Max ⋅ Sam & Devorah Foundation for Trans Youth

Researcher Details

Name
Max

Nationality
UK

University
Sheffield Hallam

Research Pathway
Education, Childhood and Youth (ECY)

Thesis Project
Trans people’s experiences of LGBQ+ youth work in the UK

Mode of Study
Full-time

About the Placement 

Role Title

Trans Mentorship Project (TMP) Intern

Mode of Placement

Full-time

Placement Location

Online

How did you find your placement?

I speculatively contacted a host that I was interested in working with

What were your main responsibilities during your placement?

• I learned about the organization and development of non-profits (attended 3 TMP youth advisory board meetings, & 1 SDFTY board meeting).

• I identified 2 potential grants and co-drafted proposals for each, which were successful.

• I planned and facilitated virtual hangouts, workshops, and/or panel discussions.

• I conducted monthly check-ins with 10 mentor-mentee pairs, which really helped to strengthen my relationship with those in the project.

• I gained experience in networking and working with outside organizations.

• I networked with various professionals.

• And I developed and improved the outreach email template, tailoring different versions of it to target different types of groups.

Why did you choose this role with this particular host?

Too often, academic research is far removed from the real lives of researched communities, especially when research isn’t led by those with lived experience. This is worsened when researchers’ professional experience is only academic. I had already made efforts to expand my experience beyond this through current and past work, but I wanted to use the placement opportunity to intentionally diversify my experience, both to be working in a trans-led trans-only org, to be working in the US, and to be working with youth virtually.

What was your greatest achievement during your placement?

I feel really proud of all of it, honestly. The grant proposals and editing together a large zine are particular concrete tasks that I completed to a deadline and am proud of.

How did your placement help you to develop your current skills and knowledge?

I learned more about how to facilitate connection and foster community belonging in a remote/virtual context, and about the US trans youth context, which is a similar but distinct setting to here. I also developed this broader understanding that allows me to speak to more contexts when disseminating my research, increasing my research project’s potential power and influence. Additionally, I gained insight into how a small charity establishes itself and expands (e.g. recruitment, reaching the right people, grant writing etc) which I am interested in and hope to do in the future.

How has your placement experience influenced your future career goals and aspirations?

It helped me to see and solidify that I want to work as a practitioner, not (primarily) a researcher, after I finish my PhD, and that there are many ways to do that.

What tips or advice would you give to current or future WRDTP postgraduate researchers interested in undertaking a placement?

Feel the fear and do it anyway! Send the speculative emails! I had such a good time on placement, and I took a lot of punts to get there, but asking doesn’t hurt anything, especially if you email a good number of places. I didn’t hear back from a bunch of my emails, but you only need one to work out.