Fae Johnstone, MSW
A Bit About Fae
Fae is a trans woman, small business owner, a feminist, a writer and an advocate. She is a white settler, from a middle class family. She is an award-winning 2SLGBTQ+ and trans advocate.
She grew up in a military family, and moved around every 3-4 years growing up, but Ottawa is her home more than anywhere else has ever been. While her home base is Ottawa, Fae speaks, works and travels across Canada routinely, helping nonprofits, health organizations and social services scale up their 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion efforts, address GBV, and strengthen community engagement, governance models and strategic directions.
Her energy is infectious. As a speaker, educator and keynote, she is a passionate and relatable voice. Blending lived experience with years of practical expertise in 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion and advocacy, feminist analysis and the nonprofit sector writ-large, she wows every audience.
She is a leading voice on trans and 2SLGBTQ+ issues. With a structural social work and anti-oppressive lens, she brings social, political and economic analyses to bear on 2SLGBTQ+ and trans health, rights and safety. She is an award winning, stubborn powerhouse trans activist, challenging governments and institutions at all levels to address the multitude of crises facing women, 2SLGBTQ+ people and trans folks.
As the Executive Director and Co-Owner of Wisdom2Action, she has taken a boutique consulting firm and scaled it up to a full-fledged business with a growing team. Through her leadership, Wisdom2Action is recognized from coast to coast to coast for it's leadership on 2SLGBTQ+ issues, it's expertise in 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, combatting gender-based violence and improving mental health services. Fae is the first openly trans person, and first trans woman, to serve on the board of directors of YWCA Canada, where she brings her critical lens and expertise to bear to strengthen feminist policy and movements in Canada.
She is not self-made - she is a product of her family and her community - but she is undoubtedly a self-starter. Her commitment, every day, is to champion trans and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, open doors too often closed to our communities, and to push every organization, every institution and every government to address the social, political and economic inequities that shape 2SLGBTQ+, trans, gender diverse, and women's lives.