Aria Sa’id

Work & Services

“I feel most happy when I am empowered. When I’m surrounded by people that I love. When I hear the stories of transgender women elders who know of a different era, and a different world than what we live in today. When I am loved in the ways that I desire- by my family, friends, and the sisterhood of transgender women- there’s something so magical that happens when we come together. I feel beautiful when I am embraced, seen, and respected.”

What I do

Services

Aria Sa’id is a thought leader, public speaker, and trainer, available for bookings across a variety of topics.

Services Offered:

Thought Leadership on Transgender Cultural and Social Empowerment (Speaker) 

Trainings

Transgender & Gender Non Conforming Sensitivity & Inclusion

Racial Equity in the Workplace 

View Biography

Aria Sa’id is a transgender advocate and award winning political strategist based in San Francisco Bay Area. She is a founder and the Executive Director of the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District- the world’s first transgender district, celebrating the resilience, culture, and presence of transgender people in San Francisco’s famed Tenderloin neighborhood. She is the founder of Kween Culture Initiative- a social and cultural empowerment project for Black transgender women.

In addition to her efforts in community development, Ms. Sa’id has written and/or led numerous public policy efforts both in the City and County of San Francisco and at the California state legislature; most notably co-creating the United States’ first sex worker protection law, Prioritizing Safety for Sex Workers (San Francisco), and The Name and Dignity Act for Incarcerated Transgender People (Atkins- California). She has also supported legislation, such as SCR 110 (California) the first legislation in U.S. history to name the harms of non-consensual medical interventions on intersex people. She has also led and/or provided strategy to San Francisco legislation supporting cultural districts, access to gender neutral restrooms, and transgender latina violence prevention- and political strategy support to California state legislature policies that reduce barriers for transgender and non-binary individuals seeking affirming gender markers on state issued documents.

Ms. Sa’id is the former appointed LGBT Policy Advisor to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, a municipal agency of the City and County of San Francisco. She is a  2016-2017 Policy Fellow alum of the Women’s Foundation of California, and 2016-2017 Sojourner Truth Leadership Fellow of the Auburn Theological Seminary in New York.

Workshop Clients

SYPartners

Kaiser Permanente 

Race Forward 

Oakland Museum of California

Bayer Pharmaceuticals 

Women’s Foundation of California 

Episcopal Community Services 

University of California, San Francisco 

The California Endowment 

Alliance Health Project 

Transgender Advocates for Justice & Accountability Coalition 

Women of Color Network

Asian Women’s Shelter 

Keynote Clients

Commonwealth Club of California

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

San Francisco Public Library

French Consulate of San Francisco 

Sonoma State University

University of California, Santa Cruz 

Women’s Foundation of California 

University of San Francisco 

Mills College Graduate School of Public Policy 

National Transgender Health Summit 

Grassroots Institute for Fundraising & Training (GIFT) Conference 

United States Conference on AIDS 

Merritt College 

San Francisco State University 

EFNIKS 

Women Sound Off Festival 2019 

leadership

current Work

Transgender Cultural District

Co-Founder & Executive Director

Recognition

Awards & Honors

Civil Rights Award for the Compton's Transgender Cultural District

Alliance for a Better District 6

2019

Emerging Leader Award

San Francisco Transgender Day of Visibility

2017

Certificate of Honor

San Francisco Board of Supervisors

2018

2007 Scholar Award

Pride Foundation

2007

Certificate of Honor

California State Legislature Assembly

2018

Award for Public Service

Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative

2007

Heritage of Pride Award

San Francisco Pride

2018

Contact Me

Get In Touch

View more about Aria by exploring the site, or get in touch for bookings, workshops, or to contact The Transgender District.