Registration is now closed for SURGE 2025
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SURGE isn't your average LGBTQIA+ training.
Supporting, Uplifting, and Reinforcing Gender-Expansive Experiences (SURGE) is a conference for mental health professionals committed to affirming LGBTQIA+ youth, with an emphasis on gender-expansive youth.
Planned by leading Michigan LGBTQIA+ organizations alongside a committee of trans & non-binary youth, SURGE offers CEUs, practical tools, and bold sessions that go beyond the basics so you can provide care that truly supports the youth you serve.
October 8th, 2025 • 8:15a - 5p • Ann Arbor, MI
Thank you to the sponsors
making SURGE possible!
2025 Keynote Speakers & Sessions
UofM School of Social Work Professor
Author of “Our Deepest Roots:
Navigating Past Trauma To Build Healthier Queer Relationships“
Social Work Student
Michigan Youth Trans Voice Facilitator
Gender Affirming Mental Health Care from an Intersectionality Lens
Lu Evergreen, LMSW (they/them) & David Fulkerson, LMSW (he/him)
This session will explore the current geopolitical climate for transgender individuals and its impact on mental health. Presenters will review research on mental health outcomes related to receiving gender-affirming care and discuss treatment considerations for transgender people who are BIPOC and/or neurodivergent.
Beyond the Chart: Centering the Lived Experiences of Trans Youth in Healthcare
Jazz McKinney, MA, LLP (they/them) & DL McKinney, MPA, Ed.S (they/them)
This session offers an inside look at how trans youth and families navigate care systems that often focus more on diagnoses and documentation than lived experience. Presenters—both trans adults and caregivers to a trans child with complex needs—will discuss how provider bias, clinical oversights, and systemic barriers compound harm and increase burdens on families.
Impact of Individual and Collective Queer Trauma on Relationship Development and Maintenance
Dr. Jen Towns, LMSW (she/her)
This session explores how individual and collective queer trauma affects relationship formation and maintenance. Presenters will examine how identity, trauma histories, and social context shape attachment, intimacy, and relational safety. Neurobiological and emotional dynamics will be discussed to support deeper understanding and healing in queer relationships.
Who is SURGE for?
The short answer: we welcome therapists, case managers, social work students, wraparound facilitators, psychologists, school counselors, peers, and anyone else working in the mental health realm.
The long answer: A key tenant of SURGE is ensuring that all mental health professionals are welcome! We recognize the importance of all mental health roles in providing wholistic care to adolescents. Whether you're pursuing your BSW or have been in practice for 45 years... SURGE is for YOU!
Hi! I'm Sarah, one of the SURGE planning committee members and the Communications Manager at MOASH.
Before my time at MOASH, I spent nearly six years in a clinical role as a peer through CMH. This job meant the world to me. As I worked towards my social work degree, it was not lost on me that I learned more through supervisors with years of wisdom and experience, practice, and hearing from the youth on my caseload.
But one thing was clear: there was a gap. Every year, we'd have a wonderful 101 presentation on LGBTQIA+ youth. As a queer person myself, I didn't really need definitons or basic guidance. I wanted, and needed, more.
I thought often of my blind spots, of the need to learn tangible support practices, and of the identities most centered (and most left out) of these trainings. These 101s are important. But so is going beyond a 101.
This stayed with me. And then, as I graduated with my BSW and wrapped up a year-long internship at MOASH, I wondered: what if MOASH could facilitate something like this? MOASH's trainings were regularly sought after by clinical staff and I knew there was a need. MOASH's youth-integrated values aligned with my peer work. Less than two years later, the SURGE planning committee was in full swing.
SURGE was designed to give you more. Leading experts across the state worked alongside young people to ensure every training is what they want you to know and what you want to know.
It'll be a day full of joy, connection, learning, and community. And we can't wait to have you join us.
Questions? You can reach me at sarah.yoakum@moash.org
Your support sustains programming for
Michigan LGBTQIA+ youth.
All proceeds from SURGE will be dedicated to the continuation of our annual Building a Movement for Michigan (BAMM) LGBTQIA+ Youth Summit.
2026 will mark our 12th year of BAMM!
This event brings together hundreds of LGBTQIA+ Michigan youth every year. We are committed to ensuring this event remains free for participants.
We are so grateful for your support!
Photo credits: Paint My Mind Photography
Email sarah.yoakum@MOASH.org to request marketing materials and social media graphics!
Thank you SO much!
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