Trans and nonbinary tech professionals to share stories, advice to students in upcoming panel
Author: Kelly Chan
Date: 03.25.22
In honor of Transgender Visibility Day on March 31, Khoury College is hosting a “Trans in Tech” virtual panel with transgender, non-binary, and gender non-conforming (TNBGNC+) professionals in computing to share their journeys in navigating their identities in the workplace. The panelists include Gavriel Legynd of VisioneerIT, Emac MacLaughlin of Medallia, Luz Calero Forero of Nomad Health, and Gianna Motlasz of Linode.
Taylor Sprague, the event organizer and an assistant co-op coordinator, created this panel to highlight queer voices, inspire transgender students who are pursuing computer science, and enable meaningful discussions in the community around gender diversity. The panelists will cover a variety of topics surrounding TNBGNC+ identities, from sharing pronouns in the workplace to what to look for in healthcare coverage for those transitioning.
Taylor Sprague, event organizer and assistant co-op coordinator. Photo (2021): Matthew Modoono, Northeastern University.
“There are so many youth growing up who identify as trans in this space, and we need to be having more conversations about it for folks to understand and get behind what it means to live in a gender diverse society, what it means to live beyond the binary, and to include those voices,” said Sprague, who also organized Khoury College’s “Out in Tech” panel this past October.
READ: LGBTQ+ panelists share unique experiences, offering advice to current students
MacLaughlin looks forward to sharing their experiences in seeing the tech field become more inclusive over time. They’re especially grateful for the support from their current employer, Medallia, which has been deemed one of the best places to work for LGBTQ+ equality for the last four years by the Corporate Equality Index.
“There was really no safe space for LGBT experience in the tech world for so long, and the culture was very limited,” they said. “I think this conversation is still unfolding, and it’s really only in the last five or six years that I’ve seen active ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) and been starting to see top-down leadership really acknowledging the importance of diversity and inclusion. It’s really important to have these conversations, bring people together, and foster a sense of community as well.”
Motlasz also stressed how meaningful this panel is, as she reflected on the fear she had when coming out at least 20 years into her tech career.
“Especially in the tech space, which is predominantly cis male-oriented, I think it’s so intimidating for a lot of people who are either entering the field—or in my case, was well-established within the field—to be comfortable within their own existence,” she said.
Panelists, clockwise from top left: Gavriel Legynd, Gianna Motlasz, Luz Calero Forero, and Emac MacLaughlin.
For Forero, a 2021 alum of Khoury College, she wants to connect and share her advice with current students, especially having recently gone through the co-op and job application process.
“When I was applying to jobs right out of college, a lot of the people that I immediately reached out to were other trans people,” Forero said. “So I would love to be in community with other trans people, … and I am looking forward to meeting current Khoury students and seeing how I can be a resource for them—be they queer, trans, gender-nonconforming, or allies.”
Sprague also emphasized the need for gender inclusivity and visibility in tech-related fields, as technology is woven into everyday lives. Innovation, they said, must include perspectives from marginalized identities in order for the technology to be accessible to those communities.
“[Technology] has an ability to make such positive and impactful change in our world. And I think we’ve also seen ways tech has left people behind when it hasn’t necessarily been inclusive of all identities and all experiences,” Sprague said. “People are coming up with ways to use tech to create access … and having trans voices at the table only helps further who that’s impacting and who that’s reaching in a really meaningful way.”
Register here for the panel event Thursday, March 31, at 12 p.m. ET.