Help TTI Build a Sustainable Future

Creating a More Equitable, Just, Affirming World Through Education
The Transgender Training Institute (TTI) is a trans-owned company of hard working, passionate transgender and nonbinary educators who are trying to make the world a more just, equitable and affirming place.  We lead professional development and personal growth trainings that provide participants with information and skills needed to be better prepared to affirm the transgender and non-binary people in their lives.  Founded in 2015, TTI has worked with thousands of participants across the United States through our client trainings , webinars  and classes.  Over the years, we have worked hard to intentionally build a company that reflects our values of social justice and people above profit. 

Why we need community investment:  
On March 9, 2020, we were literally days away from implementing our sustainability expansion plan when we lost $150,000 of contracted income due to COVID-19.  Since then, we have worked hard, invested our own time and money, and have had some amazing supporters who have helped us to grow when we were fighting to stay open. Adversity has challenged us to be stronger as a company, but because of the money that we lost, we lack the finances to implement our sustainability plans. This leaves us in a precarious situation until we are able to hire additional team members needed to sustain our growth.   

Since our profit distribution model is unique, we are not eligible for many traditional, capitalist funding streams. We have self-funded for the past 5 years, collectively investing a percentage of what we have earned back into the company.  Our long-term success depends on it and we are happy to do it.  But we cannot self-fund the money we lost, that loss inhibits us in moving forward, and is a recipe for burn out.

In our classes, we regularly invite participants to “ask for what you need” in order to be able to fully participate in learning together.  We are asking for the support of allies, advocates and accomplices who want to invest in creating a more trans-affirming world, while uplifting and centering trans voices. We believe that what we are doing at TTI is not only different, its worth investing in. 

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We are asking allies and accomplices to make a social justice investment in the work that TTI is doing by:

·      helping to fund our mission through this GoFundMe (for those who have the privilege and means to do so)
·      pass on our name to folks who are looking for trans trainings ,
·      share our webinars and classes  with your friends, family and colleagues, or check one out yourself
·      like us on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter  or LinkedIn , engage with our posts, and help get the word out

We truly appreciate any and all of these actions. 

Becoming Stable & Sustainable:
Since our inception, we have self-funded TTI through our client training work.  On March 9, 2020, TTI had $150,000 worth of client work for the year cancelled due to COVID, which was two-thirds of our annual income.  We have been able to scrape through to 2021 with small PPP loans, hosting our own webinars+classes, and a lot of support from friends, but our CEO is pro-bono and doing the work of three people, which is not sustainable for the company or him.  This GoFundMe campaign is one that allows us to launch our sustainability plans, which include:

- Expanding the hours of our Admin Team and creating an Operations Manager position will reduce everyone's collective stress, and support our further growth. 
- Hiring a marketing company will help us reach more people, more effectively to introduce them to our webinars and classes. 
- Hire an additional 3-4 Core Team trainers.
- Creating a paid accountability pod will help us to accurately represent transgender and non-binary people as our communities evolve, while distributing more money to transgender and non-binary people. 
- Funding training team retreat, and continued professional development will help us build additional offerings, and support our own growth as educators and content matter experts.
- Funding the remaining balance our Admin Team's Paid Time Off and coverage fund ensures that the folks who run the day-to-day of TTI have ample time for rest, health and joy. 
- Paying off our startup debts will catapult our ability to further invest in the work that we are doing.
- Having several months buffer and an emergency fund will allow us as a company to move out of a cycle of survival and into a place where we can thrive.

We have a very clear path forward for how to address our current restraints and we are now at a point where we just need an influx of cash to help us hire additional team members, fund other integrity and accountability structures, and help pay off the high interest debt that we have acquired getting to this point. While we can continue to scrape by, without community investments, we will not be sustainable.
 

How you will know where the funds went:
At TTI we believe in being held accountable to our commitments. For example,  for the past few years, we have been donating a portion of the proceeds from every Training-of-Trainers course to a cause of a team members’ choosing. We keep a public record of these donations  on our website, so that people can verify where the funds went. We will do the same with this campaign, and will provide transparency updates on our website about how the funds were used.   

Please learn more about who we are and this campaign in more detail on our website .

Thank you so, so much for your support!!