About Us

As a White, cisgender, middle-class woman, I recognize the privileges that come with this social position. These privileges shape my worldview and may close my eyes to certain aspects of lived experiences. Growing up, I was never taught about my own white identity, systematic oppression, or white fragility. Simultaneously, as a bisexual woman, I have faced marginalization, microaggressions, and discrimination. Through my education and career, I have focused on working in diverse environments with marginalized populations, which has greatly influenced my worldview and provided a better understanding of how my whiteness affects my ways of seeing the world. I will strive to navigate these complexities transparently in the classroom, acknowledging my limitations and advantages.

Being White affords me many unearned advantages to society’s rewards and privileges. This status alone gives me better education access, job opportunities, and freedom from discrimination and oppression. Being a United States citizen is the most privileged form of nationality, as a citizen, I have legal rights, such as voting, working, and living in this country. As a citizen, I have access to resources that non-citizens do not, such as benefits from social services, education, and healthcare systems. As a cis-gender individual, I do not face the types of challenges and discrimination that transgender or gender-diverse individuals do. However, as a woman, I have experienced gender discrimination and microaggressions from being a woman in a work environment. Growing up in a nuclear family provided me with family stability. Being middle-class and a homeowner, have provided more financial stability and access to more resources than others in lower socioeconomic positions.

My positionality may be perceived in different ways within the population that I am serving. Although I identify as part of the queer community, I do not specifically identify as transgender or gender diverse and therefore I have not experienced the discrepancies and discrimination in healthcare that these individuals face consistently. As a Caucasian woman with private health insurance, I do not experience systematic racism when I receive healthcare. Individuals with similar positionalities who are receiving this training may connect through having similar experiences and education. Individuals with diverse positionalities may question my expertise as I do not share the lived experiences as the population I am serving. I believe that my overall worldview, self-awareness and experience in working with diversity will lend a hand in my ability to provide well-rounded and necessary training.