Have you thought about what you would do if a co-worker came out to you as transgender? What would your company do? How would both a transitioning employee and the rest of their team be supported?

While some companies have great plans and support in place, for a lot of folks (and companies) this is a difficult space to navigate, and one that is only negotiated when personal stakes are at their highest. If a company doesn’t have a plan in place and hasn’t communicated explicit support, transgender and gender non-conforming people may not even feel comfortable coming out at all in the workplace.

We think there is an opportunity to do better, both in the tech/startup community, and in the Midwest. It’s not only the right thing to do — studies have shown that a more diverse and inclusive team leads to better company performance.

The Elevator Pitch

The Transition Forward Project is about organizations taking the first step—or the next step—in developing guidance to support the gender expression of all employees, specifically those that are transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming and those who decide to transition in the workplace. We’re advocates for nurturing company cultures that make employees feel comfortable bringing their best self to work.

Data validates this: Diverse companies are 21% more likely to achieve above-average profits and companies with more culturally and ethnically diverse executive teams are 33% more likely to achieve better-than-average profits.

Here’s more data:

  • 29% of transgender people live in poverty.
  • 30% of transgender people reported being fired, denied a promotion or experienced mistreatment in the workplace in the past 12 months.
  • 31% of transgender people experienced mistreatment in a public place in the past 12 months.

How can we improve this? Let's put on our work boots and solve it together.

Our Mission

Develop Resources

We will create and maintain resources to help organizations write policies and guidelines that are inclusive of transgender and gender non-conforming employees.

Create Awareness

We will be a community working to raise awareness of why these policies and guidelines are important.