Preparing Your Organization

This page provides guidance and tools that were designed to assist organizations in evaluating their current readiness in serving women of trans experience. The assessments are examinations of organizational culture, policies, and practices. While the tools are extensive, it is not intended to be comprehensive. This is a starting point for those interested in empowering and affirming women of trans experience. This means, taking the necessary steps to ensure the organization is welcoming and has a supportive environment, along with having strong connections to members of the local trans community.

The assessments were created to be done as a group to bring various perspectives into conversation about organizational cultural competency. Each document includes both open-ended questions and ratings on specific indicators. The assessment scores are not as important as the questions and conversations sparked by the process, as well as the subsequent changes at your organization.

Staff Training

These two training tools will help you make sure your entire agency has a baseline understanding of working with transgender individuals.

• Trans 101: Transgender People in Everyday Work and Life! (Online)
  Seven interactive modules covering key concepts related to transgender people and how to improve services for trans communities.
• Acknowledging Gender and Sex Supporting Health Care Providers in Serving Transgender Patients and Clients​The goal of this course is to help health care providers improve the overall health and well-being of transgender people.

Organizational Assessment

• Organizational Assessment Tool for Trans Cultural Competancy (DOCX)
  Adapted from Organizational Assessment Tool for LGBT Cultural Competency, created by National Center for Lesbian Rights and California Rural Legal Assistance
  This tool offers both a way to take stock of current efforts and develop a set of benchmarks for the design and implementation of future work.
• Change and Readiness Assessment Tool (PDF)
  Capacity Building Center for States. (2019). Washington, DC: Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Teams can use the tool to consider readiness in two ways

1. Readiness to make a change from established ways of doing things to address an identified problem, need, or opportunity.
2. Readiness for implementation of a specific program, practice, or other intervention.