Next week, employers and colleagues have the opportunity to attend two forums designed to foster discussion between Iowa organizations building inclusive work cultures.

Fintech startup Dwolla is hosting the Transition Forward Project’s first Transition Policy Workshop Monday, Oct. 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. at its 909 Locust St. location in Suite 201. On Tuesday, Oct. 15, One Iowa will feature the Transition Forward Project as part of the annual Central Iowa LGBTQ Workplace Culture Summit, to be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Camp Dodge.

Both events come as the Transition Forward Project is finding its footing as a new initiative, led by Dwolla employees passionate about easing the experience of transgender individuals who are coming out at work. To lead software engineer Shea Daniels, it feels like a personal mission.

“I had a great experience, but we had nothing. There wasn’t even a blank sheet of paper that had the word ‘transgender’ anywhere on it,” said Daniels, who came out to her colleagues in 2017. “I really want everyone else at Dwolla and outside the company to have the same great experience that I did, especially if it’s in small to medium companies or startups.”

Daniels’ experience with her Dwolla co-workers led to the company’s grassroots-style work on www.transitionforward.org. The site, which is still in progress, is envisioned as a one-stop library for small to medium-sized businesses to share the resources and policies they use in developing transgender-inclusive policies. It is modeled after the open source software concept that computer engineers use to problem-solve, and soon it will add video testimonies of the coming-out experience.

“We worked on our own transition policy and how we support that internally in the company, and I just thought that was too small of stakes,” Daniels said. “As an engineer, typically when I encounter a problem I go look for something like open source software — where somebody said, ‘Here’s how I helped solve this problem.’”

“I hadn’t seen anything like that for [transition policies]. I really thought that would be a message that spoke to tech companies in particular, like startups.”

Small businesses that don’t have the financial resources of a large corporation have not had a resource dedicated to them, said Erica Barz, communication and grants coordinator for One Iowa.

“Putting together a brand-new transition policy is really daunting for a company. I mean, it’s daunting for companies of any size, but it’s especially daunting when you’re a five-person shop or something like that. So I think this provides a really good entry point for employers in that position,” Barz said.

Daniels will be a keynote speaker on Tuesday at the Central Iowa LGBTQ Workplace Culture Summit, along with One Iowa program coordinator Max Mowitz.

This year’s summit series has expanded to include a previous event at the Omaha Metro Community College, in partnership with Out Nebraska. One Iowa also has upcoming events planned in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City corridor, in Waterloo/Cedar Falls in November, and Dubuque in December. New this year, the summit will lead discussion for attendees on the barriers nonbinary employees face, Barz said, such as gender-specific dress code policies, company identification and pronouns.

“We live in such a gendered society that people don’t even think about things that are so gendered,” Barz said. “Making sure that people know and are comfortable with talking to and about nonbinary people is also a key part of that.”

One Iowa is closing ticket sales for the workplace summit on Monday, but those who miss the online window can contact One Iowa online. LGBTQ community members may also contact One Iowa for “pay-what-you-can” ticket pricing. Attendees who haven’t registered online for the Transition Policy Workshop on Monday can register at the event.

“I firmly feel like if you understand what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes, the right thing is very easy to come across. But being that open to questions is something that’s unique to particular people,” Daniels said. “That’s not everyone’s experience, right? So I want to make sure everyone has a great experience, whether or not they’re comfortable [talking] in front of their whole company.”