My two children remain my best and most persistent teachers.  Thank you for continuing to help me become the person and parent I want to be.  

I was honored to be invited to Dr. Laura Markham’s 2023-24 Peaceful Parenting Coaching & Educator cohort.  We all parent our kids with more kindness thanks to Dr. Laura’s contribution to the field. 

I also source my thinking about parenting from Self-Reg, by Stuart Shankar; It’s Okay Not to Share, by Heather Shumaker; Playful Parenting, by Larry Cohen; and Parenting from the Inside Out, by Daniel Siegel.  

To the incredible staff and volunteers at MaineTransNet and at the Safe Combinations thrift shop, thank you for providing a safe-enough space for me to invent my own gender and to be in such a gender-ful community. 

My thinking about gender has been further informed by: The Gender-Creative Child, by Diane Eherensaft; Free to Be, by Dr. Jack Turban; Rainbow Parenting, by Lindz Amer; Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words, Dr. Herriot Lindsay & Kate Fry; Gender Outlaw, by Kate Bornstein; and the Gender Reveal podcast.

I am grateful for my time working and learning alongside Elli Nagai-Rothe as we consulted for a large national nonprofit designing conflict resolution processes, improving relationships, and helping parties get to the heart of the matter, all while keeping equity and justice at the forefront. 

I completed my mediation training at the New York Peace Institute in 2016, where I was a mediation apprentice and resolved conflicts between families, neighbors, and co-workers.

I remain in awe of Resetting the Table’s incredible work helping people have more productive conversations about the most difficult topics.  I was fortunate to be a member of the 2014 Facilitation cohort where I learned how to listen more deeply and tune in to the conversion that the room wants to be having. 

The Avodah 2014 Fellowship was where I first realized that my purpose in life is to be a lover and a healer. Thank you to my peers in the cohort for seeing me and believing in me. 

Thank you to Alison Laichter for teaching me how to meditate and for founding the Jewish Meditation Center of Brooklyn, where I met my wife. 

I received a J.D. from NYU Law in 2011 and worked as a labor lawyer until 2018.  I received my B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University in 2008.  These years opened my eyes to the struggles of working people all over the globe, from the bowels of New York City’s luxury hotels to garment factories in Cambodia.  I am committed to ensuring that people of all income levels can benefit from my work.

Endless gratitude to my wife and co-parent, Rachel Ackoff, for her love and steadfast support on every step of my parenting and gender journey.

And finally, I dedicate this work to my ancestors, who fled antisemitic violence in Poland and Ukraine and built their lives in New York City and on Long Island. They loved their kids fiercely, even as they feared for their lives. Untangling that inheritance has been the gift of my life.