More confidently me

Hi, hello. I'm still here, and mercifully beginning to find my way again.

I don't want to talk much about the last year. It's been a tough road. Early transition is awkward, and that's been happening against a backdrop of growing terrors, clinical depression, and fresh traumas. Depths unlike any I had experienced since the late 2000's.

But I persist, with thanks to my extraordinary partner, family, and friends. And my physicians. Big ups to past Robin, too, for cultivating a life sustaining philosophy and spirituality.

You win some, you lose some

There's much joy and peace to be found in transition. Every month I grow fonder of how I look, more capable of taking care of myself, and better at sustaining healthy relationships. And it's sweet that servers more frequently take my order first, or that more people are holding doors open for me.

That's all great. Bully for me.

But transition is an extraordinary amount of work. And, as many women* and transfemme folks told me, transitioning in this direction also includes sacrifice. It's not news that men have it easier!

Over the last year, I've noticed some less than stellar changes. Yeah, I get cold more easily. And sure, my "default" physical strength is diminished. Hormone replacement therapy is wild.

And so are people. My personal space gets invaded more frequently. People talk over me more. And I don't get the benefit of the doubt the way a white boy does.

Claiming my space

It's particularly "interesting" how social dynamics have changed in situations where expertise matters. People who knew me well pre-transition treat me much the same. But when I'm in new settings, it's wildly different.

If I'm not imbued with authority or status relevant to a given context, I have to put much more effort into that first impression. If I don't, it's hard to recover from.

Used to be that humility was an asset and I spent decades cultivating that. Now it's a liability. Of course, if I'm too bold or assertive, well, women* get penalized for that too. But I'm willing to over-correct in an effort to practice and calibrate...

... which is exactly what I'm about to do. I'm still reworking my professional pitch, but I've had a lot of opportunities to practice introducing myself in local contexts recently.

So, bear with me as I re-introduce myself as the badass that I am, with a too bold and too long pitch tailored for meeting important people locally.

Hi, my name is Robin Riley

My pronouns are she/they, and I'm a disabled, queer, and trans person born and raised in the North Bay.

I managed the Hooper campaigns in 2022 and 2024, in a district of 100,000 and 10,000 respectively, and I have a long record of public service. I am a co-organizer of North Bay Python, one of the re-founders of Petaluma Pride, Petaluma's Commissioner on the Sonoma County Library Commission, and a volunteer leader with the local chapter of ACLU NorCal.

In the distant past I co-organized events resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in donated web development and design services to local nonprofits, and am one of a community of agitators who spurred the Sonoma County Economic Development Board to form Creative Sonoma.

Professionally, I specialize in organizational development, community management, and open source technology. I have made significant pro-social impacts at multinational technology companies. But the work I'm most proud of is managing nonprofits whose work underpins the technology used by billions of people, with million dollar budgets, and global and local volunteer communities ranging in size from dozens to many hundreds.

I'm not all business, though. I'm also a birder, hiker, gardener, philosopher, cat parent, and an avid fan of live music and women's professional soccer.

Too much?

Yeah probably. But hey, I've gotta be my own #1 fan.

More soon 🤞🏻

Things remain difficult, but I'm more capable than ever of coping and thriving. I look forward to saying more here soon, and being in more frequent contact with the extended network of people I love.

Onwards and upwards.