Eli grew up in a small town in the Southern Adirondacks, (Upstate NY) the adopted child of two wonderful parents and one older brother. Eli, who was then known as Lizz, was a red-headed spitfire and rabble-rouser from a young age. She spent most of her childhood doing the “typical” small town activities; reading everything she could get her hands on, swimming for hours, alpine skiing/racing, playing hide and seek in the woods, saving wildlife from the claws of her cat, raising monarch butterflies, newts, salamanders and other amphibians, driving horse-drawn carriages for NYC tourists, and dreaming of the day she would get to leave upstate NY and try out the big world.

In the summer of 1998 that dream would be realized when Eli moved to Burlington, Vermont to attend Saint Michael’s College. Eli took to the college lifestyle quickly, and was introduced to many a new experience, some fabulous people, and an excellent education. In her second semester at SMC, Eli took her first women’s studies class, (where she first identified herself as queer) – and has been a “social-justice and gender-junkie” ever since. Eli officially majored in Psychology, but took nearly every Gender Studies class that was offered. Under the tutelage of her mentor Dr. Connie Schutz, Eli started to develop an academic mind, particularly in relation to systems of gender-based oppression.

During this time, Eli started volunteering several hours a week to the Women’s Rape Crisis Center as a hotline counselor, and joined the Women’s Center Task Force Team at SMC. Both experiences proved to be exceptionally valuable and life changing. In 2001, during her senior year at SMC, Eli was hired by the Women’s Center Task Force to be the founding director of the Center. Under Eli’s direction, The Women’s Center opened its doors on March 29, 2001 and to this day continues to bring gender consciousness to the SMC campus.

In May 2002, eager to try out a warmer climate, Eli packed up her car with everything she owed and roadtripped her way out to Southern California to attend the Applied Women’s Studies Program at Claremont Graduate University. Eli chose a concentration in Gender & Sexuality and focused largely on issues of gender diversity. During this time Eli started many successful side projects including launching Trans-Academics.org and the ground-breaking Community Needs Assessment Survey (CNAS) Project. Shortly after moving to SoCal, Eli came out as genderqueer/trans, and became heavily involved in trans-activism and the local gender diverse community.

While attending grad school, Eli worked graveyard shifts at a domestic violence shelter. Eli worked to make the shelter one of the only domestic violence programs in Southern California to accept transwomen into a residential shelter. Eli took a second job as a Programming Coordinator at the UC Riverside LGBT Center. With his cohort, Eric Peterson, Eli worked extensively on issues of trans awareness and education, including developing an advanced Trans Allies seminar series, and the Trans Day of Remembrance Poster Project. It was during this time that Eli officially took the name Eli and started using gender neutral/male pronouns.

Nearing the end of his education at CGU, Eli once again decided to pack up his car and leave warm and sunny SoCal in the rearview mirror – this time heading back to the east coast to try out New York City. After a few transitional adjustments, Eli accepted a position as Intake Specialist at the renowned Hetrick-Martin Institute. After a year at HMI, Eli was promoted to Volunteer Coordinator. This is where he works to this day continuing his work on social justice and trans awareness, including running the group Trans* In the City and coordinating “Trans Week – No More Shade, No More Shame” for HMI’s gender diverse youth.

In the Fall of 2006, Eli will begin his doctorate work at Widener University (PA), at the Human Sexuality Program where he will be working towards his Doctorate of Education (EdD). In the meantime, Eli continues to work on several side projects including: public speaking/trainings, consulting work, and independent research- such as the analysis and publication of the CNAS Project Results. Eli can often be found in The Heights coffee/bar in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn typing away on his laptop working on said side projects, biking through Prospect Park, or trying to incite actions of various sorts with his fabulous gender diverse & queer friends.