Gender Wiser
Coaching & Consulting
About
Gender Wiser
My Story
Being gender nonconforming and queer have never felt like limits to me, but instead sites of creativity, connection, empathy, care, vision, freedom, possibility, and human authenticity. I genuinely find all forms of gender expression and sexual orientation beautiful, and I feel most at home in spaces where gender-expansive and queer people are free to imagine, experiment, and thrive.
As a child, I was a raging tomboy from my earliest memories. Being raised in an ethnic community by immigrant parents with traditional views on gender did not curb my gender nonconformity. By the time I was 15, I knew I was also gay. And I knew I had to leave to be me. I became actively involved in LGBTQ+ community and culture beginning in college. I am forever grateful for the older LGBTQ+ people in my life that mentored me as a youth, and every subsequent stage of my life.
This is the background that shapes and informs Gender Wiser and my work as a gender coach and educator.
You Deserve to Work with an Expert
Dr. Jo Trigilio
Ph.D Philosophy (specializing in gender, race, sexual theories)
BA Psychology, Philosophy
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Decades of experience with LGBTQ+ mentorship and support
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Gender Studies professor and administrator for over 30 years
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Trained crisis counselor
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Engaged in LGBTQ+ community leadership since the 80's
Academic & Professional
Gender-Related Experience
My lifelong career interest in everything related to gender, sexual orientation, and intersecting forms of oppression spans across the worlds of academia, policy, community organizing, and LGBTQ+ culture. Before taking positions at the MA Commission for LGBTQ Youth and the MA LGBT Chamber of Commerce, I worked as Gender Studies professor and administrator for over 30 years. My strong interdisciplinary background has allowed me to develop and teach 35 different courses, traversing the terrain of the sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
With a degree and early background in psychology, I have a lifetime of experience working with gender and LGBTQ+ related support services in a variety of institutional contexts, and decades of experience providing LGBTQ+ individuals mentorship and guidance.
As someone committed to growth and innovation, I walk with one foot in academia and one in lived experience, on the ground, in connection with others. My engagement and leadership in LGBTQ+ community work focuses on intersectional inclusion, working across differences, and affirmation and pride.
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Director of Research, Policy, and Education at the MA LGBT Chamber of Commerce
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Interim Executive Director of the MA Commission for LGBTQ Youth
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Director of Graduate Program in Gender/Cultural Studies at Simmons University
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Chair of the Graduate Consortium in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (hosted by MIT)
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Assistant Professor, Women's and Gender Studies, and Philosophy, Simmons University
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Director of Gender Studies, Bentley University
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Assistant Professor, Philosophy, Bentley University
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Executive Board, National Women's Studies Association
QUICK READS
Jo Trigilio, Nonbinary: Outside the Trans Umbrella, Boston Pride Guide 2016
Jo Trigilio, Queering Political Correctness, Boston Pride Guide 2017
Jo Trigilio, Practicing Queer Intersectionality, Boston Pride Guide 2018
Jo Trigilio, Stonewall Riots: Reclaiming our Radical Roots, Boston Pride Guide 2019
LGBTQ+ Community Leadership
Creating inclusive, caring, and joyful LGBTQ+ communities is at the heart of my organizing work.
Boston Pride for the People
In 2022, after Boston Pride dissolved, I assembled the group of people that became the founding board for Boston Pride for the People. I served as Vice President and Project Manager for the first Boston Pride for the People Parade and Festival in 2023.
Photo: Edie Bresler
Photo: Edie Bresler
Pop-Up Pride
In 2022, after two years of no Boston Pride due to COVID, in partnership with the MA LGBT Chamber of Commerce who served as fiscal host, I led the team that planned the community-centered, completely grassroots Pop-Up Pride on the Boston Common.
MFA Gender Bending Fashion Exhibit
As someone who has always experimented with gender expression through fashion, serving on the interpretation team for the Gender Bending Fashion Exhibit at Boston Museum of Fine Arts has been one of my favorite and most meaningful consulting experiences.
Elected Grand Marshal of Boston Pride
In 2018 I was nominated and elected Grand Marshal of the Boston Pride Parade. I used my platform to focus on how attending to those most in need helps build intersectional resistance from the ground up.
Boston Dyke March
I served on the leadership team of the Boston Dyke March from 2000-2014. From its inception, the Boston Dyke March has been a gender-inclusive, grassroots, non-commercialized event. I also head the Boston Dyke March History and Archive Project.