(Photo via Ashley Marie Figueroa’s Facebook)
ORLANDO | Equality Florida held its third annual Voices For Change conference in Orlando on Aug. 18 with the goal to organize, strategize and build power in transgender leaders.
The conference takes leadership that already exists and helps them network and collaborate. It’s a statewide approach to bring key trends under leaders to discuss the state of the transgender community.
Angelique Godwin, director of transgender equality, says at the conference they share successful campaigns and initiatives, collaborate with other transit organizations to build trust, and develop actionable plans to improve the quality of life for transgender Floridians. She created the conference and it serves as Florida’s first statewide convening dedicated explicitly to trans-led organizations.
She says over the past three years she has noticed the growth in attendees’ willingness to collaborate and assist each other.
“I think this year, the biggest change is the call for intergenerational conversations, and calling them to the table, both the younger community, wanting to hear from the older community, and learn and grow from them, but also the older community, calling in, rather than calling out with the younger community, and wanting to genuinely be mentors, and provide safe spaces,” Godwin shares.
Jaron Sanchez, transgender equality associate, says this is his second year involved with the conference. For those in attendance, he hopes they leave feeling more educated in transgender policies in Florida.
“I want them to be educated about health care through that panel,” Sanchez shares. “I want them to feel empowered and connected through our mentor-mentee program that we’re working on right now at this event, which is a pretty exciting development, something brand new that we’ve never done before.”
During this annual convening, they share successful campaigns and initiatives, collaborate with other trans-led organizations to build trust, and develop actionable plans to improve the quality of life for transgender Floridians. Equality Florida fosters these statewide collaborations to amplify trans voices,
Godwin says this year, they are focused on talking about organizations struggling with funding opportunities and the best way to go about program and federal cuts. Since the cuts have affected organizations, she says there must be conversations about what to resort to and how it will support initiatives.
“We’re dedicated to making sure that all of the leadership attending has access to a variety of options, and that they’re educated on those options,” Godwin says. “And not just telling them what the options are, but we’re actually going to have sessions that teach them how to enact those things that we’re suggesting.”
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