Eli Erlick

Eli Erlick, born on July 10, 1995, in Willits, California, began her activism at an early age. She publicly transitioned to female at 13 and medically transitioned shortly after. By age 15, she became a board member for an LGBTQ youth conference, marking the beginning of her public advocacy. At 16, in 2011, while still in high school, she co-founded Trans Student Educational Resources (TSER), a national youth-led organization focused on transforming educational environments for trans students. This organization offers a national fellowship program for transgender youth and provides resources to colleges and universities globally. Erlick’s early work included advocating for California’s School Success and Opportunity Act, the first state bill to protect transgender students, and she received a $25,000 fellowship from Peace First for her activism in 2013.

Erlick’s career progressed into academia, where she pursued higher education focused on feminist and transgender studies. She graduated from Pitzer College with a Bachelor of Arts in Feminist, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, researching the political philosophy of the transgender movement, with a broader focus on contemporary transgender/queer studies, necropolitics, rural studies, self-determination, and youth politics. Her academic work includes co-editing ‘Suicidal Remains and Resistance,’ an anthology on critical interdisciplinary perspectives on suicide, and authoring several model policies regarding transgender students, which she has helped enact in schools and universities across the United States. Her forthcoming publications include “Rethinking Non/Binary” and “(Trans)forming Education: How Transgender Youth Are Leading the School Justice Movement.”

Beyond her foundational work with TSER and her academic pursuits, Erlick has engaged in various projects and initiatives to further transgender rights and visibility. In 2015, she led national efforts with TSER to advocate for the admission of trans women at women’s colleges and co-authored TSER’s model policy for such admissions. She co-founded the Trans Youth Leadership Summit, the only national fellowship program for transgender youth in the U.S. In 2021, she and other activists erected a bronze sculpture of Marsha P. Johnson in Christopher Park, marking the first sculpture of a transgender person in New York City. Erlick has been recognized internationally by publications such as Glamour Magazine, NPR, and Teen Vogue, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, and The Los Angeles Times. She is also known for her modeling work with various brands and appearances on news programs, contributing to her public image as a prominent advocate.