employment

 (January 24, 2012  - Seattle, WA)  Ingersoll Gender Center announces a new support group for people in the Transgender  community who want to find work or improve their career. 
Seattle Transgender Economic Empowerment Project (STEEP), a program of Ingersoll Gender Center, will meet twice monthly, on the first and third Thursdays.  We will address issues related to the challenging job market.  The group will be led by veteran Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor Joy Shiels and Ingersoll Board Member, Ryan Blackhawke.  Joy has 25 years of experience working in vocational rehabilitation and currently works out of the North Seattle Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) office.  Ryan has over 20 years of experience as a community activist for LGBT issues.  Ryan is a seasoned facilitator of Ingersoll's peer support groups and serves as Director of Communications on Ingersoll's Board.

The initial meeting, to be held on Thursday February 2^nd from 7:00-9:00 PM at Seattle Counseling Service (1216 Pine Street, Suite 300 Seattle, WA 98101),  will be an informational session for anyone interested.  We will discuss what people need and want from this support forum and together we will define the work of the group for an ongoing series of 9 sessions.  Among the issues to be addressed are: the job search, personal presentation, discrimination in the job search and on the job, developing a vocational plan for personal and economic improvement, and accessing community resources.

Transgender Law Center has released a call for action to ask Mayor Gavin Newsome to restore funding for the Transgender Economic Empowerment Initiative. TEEI helps transgender clients in teh San Francisco area gain the skills necessary to find employment. With unemployment and underemployment among the transgender community at  double that of the general public, one can see why this program is vital for the transgender community in San Francisco.