*Shannon Garcia, President
Shannon Garcia is the President of TransYouth Family Allies, Inc., a business owner, and the mother of six children, including a beautiful affirmed female daughter. She speaks at schools, social service agencies, health care facilities, universities and conferences nationwide educating and advocating on behalf of transgender and gender variant children and their families. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and family.

*Amy G., Treasurer

With degrees in engineering, music, business, and law, Lisa Gilinger currently practices administrative law in Santa Barbara, California, focusing on Social Security Disability. She is a guest lecturer, a speaker with Pacific Pride, and a voting member of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH), where she serves as a member of their Legal Issues Committee. Ms. Gilinger was the keynote speaker for University of Minnesota at Morris Equality’s 2009 Pride Week. She grew up in Levittown, Pennsylvania.

Kelley Winters, Ph.D.
Dr. Kelley Winters is a writer and community advocate on issues of transgender medical policy. She is the founder of GID Reform Advocates, member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, and Advisory Board Member for the Matthew Shepard Foundation and TransYouth Family Allies. She has presented papers on the psychiatric classification of gender diversity at annual conventions of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Counseling Association and the Association of Women in Psychology. Her articles have appeared in a number of psychology and psychiatry journals and in two books.

Kelley assisted in drafting the current human rights ordinances in Boulder and Denver, Colorado. She was instrumental in trans-positive reform of Colorado drivers license policy in 2006 and in adding Gender Identity and Expression to employment policies of the Hewlett-Packard Company. Kelley received the Colorado Pride Award from Equality Colorado in 1999 and the and 2002 Sonja’s Dream Lifetime Achievement Award and 2007 Melissa Chapman Award for Social Change from the Gender Identity Center of Colorado.

Rev. Dr. Julie Nemecek
Dr. Julie Nemecek is a former university professor who lost her job for following the treatment protocols for being transgender. During this process, Dr. Nemecek shared her story with the local newspaper. The story was quickly picked up by the Associated Press and ultimately appeared in various media.

She and her life partner of 36 years, Joanne, have both become outspoken activists for transgender issues. They have shared their story on university and college campuses and even the occasional high school campus. Before moving into higher education in 1990, Rev. Nemecek served for 20 years in pastoral ministry including an inner-city Chicago church. She often shares how the move to an authentic life has had a positive impact on her spiritual life as well as her emotional well-being.  In addition to her service on the advisory board of Trans Youth Family Allies, Dr. Nemecek serves on the boards of Michigan Equality, Soulforce, Michigan Association of LGBT Organizations and PFLAG Jackson. She also does volunteer work with GLAAD.

Reid Vanderburgh
Reid Vanderburgh, MA, LMFT is a therapist with a private practice in Portland, Oregon. Reid’s specialization is helping people cope with major life transformative events. Approximately 95% of his clientele is transgender in one way or another. In addition to his work as a therapist, Reid has extensive experience providing  workshops, classes and presentations on transgender issues, within a variety of settings.  He is the author of “Transition and Beyond: Observations on Gender Identity,” published  by Q Press of Portland, Oregon. The first print run sold out, and Q Press has gone out of business, so Reid is seeking a new publisher.

Reid received his MA in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University’s Graduate School for Holistic Studies in 2001. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Reid is a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH, formerly HBIGDA, Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association) and the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT). He is also a board member of SAFE (Stop Abuse for Everyone).

Asaf Orr
Asaf is a solo practitioner in Los Angeles whose law practice focuses on representing students in education-related matters including special education, discrimination, constitutional rights, and discipline. Although Asaf works on school cases generally, he has developed an expertise in cases involving transgender and gender-variant youth. He provides trainings to students, parents, educators, lawyers, and service providers across the country on the rights of LGBTQ youth in schools.

Asaf is also co-authoring a book chapter on the legal and ethical obligations of school districts to safeguard the right of LGBTQ youth to obtain an education in a safe and affirming school environment. The chapter is part of an edited volume geared towards school professionals.

Previously, he directed the Rainbow Rights Project at the Learning Rights Law Center. After graduating magna cum laude from Rutgers School of Law, he clerked for The Honorable Virginia A. Long on the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Seth T. Pardo, Ph.D
Seth Pardo received his Ph.D. from the Department of Human Development at Cornell University with concentrations in Developmental Psychology and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. His graduate work focused on transgender identity development and medical decision making.

Dr. Pardo is one of the founding members of the Association for Gender Research, Education, Academia and Action (AGREAA), member of the Education Committee for the Society for Medical Decision Making, member of the American Psychological Association, and an advising member of the student initiative for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. In 2009, Dr. Pardo co-convened the TransRhetorics Conference with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Department at Cornell University, which drew in scholars from around the world to celebrate diverse interdisciplinary work in transgender studies and new rhetorical approaches in the representations of transgender lives.

Dr. Pardo is co-author of the California Department of Mental Health LGBTQ Reducing Disparities Report; his work also appears in several peer-reviewed publications including Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health, International Journal of Transgenderism, Handbook of gender research in psychology, and the Handbook of identity theory and research.

Colt Meier, M.A, Ph.D Candidate
Colt is set to graduate from the Child-Family track of the Clinical Psychology doctoral program at the University of Houston on May 10, 2013. He is a licensed psychological associate in the state of Texas currently completing his internship in the LGBT rotation at Texas Tech University in the Student Counseling Center. Colt has been out as a trans man throughout his graduate education and training.

Colt worked with local professionals to create Gender Infinity, the Houston based gender family conference for transgender children, youth, and their families that has held two successful conferences. He serves as the Co-Chair for the Transgender Committee in Division 44 of the American Psychological Association and has led efforts to create culturally sensitive informational material for psychologists who are working with transgender children and youth. He is also the Co-Chair of the Student Initiative of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health.

His research is being published in multiple peer-reviewed journals including Archives of Sexual Behavior, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health, and International Journal of Transgenderism.