California has set up a groundbreaking, large-scale program that helps the transgender community find jobs. The rate of unemployment in the transgender community is almost double that of the general public.
At the root of the entire movement is the transgender activist, writer, public speaker, and businesswoman, Michaela Mendelsohn. Along with owning six franchise locations of El Pollo Loco, the restaurant chain that Mendelsohn focuses her trans employment opportunities, she is also the founder of the California Transgender Workplace Project.
Mendelsohn’s current transgender employees make up eight to ten percent of her workforce, but she is concentrating her efforts on pushing for a better opportunity for the entire community. Mendelsohn commented on her initiatives by stating:
“The word’s just gotten out that I’m a trans owner supporting trans people.”
During a meeting with the California Restaurant Association, Mendelsohn was chatting with her longtime friend Jot Condie about the challenging work environments that transgender individuals have to face on a daily basis. Condie describes his thoughts about their discussion and his place within the project saying:
“I considered myself as a person, somebody who had my head in the sand when it comes to what they’re really going through. This is a civil rights issue.”
Condie decided that there was no way he could sit back and allow the injustices to continue so he developed a plan where the Restaurant Association and its 22,000 members would support Mendelsohn in creating a program that connected transgender people with jobs.
California Transgender Workplace Project was born and introduced for the first time at the Western Food Service and Hospitality Expo in Los Angeles. Mendelsohn taught a class that she described as “Trans 101,” where she outlined the program and discussed management support in the case of personal attacks on employees by customers.
With the inclusion of the transgender community into the workforce, we are not only helping to end the discriminatory practices by companies, but we are also pushing for a better system of equality for all individuals in this country; something that is long overdue.
Featured Image Via Restaurant’s News
