The Advocate Educator

Registration - The Advocate Educator

Creating schools where trans, non-binary, and ALL students thrive
A collaboration with PAIS and Friends Council on Education

May 1, 2026, 9am-3pm
Friends Center, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Cost: $320 per person, includes breakfast, lunch, and a copy of The Advocate Educator Handbook
Audience: ALL Educators!

Description:
How do we create a school community that supports trans and nonbinary students, and ALL students in living authentic, joyful lives? What does it mean to attempt this work in the current political moment? This interactive workshop digs into the issues facing transgender and non-binary students and what educators can do to address those needs. With a focus on uplifting trans joy, and discussion of multiple real-world scenarios, participants will leave with concrete resources and next steps.

The program offers a tested framework for educators to use in their journeys to creating inclusive classrooms and education environments for transgender and non-binary students. Centered on a framework of four principles – educate, affirm, include, and disrupt – this book provides a new way of thinking about inclusivity in the classroom, as well as practical ways to foster students’ sense of belonging

Meet the Presenters:
The presenters for this program are the authors of The Advocate Educator Handbook.

Vanessa Ford (she/her)
Vanessa Ford (she/her) is an award-winning teacher and author and parent to a wonderful transgender child. Ford and her husband JR authored “Calvin” - the 2022 Lambda Literary Winner for best children’s or middle grade book.

Ford’s advocacy work can be found in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, NPR, Newsweek, Today, Good Morning America and National Geographic’s Gender Revolution: A Journey with Katie Couric. Ford sat on the board of The National Center for Transgender Equality from 2017-2019 and is a founding member of HRC’s Parents for Transgender Equality Council.

Rebecca Kling (she/her)
Rebecca Kling (she/her) is transgender educator, performer, community organizer, storyteller, and advocate for social change. Rebecca’s art and advocacy work is rooted in a multidisciplinary approach to changing the world, with the understanding that there’s no one ‘right way to communicate’ that will land with everyone.

Rebecca has worked with hundreds of community organizations, civil rights groups, and elected representatives to elevate the experiences of transgender people, and to bring transgender issues into discussions of public education and policy. In 2024, Rebecca received a Lambda Literary Award for her inclusion in the anthology 2 Trans 2 Furious: An extremely serious journal of Transgender Street Racing Studies.

Rebecca firmly believes that understanding combats bigotry, and that everyone has the ability to push for a more just and equitable world.

The Advocate Educator’s Handbook: About The Book
With a powerful foreword by Dr. Peggy Brookins, President and CEO of The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, The Advocate Educator’s Handbook: Creating Schools Where Transgender and Non-Binary Students Thrive offers a tested framework for educators to use in their journeys to creating inclusive classrooms and education environments for transgender and non-binary students. Centered on a framework of four principles – educate, affirm, include, and disrupt – this book provides a new way of thinking about inclusivity in the classroom, as well as practical ways to foster students’ sense of belonging.

The authors bring rich understanding to the topic as educators themselves, Kling as a transgender educator and advocate and Ford as a teacher and parent of a transgender child. The book also contains stories from transgender and non-binary students, teachers, researchers, parents, and more, providing unique and important perspectives.

Inside the book are practical tools that readers can start using on day one. It also contains curriculum ideas for educators, and model policies for school administrators and public policymakers, so readers can begin advocating for and with trans and non-binary students.