In the spring of 2021, the California Endowment named Kris Hayashi (he/him/his) to the foundation’s Board of Directors. Kris, the Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center, is the first out transgender person to serve on the board of the California Endowment. 

Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Program Director Ann McMillan recently spoke with Kris and Alexander Lee (he/him/his), Project Director of our Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC) initiative, about their hopes for how health funders can further support the transgender community. Despite the enormous challenges to the health, safety and wellbeing of transgender people, Alex and Kris discuss several ways transgender activists are working to improve the health and wellbeing of the community and opportunities for health funders in particular to support them. 

Published during Trans Awareness Week and ahead of Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), their reflections are shared in a post to GIH’s November 2021 ‘Views from the Field’ blog titled “Freedom to Thrive: How Health Funders Can Support Transgender Communities,”

Click here to read the full post on the Grantmakers in Health website.

Image note: Photo by Katie Rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 on Unsplash