Willy Wilkinson, MPH is an award-winning, Asian American, transgender writer, public health consultant, cultural competency trainer, public speaker, and spoken word performer. Willy is the author of the book Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency, which transforms the memoir genre into a cultural competency tool. He has written for numerous periodicals, such as the San Francisco Chronicle and Asian Week, numerous anthologies, including Transgender Rights and Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, and journals such as Transgender Studies Quarterly. The Lambda Literary Review has described his writing as "highly evocative." Willy is the recipient of a National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association excellence in writing award, and the Transgender Law Center Vanguard Award, and is recognized on the Trans 100.A dynamic and engaging speaker who is widely known for his expertise in transgender issues, Willy has provided training and consultation services for hundreds of community health organizations, businesses, and educational institutions on how to provide equal access for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) populations. As the first Asian and first transgender community health outreach worker providing street-based HIV prevention education and crisis intervention for sex workers and drug users in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, Willy pioneered an outreach model that addressed the unique needs of Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs). He worked on the first large-scale research project on the transgender community, and developed the first HIV prevention program for trans men who have sex with other men. He was a key organizer of the API lesbian movement of the '80s, and organized the first peer support programs for Asian transmasculine individuals and people of color on the female-to-male spectrum. Willy launched the Health Care Access Project at Transgender Law Center, the first program in the nation to address trans health disparities through provider training, "know your rights" workshops for community members, and advocacy for trans-competent care.Willy earned a Masters in Public Health in Community Health Education from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Women's Studies from UC Santa Cruz. He lives in Oakland, California with his three vibrant young children. Learn more at www.willywilkinson.com.