About - Trans Empowerment Initiative

OUR STORY

TEI began with a simple but powerful need: the need for a safe space. In 2019, a small group of TGNC survivors of violence, displacement and systemic exclusion came together to create the support they could not find anywhere else. What started as a space for shared survival slowly grew into a movement rooted in resilience, collective care and radical hope.

From mutual aid circles to regional advocacy, TEI has evolved into a transformative force for empowerment. We now facilitate access to gender-affirming healthcare, emergency housing, leadership development, economic skills training and community-led creative expression.

We uplift stories that were once erased and amplify the voices of transmasculine and gender non-conforming people across East Africa.

Our story is still being written by every member who walks through our doors, by every refugee who finds safety and by every leader who rises through our community.

MISSION

To build resilient and affirming communities that advance the well-being and economic freedom of transmasculine and gender non-conforming people by creating inclusive spaces for care, creativity and sustainable empowerment.

VISION

A just and inclusive East Africa where every transmasculine and gender non-conforming person lives freely, thrives economically and expresses their identities and potential without fear or limitation.