Thanks so much to all our participants, presenters, vendors, sponsors and volunteers for making First Event 2019 a huge success! We experienced record breaking attendance with just over 1,000 total participants and we’ve received lots of positive and helpful feedback. Each of you made it possible for us to help others, build community and support each other!
Dr. Mark Zukowski Dr. Jeffrey Spiegel . Melissa Johnson
Dr. Sherman Leis
Sponsoring First Event Conference gives incredible direct reach into the transgender community, with extensive opportunities for promotion throughout the 5-day conference. First Event Conference is presented by Trans Club of New England (TCNE), a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please email us at info@firstevent.org.
Be The Change, See The Change: A Guide to Operating in Solidarity
CeCe McDonald, Transgender prison-reform activist First Event 2019 Keynote Speaker
CeCe is a transgender activist and revered icon
of the LGBTQ community. She captured international recognition in 2011 after
surviving a white supremacist and transphobic attack, later receiving a
second-degree manslaughter conviction and serving 19 months in prison simply
for defending herself.
She has been profiled in Mother Jones, Ebony.com, and Rolling
Stone, the latter praising her as “an LGBT folk hero for her story of
survival – and for the price she paid for fighting back.” In 2014, The Advocate included her among its
annual “40 Under 40” list. That same year, she received the Bayard Rustin
Civil Rights Award by the Harvey Milk LGBT Democratic Club. She is the subject
of the acclaimed documentary, “FREE CeCe,” produced by transgender actress
Laverne Cox. Since her release, she has graced stages across the country where
she uses storytelling to articulate the personal and political implications of
being both black and trans.
As one of the founders of the Black Excellence
Collective and Black Excellence Tour, created with best friend Joshua Allen,
she fosters important conversations around mass incarceration, sexuality, and
violence. With energy and conviction, she highlights the hope she now fights
for – that all LGBTQ people can live their lives free of hate and prejudice and
confidently pursue their dreams without fear.
CeCe McDonald will be delivering the First Event conference keynote during the Frances J. Cardullo Banquet on the evening of February 2, 2019. Her talk is titled Be The Change, See The Change: A Guide to Operating in Solidarity.
