Who We Are
A group of medical and mental health professionals, academics, researchers, activists, and allies, some trans and others cis, devoted to the health and happiness of transgender and gender nonconforming youth. Most of us have extensive experience working directly with trans youth.
In alphabetical order by last name...
Laura A. Jacobs, LCSW-R is a trans and genderqueer psychotherapist, activist, writer, and public speaker in the NYC area working with TGNC, LGBTQ+, and sexual/gender diversity communities. Laura currently serves as Chair of the Board for the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, a multisite health center serving the LGBTQ+ community of New York City regardless of ability to pay and the largest single provider to transgender populations worldwide, and is the first trans and genderqueer-identified person to occupy the Chairperson position at a federally qualified health center. They are a firm believer in body autonomy as a fundamental human right and that gender and sexuality are arenas of the human experience through which we can explore identity, relationships, power, intimacy, cultural constructs, and even existential questions of meaning.
Laura is the recipient of the 2017 Dorothy Kartashovich Award by the Community Health Center Association of New York State "In recognition of your dedication and advocacy to ensure high-quality health care for all", as well as a 2018 Gay City News Impact Award "Recognizing outstanding contributions to New York City's LGBTQ community."
They have been featured on NPR, MSNBC, NBCNewsOnline, SiriusXM, CBSNews, Mic.com, and The New York Times, and has spoken at numerous organizations, conferences, and universities including the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Memorial Sloan Cancer Center, NY State Society of Clinical Social Workers, Vanderbilt University, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Rutgers University, NYU Silver School of Social Work, the American Sociological Association, the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, The US Professional Association for Transgender Health, and countless others. Their book, "You’re In The Wrong Bathroom!’, co-authored with Laura Erickson-Schroth, was published in May 2017. As Lawrence Jacobs, they worked as a musician, composer, photographer, and less glamorous corporate middle management.
M. Dru Levasseur is Senior Attorney and Transgender Rights Project Director for Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest national legal organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and people living with HIV. For a decade, Levasseur has been counsel in cutting-edge transgender rights impact litigation in federal and state courts, and counsel on amicus briefs filed nationwide in federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He has extensive experience advocating with federal, state, and local governments on behalf of transgender people, including multiple meetings with White House officials.
A national and international media spokesperson, Levasseur has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, People Magazine, Self, Reuters, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, ABA Journal, Atlantic, Vice, Daily News, New York Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Fox News, NPR, Huffington Post, and was profiled in the Advocate. He has provided corporate trainings to Fortune 500 companies, hospitals, and medical schools, as well as continuing legal education to law firms and law schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia, and conferences around the country and in Puerto Rico.
Levasseur is passionate about transgender community empowerment. In 2007, Levasseur co-founded the Jim Collins Foundation, a trans-led national nonprofit that funds surgeries for transgender people in need. The organization has awarded 20 grants in 10 years. In an effort to bring greater attention to funding gaps for transgender communities, Levasseur serves as a working group member for Grantmakers United for Trans Communities.
His leadership has been recognized through many honors and awards from institutions such as National LGBT Bar Association, Inaugural “Trans 100,” City Bar of New York, Brooklyn Law School OUTLaws, and Connecticut TransAdvocacy Coalition. He prioritizes serving as a professional mentor for emerging leaders in the legal field and beyond. He is a member of the Georgia, Massachusetts, D.C., and New York Bars.