WHO WE ARE

OUR STORY

Trans Empowerment Initiative (TEI) is a queer and trans youth-led collective and registered Community-Based Organization (CBO) based in Kenya, operating since 2019. We work across East Africa to empower and support trans men, transmasculine, and gender non-conforming (TGNC) folks especially those who are refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced, undocumented, and facing extreme marginalization.

TEI was born out of a shared urgency: the absence of spaces that recognize and respond to the unique experiences of transmasculine people in East Africa. Our work is deeply informed by personal experience, collective trauma, and the strength of community resilience.

We are a community that understands what it means to survive violence, exclusion, and systemic neglect. Many of our members have been pushed to the edges surviving homelessness, unemployment, internet trolling, substance abuse, and rejection even within LGBTQ+ circles. We bring our lived experiences into our organizing, transforming pain into purpose, and isolation into connection.

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MISSION

To build and strengthen affirming, empowering, and transformative spaces for transmasculine and TGNC communities in East Africa through grassroots organizing, radical care, advocacy, and capacity building while advancing our collective journey toward liberation.

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VISION

A just and liberated East Africa where trans men, transmasculine, and gender non-conforming people live with dignity, safety, and full access to health, housing, education, and economic opportunity free from violence, stigma, and systemic oppression.

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OUR CORE VALUES

  • Compassion & Care: We lead with empathy, tending to each individual with curiosity and kindness.

  • Community-Led Solutions: We believe those most affected must be at the forefront of shaping responses to our challenges.

  • Intersectionality: Our work acknowledges and addresses the multiple layers of oppression our community faces.

  • Radical Honesty & Visibility: We tell our truths, document our stories, and affirm our existence unapologetically.

  •  Liberation-Oriented: Our work is part of a broader struggle to dismantle all systems of oppression, from transphobia and sexism to colonialism and capitalism.

  • Solidarity & Collective Power: We grow stronger through connection, collaboration, and mutual support.

FAQ

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