People who are Transgender, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary, and Intersex (2STNBI) have always existed and will always exist in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. If the ultimate goal of our CARE Department is to fuel a Northwest inhospitable to harm directed at LGBTQ+ communities, then our TRANSform Culture program is our unapologetic commitment to 2STNBI individuals and communities in the service of that goal.
The TRANSform Culture Program supports the brilliant and dedicated organizations and leaders working to meet the needs of BIPOC 2STNBI individuals and organizations in the Northwest. What has crystalized as the TRANSform Culture program has evolved and shifted over the years, but what has remained central is the belief that all gender and sexual minoritized people should be able to live openly as our whole selves, and to live free and well from discrimination and violence.
Origins of the TRANSform Culture Program:
The TRANSform Culture (TFC) program exists because BIPOC gender-diverse community members in the Northwest asked for it (see “Introducing TRANSform Washington” 2016). In 2016, Pride Foundation was invited to join a community coalition called TRANSform WA, a public education campaign that successfully was able to defeat Ballot Initiative I-1551 (an anti-Trans Bathroom Bill).
With the defeat of I-1552, the TRANSform WA campaign evolved into the TRANSform Culture program, now housed at Pride Foundation, with a new broader focus to work across the Northwest.
In 2021 and 2022, the TRANSform Culture experimented with launching a community advisory body called the Village Council, consisting of BIPOC Trans, Nonbinary, Intersex, and Two-Spirit Northwesterners. We are indebted to council member Ganesha Gold Buffalo for the idea of a Village Council.
In 2022, with the hiring of an inaugural Director for the Department of CARE, the TRANSform Culture program was restructured to better clarify the narrative and power-building elements of the work. In 2023, it became an integral program within the Department of CARE.
What is the TRANSform Culture Program:
The TRANSform Culture program consists of a fellowship project (the TRANSform Culture Fellowship), an alumni network project (the reimagined Village Council), and broader narrative work honoring and unapologetically centering BIPOC 2STNBI knowledge and livelihoods in the Northwest.
The Goals of the TRANSform Culture Program are:
- To support community education activities reflecting the historical and future gender and sexual diversity within and across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, respectively.
- To promote community research by and for BIPOC 2STNBI individuals and organizations in the Northwest.
- To develop a network of community action with 2STNBI communities in the Northwest for the region and beyond.
The TRANSform Culture Fellowship Project:
The TFC fellowship currently consists of ten fellowship slots (two per state that Pride Foundation serves), and it runs twelve-months starting on June 1st and ending the following May 31st. The fellowship provides fellows with a one-time monetary stipend ($15,000). In 2023, we officially launched the inaugural cohort of the TFC fellowship.
The goals of the TRANSform Culture Fellowship Project are to:
- Financially and professionally support BIPOC 2STNBI individuals in the Northwest and increase their capacity to grow their leadership.
- Train fellows to lead and participate in community-based narrative research that supports cultural change and public policy work in the service of Pride Foundation’s mission.
- Create a network of trained BIPOC 2STNBI leaders across the Northwest who work with Pride Foundation and our community partners to drive cultural change and transform public policy.
In 2024, Pride Foundation will launch the first open application process for the fellowship. For the 2024-2025 cycle, there is one open fellowship available for Alaska. This is because we retained the inaugural cohort to honor the multi-year process of developing the fellowship and prepare for the open application process. The 2025-2026 fellowship cycle will be the first cycle during which all current fellowships will be available.
The Inaugural 2023-2024 TRANSform Culture Fellows:
- MoHagani Magnetek (she/her), Fairbanks, AK
- T MO (they/them), Juneau, AK
- Mija (they/them), Missoula, MT
- Delaiah Robinson (they/them), Missoula, MT
- Jesse Guecha (they/he/she), Tacoma, WA
- Mattie Mooney (they/them), Tacoma, WA
- Aodhàn Crawford (they/he/she), Boise, ID
- Brandon Connolly (he/him), Idaho Falls, ID
- Úmi Ver (she/her), Hillsboro, OR
- JJ (they/them), Portland, OR
TRANSform Culture Alumni Project – The Village Council
Our Village Council is under development and will continue to grow with each cycle of the TRANSform Culture Fellowship. The purposes of the Village Council is to further invest and co-conspire with fellowship alumni and to organize and mobilize a network of 2STNBI people in the Northwest for transformative work.
Stay tuned for more updates about this exciting alumni and coalitional project.
Get Involved
We are actively recruiting storytellers who are BIPOC and 2STNBI. This is a paid opportunity to take part in our work to transform culture across the Northwest. Please reach out to Director of CARE, Omni (they/them), if you’re interested in sharing your story!
Testimonial: “As part of the Village Council guiding TRANSform Culture, being able to be part of a multi-generational group where I can sit across from an Indigenous elder, a Black trans femme activist, a Fa’afafine fellow organizer—having that beautiful blend of people and experiences, has really stood out for me.”
