In recent years, there has been a significant influx of presence, awareness, change, and visibility within the topics of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE). As champions of girls and young women who are cisgender, transgender, non binary, and gender non-conforming, it is important for us to understand, practice, and implement measures to support them in exploring and honoring their gender identities and sexualities, in relation to other aspects of their identities.

We're excited to bring back this important workshop series virtually, after our successful sold-out pilot series last year in partnership with Kiku Johnson, Executive Director of the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County, with a diverse team of intersectional Rainbow Unicorn Trainers. This is a tremendous opportunity we have to be in community together, within this incredible civil rights movement, engaging in the heart of learning, sharing, and elevating the marginalized and intersectional identities of LGBTQI+ folx.

Join us to center the voices and experiences of queer, transgender, and gender-nonconforming folx, explore our own gender journeys, and learn gender-expansive practices for supporting work with, responding to, and creating safety for all youth along the SOGIE spectrum. We'll also address ways to support them virtually and remotely in the context of COVID-19 and physical distancing.

This hands-on, minds-on, highly interactive workshop series will provide:

• An overview of key concepts, terminology and definitions relating to SOGIE
   
• Affirming and expansive practices for supporting work with, responding to, and creating safety for all youth along the SOGIE spectra, with engagement on intersectionality, allyship, bias, and protective factors
   
• An overview of federal and California state legal protections
   
• Opportunities to practice and apply these learnings with fellow participants, and learn together
   
• Technical assistance to support introduction, navigation, and implementation in your organizations and/or personal relationships with youth and colleagues
   
• A closing session to touch base, debrief, and share effective practices

This virtual workshop series aims to provide a safe space for all advocates and educators of youth interested in developing and strengthening fluency in the SOGIE spectra. We understand participants will have different access and starting points dependent on level of exposure and knowledge.
 

About the Facilitator

Kiku Johnson
Executive Director
Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County 

Kiku Johnson is the Executive Director at the Rainbow Community Center of Contra Costa County. He originally hails from Michigan and has been living and thriving with his partner in Oakland, CA since 2004. Kiku is an educator, trainer, and consultant engaging his human development, design thinking, with a visual arts background focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Kiku has 30 years of experience with youth development and responsive community program design, outreach, implementation, impact, evaluation, and advocacy through a social justice lens. Kiku is independently and collaboratively adept at creating culturally and trauma-informed, accessible approaches and content for a wide variety of intersectional communities including LGBTQI+, People of Color, youth, and adults working across sectors including juvenile justice, education, mental health, community-based, and faith-based organizations. He has traveled the country educating on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Affirming Approach and Expansive Practices connected with the CDC funded handbook he authored that is open source. Kiku is a Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy Center for Juvenile Justice Reform Supporting LGBTQ Youth Certificate Program Fellow. He loves being in community with all folx with a special affection for the cat community. Kiku loves teaching mediums for expression like stained glass construction and is fascinated with how things work and embodying MacGyver at every opportunity! He's writing a book about his life journey through trauma and transition. Most importantly, Kiku knows liberation is found every time he gets on the dance floor!

While this workshop is being provided for free to support the community at this time, we appreciate a donation on a sliding scale of $5-$95. Registration is limited to two tickets per organization. 

If you have any accommodation needs or have barriers to accessing webinars, please let us know at least 48 hours prior to the workshop. We'll make every effort to accommodate you. Email Kailin at kailin@alliance4girls.org.

*“Girls” refers to gender-expansive youth (cis girls, trans girls, non-binary youth, gender non-conforming youth, gender queer youth and any girl-identified youth).