“JAC is a skilled, knowledgeable, and talented teacher who tirelessly serves trans people every day. He gets complex ideas across to a broad audience with warmth and a terrific sense of humor. Please do yourself a great big favor and bring this high-fashion genderqueer wonder to you as soon as you possibly can.” – Kate Bornstein
“A lot of the Midwestern transgender community’s resources have been created by JAC. They are things we didn’t have before and it impacts transgender people around the country.” – Andrea Jenkins
JAC has been invited across the USA for his educational presentations, at this point having taught thousands of people about serving the LGBTQPIATS+ community through socially just human service work. Working with a diverse range of mental and medical health providers, educators, community groups, non-profits, faith communities, and student organizations, he assists in the growth of sustainable community resources and strengthens the practice of informed, skilled health services so that everyone can better stand solidarity with the trans community.
JAC’s extensive career as a grassroots trans activist influences his down to earth, fun and sometimes unapologetic teaching style centered on combating intersectional systems of oppression including racism, sexism, cisgenderism, heterosexism, ableism, ageism, sizeism, classism, ethnocentrism, religious imperialism, colonization, and medical gatekeeping. He strives to create an environment where attendees feel comfortable asking hard questions while maintaining a safer space for members of oppressed groups, to combat the constant cycle of retraumatization. Each lecture is designed to be accessible for a diverse range of learning styles and educational backgrounds with so that each attendee can walk away with new perspectives as well as practical skills.
His academic background in Psychology, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and then a Master’s Social Work have made him an asset to classrooms for high school, undergraduate, and graduate level students and his workplace trainings are requested by a diverse range of professionals in health and human service, education, faith communities, non-profits, and community groups. As a educator, JAC’s deepest passion lies in teaching people, especially youth and young adults, empowering tools to change their environments through activism, education, and social justice.
Trainings:
JAC tailors every talk to fit the precise needs of your group or organization. Each title below describes the topic area and framework from which a presentation is built. JAC meets every event organizer(s) to discuss goals and the specific areas a group would like to discuss. All presentations are designed to be a minimum of ninety minutes to two hours. Custom presentations or length are available, depending on the training.
Introduction to LGBTQPIATS+ Competency, or specifically the Trans Competency
This workshop delves into the mass of labels and theories that surround gender, sexuality, and building community. Participates discuss identities, sexuality, and society through a history of cultural influences on how and why we think about gender and sexuality as we do. It includes information on useful terminology, cultural history, best practice, and allyship tools.
Skilled Human Service for LGBTQPIATS+, or specifically the Trans Community
Professional training session for human service providers to increase their cultural competency when working with LGBTQPIATS+ populations. As the number of LGBTQPIATS+ people accessing human services increases, so must the our ability to serve them. This training will educate participants on culturally responsible language, discuss LGBTQPIATS+ experiences, and provide harm reductive tools to address disenfranchisement. It includes terminology, population data, service tools, case studies, and learning activities to make for providing culturally competent, responsibly informed care that empowers the LGBTQPIATS+ people we serve. The training is offered as a 1 , 2 , 4 , 8, or 12 hour seminar.
Social Justice and Serving the Transgender Community, Seminar for Mental Health Care Providers
Professional training session for human service providers to increase their cultural competency when working with transgender and gender variant populations. As the number of transgender people accessing human services increases, so must the our ability to serve them. This training will educate participants on culturally responsible language, discuss trans experiences, and provide harm reductive tools to address disenfranchisement. It includes terminology, population data, service tools, case studies, and learning activities to make for providing culturally competent, responsibly informed care that empowers the trans people we serve. The training is offered as a 1 , 2 , 4 , 8, or 12 hour seminar.
Solidarity with the LGBTQPIATS+ Movement
Different people may need different things, be it because of economic class, race, ability, age, identity, or ability, but all of us need to feel respected and included. This workshop discusses how to use radical activism and social justice when creating inclusive spaces in our organizations and schools, break down obstacles, and offer a Q & A to aid in organization-specific projects.
Serving LGBTQPIATS+ Youth in School and Public Programming
A training specifically for educators, teachers, school administrators, and youth workers covering LGBTQPIATS+ terminology, the experiences of LGBTQPIATS+ youth, statistical data, and tools for creating a safe affirming spaces, classrooms, and schools. The training is offered as a 1 , 2 , 4 hour seminar.
Sexual Violence, Trans specific or the broader LGBTQPIATS+ Community
This training is for those working in human services, about the impact of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking one of two related subject areas; trans specific or for the entire LGBTQPIATS+ community. It includes terminology, statistical data, and tools for culturally competent services. The training is offered as a 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 hour seminar.
Sexual Violence in Native American Two Spirit and LGBTQPIA+ Community
This training is for those working in human services, about the impact of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking in the Native American Two Spirit, Trans, and LGBTQPIA+ community. It includes terminology, statistical data, and tools for culturally competent services. The training is offered as a 1 , 2 , 4 , 8 hour seminar.
Deconstructing Systems to Establish Socially Just Trans Campus Policy
This workshop discusses what issues trans people may face on a college campus, what policies are required to address their needs, and what tools can be used to make trans inclusive policy change a reality. Included in the session are opportunities for college organizers to discuss their own work to create a campus that is safe and accessible for all students.
Trans at Work, or LGBTQPIATS+ in the Workplace
This workshop is specifically designed for employers seeking to educate their staff in creating a healthy, safe, and affirming workplace for transgender and LGBTQPIATS+ people. It includes information on useful terminology, cultural history, best practices for the workplace, and allyship tools.
“Make your Own” Topic Areas:
JAC provides sessions that involve the whys and hows of trans organizing, community building, discussing identities, and creating educational foundations. If you have specific needs or issues to address, a custom session is great for brainstorming strategies, gathering resources, creating an action plan, and learning how to put that plan into action. If your community is looking for a specific conversation, let JAC know!
- Information for students, activists, health care providers, and educators working with trans and queer populations.
- Informational practices for education professionals when working with trans and queer students.
- Systems of mental health and the pathologization of trans and queer experiences including prevalence of specific diagnosis, trends and data relevant to macro and micro best practice.
- Trauma Informed Care with survivors of violence related to historically oppressed populations; impacts within trans and/or queer populations, or Native populations.
- Multiples, Pluralism, and Systems (or otherwise considered Dissociative Identity Disorder) within trans and queer populations.
- Using activism towards strategic planning, project development and management and challenging the non-profit industrial complex.
- Intersections of poverty, financial violence, and economic social justice in trans and queer populations.
- Accessibility and Ableism within healthcare systems, and resources for stronger programming.
- And more!