Help Fund Training in Gender Affirming Voice Practices

My name is Wolfe Lanier, and I’m a student at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, currently pursuing my Master of Fine Arts in Voice Pedagogy.

As voice practitioners, we work with clients on all aspects of voice—accent and dialect, performance, vocal health, presentation skills, and more. One of the most essential and emerging areas in our field is gender-affirming voice care.

What is Gender-Affirming Voice Care?

Gender-affirming voice care refers to training and support that helps trans, nonbinary, and gender-diverse individuals develop a voice that aligns with their identity and expression. It’s not about “fixing” or “normalizing” the voice, but rather centering each person’s goals, safety, and agency.

This kind of care may include:

Pitch, resonance, and intonation work to explore affirming vocal ranges

Nonverbal vocal cues like breathiness, loudness, and rhythm

Embodiment practices that connect identity and voice

Trauma-informed approaches that acknowledge the effects of dysphoria, misgendering, and vocal discomfort

Collaborative exploration—the individual chooses what voice feels most like them

Most importantly, gender-affirming voice work is valid and available to all, regardless of medical transition status. It's about helping people sound—and feel—like themselves.

Why We're Fundraising

Our program at RCSSD has done everything possible to bring in gender-affirming specialists, but with limited time, funding, and institutional capacity, our exposure to this work remains introductory.

Over the past few months, I’ve partnered with Seattle Voice Lab—a leading organization in this field—who have generously offered to run a 6-hour intensive workshop for my cohort. This training would deepen our knowledge and better prepare us to support the trans and nonbinary community in our future practices.

The cost is £203 GBP ($270 USD) per person, which is difficult for many of us as students. Unfortunately, we’ve explored school-based grants and have been told there are no funds currently available.

That’s where you come in.

How You Can Help

We’re asking for your help to make this training accessible to our entire cohort. Any amount you can give—whether £5 or £50—will go directly toward making this workshop possible. If you’re unable to give, we’d still love your support by sharing this with others who might be able to contribute.

This is about more than a workshop. In a time of increasing limitations on gender-affirming care in the UK, this is a small but powerful way to push back—and to give back.

Thank you so much for your time, generosity, and support.

Together, we can help more people sound like themselves.