Born in the isolated mountains of rural Northern California, Eli spent years fighting to survive as a transgender child in an environment that wasn’t ready to support her. After opening up about her gender at age eight, she spent years struggling with unaccepting communities, local white supremacists, and physical violence from students and teachers alike.
Eli decided to become an activist for other trans people when she realized that there was no one else who would advocate for other trans youth like her. She co-founded Trans Student Educational Resources at age 16 in 2011. The group works to improve the educational environment for transgender students around the country. It remains the only national organization led by trans youth and the only one focused on trans students. Leaving her directorial position at TSER in 2019, Eli is joined the Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness departments at the University of California, Santa Cruz to complete her Ph.D.
Eli has appeared in hundreds of media outlets ranging from the New York Times to Time Magazine. In 2013, she broadened the national conversation on transgender students’ access to education when fighting for California’s School Success and Opportunity Act. In 2015, she became a face of the national movement for trans women at women’s colleges. She has since become of the top political commentators on feminist, queer, and trans issues in the nation. She currently lives in New York City’s Lower East Side while finishing her forthcoming book projects.
As a writer, Eli focuses her publications on political organizing, trans history, education, language, media, social movements, and healthcare. You can find Eli’s writing here.
In recognition of her work, Eli is a Peace First Fellow, Teen Vogue “New Face of Feminism”, Refinery29 “30 Under 30” awardee, Trans 100 honoree, Westly Foundation Young Innovator Awardee, Glamour Magazine college woman of the year, and a recipient of the Angels of Change Youth Angel Inspiration Award among many other awards.
