Staff
Katie Burgess has been a community organizer for over 12 years and has been living in the Twin Cities for over half that time. After years of struggling with homelessness and drug addiction, she has found sobriety, sanity, and loving community as a young queer trans woman in South Minneapolis. Now you can find her volunteering at the MN Trans Health Coalition's Shot Clinic, serving on the GLBT Host Home Program Advisory Council, or juggling fire on a unicycle in the park. Her strength and healing has come in part through her work with TYSN as an Advisory Board Member. The resources, community, and empowerment available to her within this organization have become a foundation for her life. Having worked with TYSN since it's inception, she has seen her personal growth run parallel with the growth and emergence of TYSN as a leader in community organizing towards racial, social, and economic justice for trans and gender non-conforming youth. Now she is excited to see her own leadership skills emerge in the community as the Executive Director of TYSN. Her commitment to ensuring the lasting sustainability of services and community for trans youth, in particular young trans women of color, is unwavering and fueled from her own experiences utilizing the tools available to her in the Twin Cities to heal. In the past two years she has transitioned into the role of service provider herself, as a Youth Counselor at Avenues Shelter for Homeless Youth. She now carries with her intimate knowledge of both receiving and providing social services, and continues to develop her solidarity with local youth of color to work against the oppressive systems that would see our community demolished. As she continues to grow more fully into her self, she is determined to increase the opportunities for trans and gender non-conforming youth to do the same. Please join her in realizing our collective strength and liberation in her position as Executive Director of TYSN.
Advisory Board
Roxanne Anderson
Myrl Beam
Kelly Brazil
Lex Horan
Julian Siwek
NeeCee Taylor
Riley Neshiem-Case
Adrienne Pabst
Rehema Caitlin
Jesse Francis Valentin
Jay Masika
Raquel (Rocki) Simões
Enzi Urimba Odongo Tanner
Owen Marciano
Interested in getting more involved?
Please contact Katie Burgess at 612-208-9762 or transyouthsupportnetwork@gmail.com if you'd like to learn more about the work of TYSN, become a Youth Member, and/or join one of our work groups. Our work groups are the following:
- Events
- Organizational Development and Sustainability
- Public Education
- Outreach
- Network Collaborative
- Resource Development
