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Acknowledgments I am profoundly grateful to Congressman Mike Quigley, who serves in the U.S. House of Representatives with distinction and who was gracious enough to agree to write the foreword for this book. I thank him for his kindness and his unwavering commitment to the causes of equality and justice for all cit- izens. Congressman Quigley was a founding member of the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force and is currently the vice chair of the Con- gressional LGBT Equality Caucus. He has been a staunch ally, a friend of Center on Halsted, and a strong advocate for the gender-diverse community for many years. It is an honor to include his words in the pages of this book. There is one other person to whom I particularly owe my thanks. We do not operate in a vacuum (at least I don’t), and none of us achieve anything meaningful in life completely on our own. We all owe a debt to those who have influenced us, helped pave the way, and given us inspiration. In the interests of transparency and authenticity, and to give full credit where it is due, I wish to acknowledge Denise Norris, pioneering gender-diversity activ- ist and thought leader, for introducing me to the concepts of gender authen- ticity and core competencies for a gender-authentic workplace. Denise and I first met in Fort Lauderdale early in 2012, where we engaged in a series of in-depth conversations about the interrelated topics of gender, its nuances and impact on society, gender authenticity, and potential ways to help the gender-diverse community move forward. Not long afterward Denise founded the Institute for Transgender Economic Advancement, where I was a member of the board of directors for a time. Denise has been a powerful source of information and inspiration for many, including me, and I am indebted to her for being a catalyst and a motivator in the writing of this book. Denise is the owner of a prodigious intellect and a fierce desire to improve the world for gender-diverse persons everywhere. She continues to be a source of new ideas on behalf of the gender-diverse community. This book would not have been written without Denise’s impact and encouragement. I acknowledge and honor her for her many contributions and her global influence for good.