Joelle's Summer Conference Travel Fund!

Hi Folks :-)  Thanks for checking out my GoFundMe Page! This summer, I have been invited to give papers/presentations at three different conferences.  I am trying to raise the funds to allow me to go to these conferences: two in June and one in July.  These conferences are all very important to me and very much related to my activism and passion for social justice. They will also help expand my academic work and allow me to immerse myself in some truly important socio-political discourses of our time.  I have attended two of the conferences in the past, and one I am brand new to!  The three conferences are: The Philadelphia Trans Health Conference (PTHC), The Society for Disability Studies (SDS) Conference in Orlando, Florida, and the Desiree Alliance Sex Work Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  I have long been an activist for transgender rights, and if you are a trans activist the PTHC is not to be missed!  It has become the largest trans gathering in the world, with over 2,500 participants.  I will be presenting multiple panels and workshops for this conference, and have served on the Trans-Feminine Organizing Committee to help plan the conference for the past two years. Later in June I will hopefully be attending SDS for the first time and will be presenting a paper on a panel with a wonderful colleague from UNH.  I have long included disability issues in several of my classes and have included a commitment to anti-ableism in my social justice advocacy.  I am excited about this conference to learn more about cutting-edge issues in Disability Studies and Disability Activism that I can bring back to my own teaching and activism at UNH. Finally, I would like to attend the Desiree Alliance Conference for the second time (last time was in 2010.) This conference is held in Las Vegas and is about sex worker rights and the sex worker rights movement for justice.  I am passionate about being an ally to the sex worker rights movement and am excited about giving two papers at this conference, including one about the sex work class I am currently teaching. As you probably know, traveling to conferences can be expensive.  I need to factor in funds needed for  travel (air/train/bus/taxi), hotel, registration and food.  To attend the three conferences this summer will total up to nearly $4,000. I am committed to raising $1,500 of that through paying out of pocket myself and fundraising from other sources. No donation amount is too little and I am incredibly grateful for any help you can provide!  Feel free to email me if you have any questions.  And feel free to forward this site to anyone who knows my work or might be willing to help out.  Thanks so much!!!