meet our facilitators!
also known lovingly (and interchangeably) as our transition doulas
V Varun Chaudhry, PhD (He or they)
Name Change Doula
@BrownTransFeels
Hello! My name is V, and I’m a South Asian trans queer person living just outside of Boston. In my day-to-day work, I’m a professor at Brandeis University, and I also work as a consultant, trainer, and editor: my research and professional interests are in gender and racial justice (particularly with trans and gender nonconforming communities of color), Black feminism, and organizational mission/vision shifts. Although I no longer live in Philly, I have worked with the Leeway Foundation, the Trans Equity Project, and the Mazzoni Center, and even popped into a GRP workshop once! I am so excited to be a part of this exciting, transformative process, and can’t wait to hear more from the GRP community.
Sam Chenkin (aka “Sam C”) (She or they)
Name Change Doula
Reclaim the Sector
Hi! I’m a white, Queer, Trans woman living in west philly. I’m an activist and organizer, and I focus my energy on gender justice, housing justice, and radicalizing the nonprofit sector. I’m really happy to be here. Obviously I get to help a beautiful organization embrace the beautiful complexity of gender through a new name. But I’m just as excited to get to know all of you and learn about the GRP of your past, present, and future.
PS: The more Sams the better, but to keep things clear I’m going by Sam C during this project.
T.J. Jourian (he/his)
Strategic Plan Doula
Trans*Formational Change
Hey there! My name is T.J. and I’m a Middle Eastern Armenian trans and queer man and a recent-ish transplant to South Philly. I was born in Lebanon, grew up in Cyprus, and have lived in 6 states in the U.S. in the last 20ish years. I get to work with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting as an events coordinator, while also conducting research on gender, sexuality, and race in higher education. My greatest passion lies in gender justice work, in a variety of forms, so I feel privileged to get to be with you all through this pivotal and historic moment for the GRP community.