Dear Colleagues,

I apologize for the time that has passed since my last President's Note. Summertime has a habit of speeding by faster than one can realize, with summer camp schedules, travel, and lazy warm weekends, and I hope you all have been able to enjoy yours.

The USPATH Board and Staff have been hard at work on a number of efforts and initiatives. We are continuing to develop our committee infrastructure and process, as well as other ways for members to get involved via Special Interest Groups, more to come on this in the near future. Our Bylaws revision continues to move forward at a nice clip, and the first draft has been sent to our legal counsel for review and further revisions. A survey will be distributed soon to the membership to gauge interest in participation in a mentoring/mentee program, please be on the lookout for this. Mentoring is a fantastic way to support a pipeline of leadership for tomorrow and beyond, and we are particularly interested in an equity lens for doing so.

Many of us are growing excited as the WPATH Biennial Conference rapidly approaches us next month in Montreal. We had initially explored having a special reception for USPATH members and leadership during the conference; we quickly realized that with the Conference being located just an hour from the US border, USPATH members represent a majority of the registered attendees, making a USPATH-specific event quite an undertaking! As such, we will stick to informal connections, hallway discussions, and hopefully some relaxing and recharging coffee dates and cocktails. Please be sure to stop and say hello to USPATH Board Members during the conference or one of the receptions or events, we will be identified as such on our badges.

Lastly, I would like to announce a very special effort we are taking to increase equity and representation of people of color at the Conference, in USPATH, and in the field of transgender health. Using the USPATH President's Discretionary Fund as seed funding, we will be awarding stipends in the amount of $1200 to two (2) current USPATH Student Members who identify with a non-white race or ethnicity. Awardees will be chosen by random drawing. We hope that this pilot effort will lead to further avenues through which we can support equity, inclusion, and the professional development of a pipeline of tomorrow's leaders from communities of color. We encourage those who wish to support future such efforts make a donation to https://www.wpath.org/donate.

The message and link to apply for the stipend awards will follow this one shortly, be on the lookout for it today.

I am looking forward to seeing you all in Montreal!

In solidarity,

Maddie