Big news! DJJ welcomes Elijah Silver!!
Hello DJJ-niks! My name is Elijah Silver (they/he) and I am so excited to be joining you as your new Organizer for Campaigns and Education. I started my political life in small grassroots organizations such as Food Not Bombs, Critical Mass, and the Independent Arts Coalition through the Bay Area punk scene in the 1990’s. I went on to do various types of organizing through my college and post-graduate years, then earned my doctorate of naturopathic medicine in 2014 from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, OR. While there I worked on several projects relating to transgender health equity within the school and clinic system, including increasing access to trans-specific clinic shifts and providers and creating one of the nation’s first transgender medicine electives. After graduating I went on to run a small practice where I worked with children with severe neurological and immune disorders such as OCD and PANS/PANDAS. During that time I also worked for Affirmations LGBTQ+ Community Center doing LGBTQ healthcare competency trainings for local healthcare providers and offered gender-affirming therapy counseling to transgender and non-binary youth and adults through Transcend the Binary. I have been an admirer or DJJ’s work for years and see joining the team as a kind of activist-y homecoming! I can’t wait to learn with you all and help make positive change in this beloved community. Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] (if I don’t reach out to you first)!