Community Building 101 | Inclusion with Trans+ History Week and QueerAF.

Sabah Choudrey, Marty Davis and Gray Burke-Stowe explore key factors for inclusive community building.

At We Create Space, we see the transformative power of community every single day. When it comes to championing inclusion & creating space in which everyone can thrive, we believe community-building isn’t just a solution. It’s the foundation.

As Trans+ History Week 2025 fast approaches, we were thrilled to kick off our new event series Community Building 101 with founder Marty Davies and Gray Burke-Stowe, Lead Researcher. Hosted by activist & community builder Sabah Choudrey, the first instalment focused on the key pillar of ‘Inclusion’ as a fundamental factor in creating impactful & sustainable communities that provide both a sense of belonging & purpose. 

Later sessions will focus on the Self-Care & Community Care (17 April with Voda, the LGBTQIA+ Mental Health App) and Leadership.

The objective of Community Building 101 is to provide actionable strategies & tools to promote effective change, collective learning, workplace culture & shared values. It also serves as a talking point for how grassroots principles can be applied in corporate settings and vice versa.

During this session, Marty & Gray provided an overview of how Trans+ History Week, in collaboration with Queer AF, began following a successful launch last year with its core messaging ‘Trans+ people have always been here’ and its commitment to giving us ‘the Trans+ history lesson we never had’ through storytelling & content created by Trans+ campaigners, historians, creatives & professionals. We also celebrate the launch of the Trans+ History Week 2025 Workbook, produced by QueerAF who this year mentored five Trans+ creatives to produce it. The workbook empowers, inspires, and help organisations create their own content and events. 

Under the pillar of ‘Inclusion’, the conversation explored insights & learnings around queer leadership and the importance of key considerations like ongoing education and research, collecting data & feedback, to build inclusive communities.

Our guest speakers each provided some valuable key take-aways for our audience around inclusive community building, spotlighted below, which we’d urge you to read & share with your networks.

The next Community Building 101 session will focus on Self-Care & Community Care in collaboration with Voda, the LGBTQIA+ Mental Health App. 

17 April at 3PM BST, 4PM CET, 10AM EDT.

Sign up here.

We asked our speakers to share their main takeaways from the event:

Marty Davies

1. Ask for Help – And Keep Asking. Asking is uncomfortable. It invites rejection. But it’s also the foundation of community building and the reason Trans+ History Week exists. We have a strong volunteer base because I asked. We launched with the backing of 20 LGBTQIA+ organizations because we asked. We secured funding – despite many rejections – because we kept asking. And over 450 creatives responded to our open call because we asked them to lend their talent to our mission. The lesson? Ask for help. Then ask again.

2. Relinquish Control – Success is Messy. Three months after launching, Trans+ History Week was bigger than me. It was uncontrollable. At first, that terrified me. But I realized my discomfort was actually a sign of success. Community-led movements don’t belong to any one person. The messy edges, the parts I couldn’t control, were proof that it wasn’t just mine anymore – it was the community’s. And that’s exactly how it should be.

   
   

3. Build the Tools – Not Just the Movement. You don’t have to do everything. Your job is to create the right conditions for the community to thrive. That means gathering the best tools, securing the right resources, and making space for people to show up and contribute. A movement isn’t just about momentum – it’s about infrastructure. Focus on building what will last.

Gray Burke-Stowe

1. If you have capacity, offer. If you don’t, ask. I am surrounded by wonderful people and amazing opportunities, including the people and space on this call, because I OFFERED when I had something to give and ASKED for help when I didn’t.

   
   

2. If you want something to be successful, you’ve got to prepare it to be successful without you. Last year, we built THW from scratch. And, inevitably, we’ve had people have to step back and new people wanting to step in. Because we took the time to install a real infrastructure in it — and because we were enabled to do so by people like Jamie Wareham at QueerAF — it survived the turmoil and is even thriving in year 2. 

   
   

3. If you want to learn, you have to listen. As a researcher, I’m always sure I can look up anything. But learning is deeper than that. It’s about hearing from your community, taking in the stories THEY want to tell and the stories THEY want to hear. There are dozens of examples of things I learned from this year’s Workbook that I simply wouldn’t have heard if I wrote it all myself. 

Sabah Choudrey

1. This workbook is a reminder of how trans+ people can take control of our narratives. We have done throughout history. Despite the misinformation and untrue stories out there about trans lives, there is always so much more power in telling our stories ourselves. Whether it's through writing, art or music,  trans people need to tell trans stories, we will be heard and and we will not stop.

   
   

2. Positive trans representation matters, but you don’t need to see yourself represented to know that you can be trans, happy and celebrated. Many trans pioneers and leaders grew up without knowing people like them exist. They persevered anyway. Knowing who you are should be enough to know that who you are is valid.

   
   

3. You don’t need to leave behind a part of yourself to find the rest. Remember our identities and experiences are all intersectional - our gender is just one part of that. So our spaces, community and movements need to reflect that too by inviting all trans people in, and all parts of ourselves in. 

If you would like to discuss booking one of these speakers for your own session, please get in touch with us via email at hello@wecreatespace.co

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While you're here...

Did you know we consult with Businesses, ERGs and Change-Leaders providing bespoke corporate solutions? Through consultancy we design shared learning experiences, produce DEI insights and craft bespoke content that support individuals with strengthening their roles as change-agents within their communities and organisations. Find out more here.

We also organise FREE community events throughout the year! We offer a variety of ways to get involved - both online and in person. This is a great way to network and learn more about others' experiences, through in-depth discussion on an array of topics. You can find out what events we have coming up here. New ones are added all the time, so make sure you sign up to our newsletter so you can stay up to date!