Trans Lifeline

We are a trans-led 501©(3) non-profit organization established in 2014. We connect trans people to community support and resources, providing direct emotional and financial support, run by and for trans individuals.

Our core services include a peer-support crisis hotline. The hotline is staffed entirely by transgender operators and has a policy against non-consensual active rescue. It began as a volunteer-run operation and now employs paid operators and team leads. We have answered over 150,000 calls.

In 2017, we merged with the Trans Assistance Project to create our Microgrants program. This program gives low-barrier grants to trans people for legal name changes and updated government identification documents. We offer specialized support for incarcerated and undocumented trans individuals. We have disbursed nearly $1.5 million in small grants, and we resist gatekeeping and respectability politics. We have trained over 600 operators.

Our mission is to connect trans people to the community support and resources they need to survive and thrive. Our vision is a world where trans people have the connection, economic security, and care everyone needs and deserves, free of prisons and police.

We operate on several core principles:

• Peer Support: We are run by trans people, for trans people. We trust individuals to know what support they need.
• Community, Not Cops: We have been divested from the police since our founding, using an abolitionist framework.
• Harm Reduction: We focus on reducing harm and not creating barriers to support, without judgment for coping mechanisms such as substance use or self-injury.
• Confidentiality & Anonymity: Our hotline is fully anonymous and confidential, with conversations guided by the caller.
• Structural, Not Pathological: We recognize that crisis and distress are normal responses within an unjust system.
• Informed Consent: Our support work is guided by community members’ requests, with full transparency about any outside resources.
• Autonomy & Self-Determination: We trust trans people’s self-identification and choices, including not requiring grantees to prove how funds were spent.
• Equity, Not Equality: Our processes prioritize the needs of those most impacted by systemic marginalization, such as colonialism, white supremacy, ableism, and transmisogyny.
• Dismantling White Supremacy: We work to dismantle structural barriers by centering those in our community who face the most economic justice barriers, particularly incarcerated trans individuals.
• Financial Redistribution: Economic justice is a core component. We create low-barrier funds for necessary documents, drawing inspiration from mutual aid principles.

We are a fully remote workplace, with an administrative office located in San Francisco, CA. We have 11 to 50 employees. We aim for an equitable, accessible, and joyful work environment, guided by values of justice, equity, and anti-oppression. We are committed to creating transformative social impact.

Our hiring practices emphasize equity and support varied experiences and backgrounds. Interview teams for open positions are at least 50% BIPOC, and we use evaluation rubrics to reduce bias. We have no minimum education requirements and do not penalize employment history gaps; we consider non-traditional work experiences. Employee support includes trauma-informed PTO policies and flexible work hours and break schedules to support work-life balance. We offer readily available standard accommodations and confidential individual accommodations upon request. Our standard work week is 32 hours.

We offer a benefits package that includes 100% employer-paid group health insurance for all staff working 28 or more hours per week, with 75% coverage for dependents. We match 403b contributions for retirement. We provide generous paid time off (PTO) and holidays, along with stipends for home office expenses and professional development. All staff work a 32-hour week.