Tami Staas (she, her, hers)
Tami Staas is an Arizona native, a professional educator, and a fierce advocate. She currently teaches third grade at Summit Academy, an International Baccalaureate school in the Mesa Public School system. In addition to being a classroom teacher, she is also the president of Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization (Aztypo). In her role with Aztypo, she has been advocating and educating in the greater Phoenix area on behalf of transgender and gender variant youth and their families for over a decade. Tami often finds herself providing guidance to teachers, counselors, and administrators on best practices for trans and gender variant youth in the classroom and around the school. Tami is passionate about educating the community on how to best serve transgender and gender variant youth. Over the years, she has worked with various agencies in the greater Phoenix area to foster and create inclusive practices in public spaces such as schools (both elementary and high school), hospitals, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, and community spaces. Tami serves as the committee chair of the LGBTQ+ subcommittee of the Equity and Inclusive Practices committee at the Arizona State Board of Education and as the co-chair of both the Educational committee and the LGBTQ+ Families committee with the Equality Arizona coalition group. She has created and presented trainings on topics such as raising a trans child and creating gender inclusive classrooms to groups such as the Arizona Psychological Association, the Mesa Education Association, the Arizona State Legislature, and many more. In addition to her education and activist work, Tami is the mother of two children: one who identifies as a trans man and the other who identifies as non-binary. By sharing her family’s journey, Tami has been able to provide guidance, resources, and support to many families and educators in and out of Arizona.