Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus

What’s your background, in a few sentences?

I was born in Taiwan, and grew up in Taipei and Shanghai before settling into New York City for undergrad, and was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work in Paris, Zurich, Seattle, and San Francisco as a healthcare management consultant in rare disease and oncology, DEI executive, and venture-backed entrepreneur before moving to Boston for my Harvard degree. The lesser-known parts of my background is that I’ve gone to culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu Paris for cuisine and pastry, and represented Taiwan at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice. I now split my time between Boston and New York City with my two cats and a dog - and while I do cycle and run most days of the week, the most competitive activity in my schedule is convincing the little ones to share the studio space peacefully. 

What brought you to Harvard and what did you study?

I had three goals for my time at Harvard: 1) found an organization that could make a meaningful difference for the transgender and gender-expansive community at scale, 2) contribute to academic research in trans healthcare, and 3) get a world-class education in gender health equity to complement my knowledge of health systems. I had assumed that I could reasonably accomplish the latter two goals, but actually left Harvard having won enough startup awards to build Trans Health HQ full-time after graduation.  

The most impactful curriculum and connections were from the Women, Gender, and Health concentration at the Harvard School of Public Health, the Harvard Kennedy School Social Impact and Change Initiative fellowship, and initiatives like the New Venture Competition and President’s Innovation Challenge at Harvard Business School. The opportunity to engage with Harvard across different schools was crucial to gaining exposure to what different sectors value, and understanding how to align incentives around transgender healthcare.

Where are you now in your career?

It’s a privilege to still be leading Trans Health HQ, when in the past year alone there were over a thousand anti-trans bills, and one in three trans Americans have contemplated relocating for health and safety. Our digital Access & Info Hub connects 21,000+ trans patients to affirming specialists and resources, and our enterprise solution helps health systems more efficiently execute on gender-affirming care coordination activities & capture reimbursement for this crucial work. I also teach the trans health graduate seminar at Harvard, publish academic research in the International Journal of Trans Health and Health Affairs, and speak at organizations such as the National Institutes of Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield to shape research and funding recommendations. I credit Harvard with giving me the launchpad to take Trans Health HQ from an idea in my head to a tangible tool that’s raising the bar for what the trans community can expect out of our healthcare experiences and lives. The other thing I’m looking forward to is walking in New York Fashion Week this fall in a trans designer’s debut show - it will be the first time I’ve modeled since coming out as trans, which is a satisfying full-circle moment from one of the earliest chapters of my career. 

If you’d like to make a gift or follow Trans Health HQ’s impact, you can do so HERE. 

Why did you join the HGSC Board?

 I joined the HGSC Board because I see it as a duty to leverage Harvard's alumni network to protect current students, create opportunities, and drive material change for the community. I'm queer, non-binary, and trans, so this work is extremely personal to me, and I want every trans student and alum to be able to say Harvard opened doors for them too. Groups like HGSC shape who gets to study, teach, and belong at one of the most influential universities in the world, and for a long time, the “T” wasn't part of that conversation. The Caucus has now explicitly committed to serving trans community members, and advocating for Harvard to fully implement non-discrimination protections around gender identity. I want to help make good on that commitment. Trans alumni carry a perspective that's historically been missing from institutional decision-making, as well as knowledge from navigating systems that weren't built for us, whether that’s advocating from the margins or under hyper-visibility. I'm here to help mobilize resources and expertise to advance LGBTQ+ protections across the Harvard ecosystem and beyond, and I'm already so appreciative of the chance to connect across generations of alumni doing this work.

What are you excited for in 2026?

Continued growth and finding more like-minded individuals, both on the personal and professional front (as they have been closely intertwined in recent years)! Trans Health HQ has seen a 35x increase in users in just 16 months, and this year we're expanding our in-person community work by hosting vet-a-thons to bring people together and keep trans healthcare resources up-to-date - we're excited to do a couple more events with NY State Senator Kristen Gonzalez this fall, and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art for Trans Day of Remembrance on November 20 in New York City. Send me a note if you want an invite :-) I'll also get to present Trans Health HQ's impact at Cape Town, DC, and Mexico City later this year! We're actively looking for funders of our free community resource hub & education, and hospital partners for our enterprise solution, so if that's you or someone you know - I'd love to hear from you at ivan@thhq.org.

On the personal side, I've brought my parents to New York this year and have loved watching them build a life here (and getting to see them on the other side of a 40-minute subway ride, not a 16-hour flight). I look forward to seeing more operas and contemporary art shows with my partner and best friends, getting into the pottery studio where I can, and learning how to vogue at Alvin Ailey, which has been a wonderful way to be connected with queer and trans culture through dance. As a trans person, being alive in a moment like this in history is a privilege, and it's what keeps me pushing to make sure more of our community gets that same chance to live to see their futures. 

What’s one experience you miss most from your Harvard days?

The experience I miss most is Tuesday evenings at the Kennedy School. I was part of a fellowship for social innovation, and we met every week to push each other's organizations forward. Some of my closest friends now (and eventually also my partner, who I met at an alumni event for this fellowship!) were other fellows. It broadened my horizons to learn about social innovation in sectors like architecture and environmental sustainability, and also gave me a support network of people who would give me 2am pep talks and believed in Trans Health HQ before it was anything in the real world at all. 

If I had to pick one moment, though, it would be delivering the student address at the Harvard Convocation Ceremony in 2024. Speaking to thousands of people about trans health equity, with my parents in the front row next to my best friend, was a very moving experience for a first-generation student like me because I got to celebrate the long road we've walked together to get to a moment like this, with the people I love most in the world.

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