Since today is already my second day on the job, I am overdue for a formal introduction. Hi!
My name is Rayden and I am the inaugural fellow for the Initiative for Transgender Leadership (ITL). The ITL was created to positively impact community life through professional and leadership development of a transgender youth. The Regional Internship Center signed on to be a sponsor for the selected fellow and I, in turn, selected the RIC to work with for the next 10 months.
This fellowship is an impetus to serve the missions of the ITL, the RIC and Coro Pittsburgh, while developing my personal worldview. I believe in the importance of storytelling to foster community connections and create positive social change. When was the last time you heard someone’s story that inspired you? Are there particular human stories you associate with exciting moments in history? There is power in our histories and experiences. I am turning my story as a transgender person into an asset for the greater community. My unique experiences, coupled with my professional goals for the RIC will be my tools as I help to build a vision based on the positive impacts of diversity and community.
Over the course of 10 months I hope to live up to that theme by fostering meaningful community interaction and recognition of the power of the work we do. Specifically, I would like to cultivate greater diversity in the seekers of internships and the employers we at the RIC serve.
I am a Pittsburgh transplant from Maryland, raised in Massachusetts, born in New Jersey. I attended Purchase College in New York where I studied Literature. I love riding my bike, gardening & farming, libraries, recycling, learning new creative skills, beautiful old buildings, corresponding via the postal service, headstands, ice skating and mythology. I am excited to be working with the Regional Internship Center in this charming historical building!
For more on transgender basics see my educational blog, the transgender Wikipedia page, or alternately you may follow Kate Bornstein on Twitter.
[Editor's note: Please see my new post on the Initiative for Transgender Leadership blog. I will be writing weekly updates for that blog if you are interested in following my progress.]