Training Institute. They hold a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a Graduate Certificate in Human Sexuality through the University of Minnesota. Upon graduating, they served two years with the AmeriCorps program City Year, where they supported students in an under-resourced elementary school. Before joining the team at TCC, they worked as Coordinator for LGBTQ+ Programming & Initiatives at the University of Mississippi, doing a wide variety of work involving intersectionality, diversity, equity, and education, especially around LGBTQIA+ issues and sexual and gender justice. As Community Education Manager, Cadence is responsible for engaging with the wider community to provide educational opportunities and professional development surrounding LGBTQ+ cultural humility across Fairfield County, CT and beyond.

WORKSHOP: Vision Boards for Self and Community Care

Providers, educators, activists, and care workers of all kinds use so much time, passion, expertise, energy, and more to support those around us and who we work with, particularly when many of us are also members of the same communities who we aim to support. This workshop will offer some time and space for participants (particularly service providers, but open to all) to do something creative, informal, and self-care focused by building collage-style vision boards. We'd like to give providers an artistic option for envisioning how they want to show up in their work and practice, and how to build inclusive and affirming spaces for those they aim to support.


Darby Allison-Dugue (she/her)

Darby Allison-Dugue is the program manager of Community Engagement at the LOFT. She is educated as a social worker and has a history of providing service in the areas of mental health, housing, public benefits and youth development. She currently manages several programs at The LOFT focused on providing assistance and education to the LGBTQ community and their allies. She is passionate and dedicated to the cause of equity and justice for all people.

FRIDAY WORKSHOP: Into the Gender Expanse: A TGNCNB Community Introduction

SATURDAY WORKSHOP: From Ally to Accomplice: Gender Identity and You


Dr. David Whitehead (any)

Dr. David Whitehead is a gender affirmation, hand, and plastic surgeon at Northwell Health. Their clinical focus is primarily on chest and genital gender affirmation surgery. They went to medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. They completed a plastic surgery residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore in the Bronx, a Hand Surgery fellowship at University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts, and a fellowship in Gender Confirmation Surgery at Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. They are board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and have subspecialty certification Surgery of the Hand. They go by any pronoun.

WORKSHOP: Overview of Gender Affirming Hormone and Surgical Care

Learn about the common approaches to gender-affirming hormone care and surgical care from physicians who specialize in these treatments.


Dr. Robbins Gottlock (he/him) 

Dr. Robbins Gottlock (he/him) is a board-certified family medicine physician at Northwell Health. He runs the LGBT Center of Excellence in Sleepy Hollow, NY, where he provides full spectrum primary care and sexual health including routine care, preventive care, PrEP, PEP, hormone therapy, etc. He attended medical school at the University of Utah School of Medicine and completed his family medicine residency at Swedish Family Medicine in Seattle, Washington.

WORKSHOP: Overview of Gender Affirming Hormone and Surgical Care

Learn about the common approaches to gender-affirming hormone care and surgical care from physicians who specialize in these treatments.


Elisa Crespo (she/her/hers)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER - The Power of Advocacy and the Importance of Using Your Voice to Drive Change

Elisa Crespo (she/her/hers) is the Executive Director of the NEW Pride Agenda, a statewide advocacy organization advancing the economic, health, racial, and gender identity justice needs of marginalized LGBTQIA+ individuals. As the first executive director of the organization and a trans Latina woman, Elisa is a trailblazer in the nonprofit sector, where just 5% of NYC-area nonprofit leaders are Latina women. Under her leadership, the nonprofit successfully advocated for the Lorena Borjas Transgender and Non-Binary Wellness and Equity Fund, making NY the second state to establish such a fund. Since 2022, funding has steadily increased, with $13m+ over four fiscal years benefiting over two dozen organizations’ workforce readiness, suicide prevention, and health and wellness programs for transgender individuals.

Elisa is a key advocate for the New York Equal Rights Amendment; the organization is an Executive Committee coalition member of New Yorkers for Equal Rights. In response to threats on workplace DEI efforts, the organization founded the New York State LGBTQ+ Business Council in 2023 to build business relationships, enhance professional development opportunities, and more. Previously, Elisa was the Education Liaison for the Bronx Borough President’s Office and the first transgender woman of color to run for office in the Bronx. 

www.newprideagenda.org


Jade Watts (they/them, ze/zir)

Jade Gabriel-Azura Pimenta Watts is a queer and trans community organizer, mentor and development professional. They serve on the LGBTQ+ advisory board for Westchester County, as an organizer with the NYC Dyke March, and as the Development Associate with the nonprofit Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison. Jade believes in the power of people to enact tangible change and continues scholarly research on the effects of media in advancing queer and trans liberation.

FRIDAY WORKSHOP: DEI in the Workplace

SATURDAY WORKSHOP: Non-Binary Peer-Only Space

No matter where you work or what you do, navigating the workplace as a TGNCNB community member can feel like a lot to shoulder. For employers and business owners who want to support their TGNCNB staff and clientele, it can be difficult to know where to start. It's up to all of us to make our organizations and businesses accessible and welcoming to the TGNCNB community. Join Jade for an interactive conversation on being out in the workplace and how organizations and businesses can create safer and more inclusive spaces for both TGNCNB employees and clients.


Jay Tyler (they/he) 

Jay is a queer trans masculine humanist and a big fan of the Hudson Valley. He is currently the Manager of Youth Education and Prevention at My Sisters’ Place. They have their MPS in Humanistic/ Multicultural Education from SUNY New Paltz and his personal educational philosophy and approach is focused primarily on making it accessible to everyone. When he is not working, Jay enjoys spending time with his pets, Charlie the cat and Mason the pug, and also enjoys going on hikes with his friends. Jay is also a foodie and is always scoping out and going on adventures to new places to eat as well as trying out new recipes to share with his partner and family. 

WORKSHOP: Healthy Vibes & Self-Care Chats (Youth in Grades 6-12 Only)

Welcome to Trans Club, where we reclaim our narratives and empower ourselves! Join us for an interactive workshop focused on taking charge of our relationships and self-care. We’ll explore how to set boundaries, communicate with confidence, and build connections that truly reflect our identities. We’ll also dive into the importance of honoring our individuality in our journeys and how we can uplift one another. This is all about taking back our power, sharing strategies, and having real conversations that inspire growth and resilience. Come ready to engage, share, and connect as we empower each other on our paths!


Kerry Manzo (he/él)

Kerry Manzo (he, él) is a transgender man and Assistant Professor of Global Studies at Purchase College, where he conducts research on gender and sexualities in global literature.

WORKSHOP: Trans Masc Peer-Only Space


Laura Haynes (she/her) 

Laura Haynes is Vice President – LPL Financial Advisor at Webster Investments with 24 years of experience working with individuals and families on their unique financial & investment needs, goals and circumstances. Prior experience in international finance and business development structuring and financing infrastructure related projects. Educated with an MBA from NYU and a Chemical Engineering degree from Manhattan College. Thank you to all the wonderful people I met at the TransForum ’23 where I discovered my true self - Laura – she/her! Together we make ourselves, and our world a better place.

WORKSHOP: Building Trans Wealth 

Everyone can benefit from a financial plan that is tailored to individual needs and circumstances, especially the TGNCNB community. A financial roadmap can motivate you to save money, help you meet your financial goals, and improve your overall financial security now and in the future. In this seminar on Financial Planning Basics, you’ll learn: • How to construct a budget and the importance of establishing an emergency fund • Credit fundamentals • Basic investment concepts, including risk tolerance and the difference between pre-tax, after-tax, and tax-deferred investments • Basic estate planning concepts


Lauren Matera 

Lauren Matera, DO, MPH, is an Adolescent Medicine specialist in New York with a clinical interested in gender affirming care for gender diverse adolescents, contraception and reproductive healthcare for adolescents, and mental health care. She completed both a Pediatrics Residency and Adolescent Medicine Fellowship at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH, and earned her Master of Public Health from The Ohio State University in 2023.

WORKSHOP: Principles of Healthcare for Gender Diverse Youth

We will cover the principles and current agreed upon standards of medical care for gender diverse youth (puberty suppression, HRT, mental health care), how to access care, and some of the barriers that face this community and population. We will also discuss how to know when to refer to a specialist with experience in this care, and when to consider management in a primary care setting.


Liz Verrastro (she/her) 

Liz Verrastro is a Licensed Master Social Worker. She is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor and is trained in providing inclusive care for LGBTQ+ youth. She has worked with youth of all ages and believes education and prevention are cornerstones of social work and activism. An advocate of self-care, Liz loves learning about and teaching self-awareness and self-care. Liz was born and raised in Port Chester, NY and is always excited to talk about great food spots in Westchester.

WORKSHOP: Working with TGNCNB Youth and Their Families

This workshop explores important concepts and topics to consider when working with TGNCNB youth. We’ll focus on creating safe and affirming environments for youth to feel understood. This includes supporting youth for who they are, helping them navigate school and community environments, and working with their families on different levels. This presentation is intended for anyone who works with youth, including clinicians and teachers/school staff. It aims to create a space to ask questions, foster learning, and advance affirming enviornments.


Mia Edwards (she/her) 

WORKSHOP: Trans Femme Peer-Only Space 


Miles Borrero (he/they/we) 

Miles Borrero is a yoga and wellness educator and public speaker. As a public speaker, Miles is a magnetic and inspiring storyteller with an innate ability to engage his audience. His speeches and workshops have inspired people to lean into their unique gifts as a way toward meaningful social change and co-creating the world we want to leave for our children together.

FRIDAY WORKSHOP: Anxiety, the Nervous System and the Power of Human Connection

SATURDAY PANEL DISCUSSION: If Not Now, When? The Joys and Challenges of Transitioning in Mid-Life

Anxiety can feel overwhelming, often creating a barrier for meaningful connection. In this transformative workshop, we'll dive into the fascinating science of the nervous system (in an accessible, fun way), and explore how anxiety shapes our interactions with others. Through weaving personal story, science and inquiry, we will examine how anxiety impacts our ability to connect, and learn powerful strategies to calm our nervous system to foster deeper, more authentic and meaningful relationships. Whether we are seeking tools to manage your own anxiety, or simply want to strengthen our connection to others by learning how to recognize signs of distress in someone else, this workshop offers practical, science based insights to support emotional resilience and deeper human connection.


Peppermint (she/her/hers)

KEYNOTE SPEAKER - The Vital Role of Advocacy and the Power of Representation at the Intersection of Identities

Peppermint is a beloved icon in queer nightlife and a multi-talented actress and singer. Her electrifying performances regularly sell out venues around the world. Peppermint has released six albums, including "Hardcore Glamour," "Servin’ It Up," and "A Girl Like Me: Letters To My Lovers," all available on all streaming platforms.

Recent projects have included guest-starring in popular TV shows and movies such as the 2023 Netflix series "Survival of the Thickest" with comedian Michelle Buteau, and Hulu’s hit rom-com movie "Fire Island" alongside Saturday Night Live's  Bowen Yang, Joel Kim Booster, and Margaret Cho.

Peppermint has also co-starred in OUTtv’s "Call Me Mother" drag competition series, and guest-starred in seasons one and two of Amazon’s "Harlem." In addition, she has hosted and presented at the 2020 and 2022 GLAAD Media Awards, and hosted/moderated Black Queer Town Hall with co-creator Bob The Drag Queen.

Peppermint is known for her fierce advocacy for trans and non-binary people. She is the ACLU’s first-ever Artist Ambassador for Trans Justice, and has raised six-figure sums for prominent LGBT rights groups, partnered with MAC Cosmetics’ “M.A.C. AIDS Fund,” and is involved in the HIV Vaccine trials network. She also partnered with RuPaul's Drag Race winner Sasha Velour for a college speaking tour that focused on these issues.

Peppermint is currently nominated for a 2022 GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Online Journalism category for her contribution to the Discovery+ “Legendary” series, and was awarded "Best Songwriter" by World of Wonder’s Wowie Awards in 2020. She has also received numerous other honors, including a GLAAD Media Award nomination alongside  Lady Gaga and Kehlani for Outstanding Music Artist in 2021, Conde Nast’s “Queeroes” award in 2018, and being named one of Out magazine’s “OUT100” portfolio of the most influential LGBTQ people of the year.

With her powerful voice, captivating performances, and tireless advocacy work, Peppermint is a true trailblazer in the entertainment industry.

peppermintonline.com


Robert D'Annibale (he/him) 

Robert is the Head of Corporate Strategy & Development at Forge Health, an outpatient behavioral health organization. In this role, he advises and supports senior management in making strategic decisions across all business functions. Prior to joining Forge Health, Robert was an Investment Banking Associate at SVB Securities and Jefferies, specializing in healthcare. His experience also includes serving as a Board Member for HERhealthEQ, a non-profit organization focused on global health equity. Robert earned a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Financial Economics from Johns Hopkins University. He is deeply involved in his community, serving as an Economic Development Advisor to the Village of Dobbs Ferry and as Vice President of the PTSA for Dobbs Ferry High School. Additionally, Robert is an active volunteer with The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center in White Plains, NY, and the Founder of the Westchester LGBTQ+ Education Fund, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships to LGBTQ+-identifying students pursuing higher education. In May 2024, Robert was named as an LGBTQ+ Trailblazer by The LOFT LGBQ+ Community Center. He has been featured on several LGBTQ+-focused panels hosted by OutCare Health, Fierce Healthcare, and others. Robert resides in Dobbs Ferry, NY, with his partner, Emmett, and their two dogs, Jake and Arlo.

WORKSHOP: Supporting Mental Health in the Transgender Community: Understanding and Addressing Unique Challenges

This workshop aims to bring together mental health professionals, advocates, and community members to explore the distinct mental health needs of the transgender population. The session will address the unique challenges faced by trans individuals and provide participants with practical tools for creating more inclusive, affirming mental health care environments.


Rowan Reyes (they/them) 

[Mx.] Rowan (Crow) Reyes, MSW, CYT (they/them) is a neuro-queer, non-binary, trans educator, macro social worker, artist, poet, and witch. They are interested in spaces where education, activism, art, & spirituality intersect. Their mission is to (co)create transformative experiences that nurture individual healing & fuel collective liberation. Crow believes in trans joy as a form of decolonization. They are passionate about the power of pleasure, divergent-thinking, strategic trouble-making & cultivating community care outside of institutions. Crow’s offerings are guided by harm-reduction and liberatory pedagogy, aiming to be trauma-informed, body and sex-positive, consent-focused, anti-racist spaces.

WORKSHOP: Weaving Our Web: Hope through Collaborative Art-Making

Playing with mixed media (objects, symbols, ink, watercolor, body) inspired by writing and conversation prompts, community members will be invited to co-create an art piece speaking to the interconnectedness of our individual and collective vision. No art or writing experience necessary.


Shepard Verbas (they/he) 

Shepard Verbas is the Fair Housing Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Westchester County Human Rights Commission where they focus on creating engaging and inclusive educational workshops for community and professionals on fair housing and human rights topics. Shepard has a background in LGBTQ+ advocacy with a professional focus on advocacy for survivors of relationship violence. Prior to their work at the Commission, they served as The LOFT LGBTQ+ Center's Director of Programs and Services where they spearheaded several initiatives including the development of LGBTQ+ training curriculum for human service professionals and corporations, an LGBTQ+ Survivor Support Group and advocacy service, increased assistance and support services for trans and NB communities, intergenerational programming, and the Hudson Valley Trans Forum annual conference. They have spoken at trainings and panels for local and national groups, and have been a keynote speaker for GLSEN Lower Hudson Valley and The LOFT LGBTQ+ Center's events. Shepard is passionate about working with others to name and change oppressive structures, they believe that the best education comes when people feel safe enough to learn from each other, and use their experience facilitating diverse community support groups to create trauma-informed learning environments.

WORKSHOP: Housing and Employment Rights for Trans and Non-Binary Communities

Join us for a conversation on legal protections in housing and employment for trans and non-binary communities in Westchester County. Trans and non-binary people face high rates of discrimination and harassment at home and at work, whether by landlords, superintendents, employers, neighbors, co-workers, or others. In this workshop, we will discuss what discrimination can look like in the realms of employment and housing, who is protected from discrimination under local law, and what actions can be taken by individuals to combat discrimination.


Solasta McIntyre (he/they) 

Solasta "Sol" McIntyre is a Therapist, Educator and Creative dedicated to serving multi-divergent beings in healing from complex trauma. He is an LMFT, ASD clinical specialist, and lifelong dancer with a Master's in Somatic Psychology Counseling from the California Institute of Integral Studies. They are the writer of What's Healing Me Lately on Substack and former director of No Mirror Movement. He is a proud Bigender Lesbian with a polyamorous heart and an Autistic-ADHD brain with roots in the Celtic Isles. They provide telehealth to folks in CA and energy healing/somatic coaching to folks in NY at his home office in Chappaqua.

WORKSHOP: Somatic First Aid: Taking Care of Each Other

Trans folks experience higher rates of suicidality, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, trauma, and are often also neurodivergent. This societally caused compounding stress effect leaves the trans community and those who love them under-resourced and overwhelmed with just existing. In this workshop, you will learn simple, accessible and effective ways to take care of yourself and your community in moments of intensity. Drawing from the medicinal well of Somatics - body based healing, you will leave with a clear understanding the signs of traumatic stress and an empowered knowing of how to meet it.


TJ Ferentini (they/he) 

TJ Ferentini (They/them, he/him) is a New York-based queer, trans, nonbinary writer and editor. They are a Lambda Literary fellow and one of the co-editors of Fat & Queer: An Anthology of Queer & Trans Bodies and Lives. Their writing has appeared in Songs of My Selfie: An Anthology of Millennial Stories, Fat & Queer, and elsewhere. TJ is also a Senior Editor with Kodansha Comics at Penguin Random House, where they have worked on series such as Attack on Titan, The Blue Wolves of Mibu, and Wandance, as well as many of Kodansha’s BL and LGBTQ+ series, including Boys Run the Riot, Is Love the Answer?, My Summer of You, Whisper Me a Love Song, The Spellbook Library, and more.

WORKSHOP: Writing and Thriving Outside of the Binary: Building Success for Trans and Nonbinary Authors

Being seen, acknowledged, and heard as a genderqueer author can be a struggle on several fronts, especially with the rise of LGBTQ+ book bans, anti-LGBTQ+ and transgender legislation, and the othering trans and nonbinary writers face while writing in a heteronormative, cis-dominated world. For transgender and nonbinary writers, building an effective, loving, and queer-positive writing support system is essential in order to take your writing from a fresh new start to a finished, completed project. By letting queerness into your writing community, it allows your career as an author to thrive; your identity as a trans and/or nonbinary writer to flourish; and gives you the time, space, and energy to actually focus on your writing instead of explaining your queer identity to an audience you may not necessarily be writing for. This workshop addresses the common issues that trans and nonbinary authors often face, sets guidelines for how to achieve goals in building community, and highlights resources specifically built for LGBTQ+ writers, such as queer writing groups, fellowships and retreats, classes, and more.


Weston Siano (he/him) 

WORKSHOP: Healthy Vibes & Self-Care Chats (Youth in Grades 6-12 Only)

Welcome to Trans Club, where we reclaim our narratives and empower ourselves! Join us for an interactive workshop focused on taking charge of our relationships and self-care. We’ll explore how to set boundaries, communicate with confidence, and build connections that truly reflect our identities. We’ll also dive into the importance of honoring our individuality in our journeys and how we can uplift one another. This is all about taking back our power, sharing strategies, and having real conversations that inspire growth and resilience. Come ready to engage, share, and connect as we empower each other on our paths!