It is October 15th 2010 11am EST, I have the day off from student teaching and I get a call from an Advocates for Youth staff member.

“Am I or any other GenderBloc member submitting a session proposal for the Creating Change conference? Well, I don’t know.” I reply to the voice on the other end of the phone.

The staff member informs me “There is a funding possibility….”

Being a youth activist the words “funding if you….” immediately sends me into organization mode. I was then informed that proposal was due that day at 5pm EST. Less than 6 hours to put a proposal together, cross-country collaboration and no idea of what to present, we were off to a great start. I wait to call Lexi until noon my time because at least it will be 9am on the west coast by then. We talk for a moment and immediately start brainstorming ideas of what we could present on. After deciding on a topic (Livin’ to the “T”, Struggle, Issues and Triumphs of Young Adult Transpersons) we have to put a halt on the project for a few hours while I go to a meeting. When we come back together in record time we decide on the major topics we want to cover and the fact that we want to bring in Tyler, another youth Activist, to work on the project with us. At 3:30pm EST we turn in a very rough proposal, but a proposal, on time nonetheless.

Zoom forward through several phone calls, 3 online meetings, countless emails, quite a bit of research, a snowpocalypse, and a delay from de-icing planes. I suddenly find myself, my two co-presenters and 8 other members of GenderBloc at the 2011 Creating Change Conference.

One of the best parts of conferences like Creating Change of course is the networking and the seeing of friends and colleagues that you only see once or twice a year. This re-union of friends of old and meeting of new was facilitated in a variety of ways. There were hospitality suites for a variety of identities. The exhibitor’s hall was a very popular place for folks to congregate. Events such as the Opening Cruise, Karaoke Pop-Star Reception, and the Second Annual MasQUEERade Ball with performers Kit Yan and Ben Lerman provided a lot of entertainment and mingling for all who attended.

While there were many events that were held for entertainment purposes the educational aspect of the conference was working in full force that weekend too. I had the opportunity to attend many fantastic sessions and learned quite a bit. Below are some highlights from my sessions!

Being a Board Star – Learn what you need to know to be the best darned board member in the universe! – Micky MacIntyre – Day long institute

• 3+1
   o Ensure the Public Trust by Setting Good Policy
   o Resource the Policy You Set
   o Building the Board – Getting Better Every Time
   o Be the Ambassador – This must happen to be successful at the first three!!!
        • There are 4 Organizational Development Phases
   o We are Family: Informal
   o The Fledglings: Structured
   o On the Brink: Decentralized
   o Constituent Compliant: Consolidated
        • These phases are not necessarily linear
        • These are affected by size of organization, budget, where leadership resonates,    
           communication etc.
        • Four basic committees should be in place
   o Governance – Board Affairs and Human Resources
   o Finance – Financial Management
   o Outreach and Public Investment – Marketing/PR and Fund Development
   o Strategic Impact – Planning, Program and Information Management
        • All other committees are ad hoc and should be an extension of the above
        • Board Members should be hired to a committee – what are their strengths that make
           them valuable to the organization, do we need their particular strength at this time?
        • Meetings should be organized and on schedule!!!!!!
   o Agenda should be agreed upon prior to meeting
   o Votes should be for the affirmative
   o Materials should be given at least a week in advance
   o Written Reports are good!
   o Minutes are legal documents
        • Fundraising
   o Must not be afraid to ask
   o Must appeal to the emotions of a person to get them to say yes
   o Must appeal to the logic of a person to decide an amount

Bridging the Gap in U.S. Foster Care and Adoption Restrictions: Promoting Permanency by Ending LGBT Parenting Restrictions on the State and Federal Levels – Emily Hecht-McGowan & Rhodes Perry

• In many states it depends on the social worker as to whether or not a second parent adoption can occur
• People most trust Pediatricians, Social Workers, Child Psychologists, Children, Religious Officials in that order when dealing with adoption and foster care

Art of the Schmooze (Networking Tips) – Robbie Samuels

• You’ve heard of white privilege, male privilege and the like I have a new one, Extrovert Privilege
• Use three pockets for business cards if possible
   o One for your cards
   o One for cards of people that you actually want to stay in touch with
   o One for random cards that you may follow up with but may not be your top priority
• Always follow up 48 hours after
• Write down why you need to contact someone, on the business card they hand you
• Carry multiple pens, that you can give away if someone needs one, its kind and will give people something to remember you for
• Meet and Greet a presenter before the event if possible so you can work the line after they speak
• In conversations with groups make Croissants not Bagels – in other words keep your circle open by standing semi-sideways in a group to open it up and allow others to join the conversation easily
• Have an exit strategy; know when to move on, where you are going, then Grip, Grin, Go!

Audism Unveiled: An Examination of Discrimination & Prejudice – CM Hall & Raymond Luczak

• (Great way to say this) Asking someone who is Deaf or someone who knows ASL to teach you the dirty words makes the language a novelty as opposed to a usable language.
• Deaf and Queer Community both have distinctive cultures but many similarities can be made between the two (i.e. Many deaf children are born to non-deaf parents. Many LGBTQ children are born to non-LGBTQ parents)

Going for the Gold: Transphobia, Racism, and Why the Oppression Olympics are a Losing Game – Maceo Persson & Tash Shatz

• When we compare the LGBTQ movement to the Civil Rights movement it is often stated like the Civil Rights movement is over and all is well, this of course is highly problematic
• The major difference between Racism and Transphobia is: racism crosses generations of people in a family; transphobia is experienced independent of past generations.

The Pink Elephant in the room: White Privilege and Racism within the Queer Community – Breianna Hasenzahl-Reeder & Sheltreese McCoy

• Active Racism and Collusion are no better or worse than one another
• For me spotting the moments of collusion are harder than active participation because collusion in racism does not necessarily mean verbally agreeing it could be letting a racist comment or joke go by without saying anything or at the least being physically expressive about your disapproval

Of course I presented with my two co-presenters during the late Saturday session. 20-30 people attended it. We received quite a bit of feedback, most of which was positive with a few constructive criticisms. We covered issues that face transgender young adults such as family support, employment, education, and dating just to name a few. We concluded our session with action planning so that the participants might go back to their individual communities with at least one tangible thing to do when they got there.

Overall the conference was a great learning experience both as an attendee and a presenter. Additionally it was fun and well worth my attendance. I encourage anyone who has the ability to attend to do so in the future. Next year’s conference will be Jan. 25-29 in Baltimore, MD. For the most up to date information you can visit http://www.creatingchange.org/.

Shout out to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and all the donors for granting GenderBloc members scholarships for the conference registration. Also a shout out to Advocates for Youth who started this whole chain of events in the first place and for getting on of my co-presenters and I to the conference and keeping us warm by housing us in the conference hotel! We could not have come with out the help of these two organizations.