At heart, Brandyn River Gallagher (they/them) is first and foremost a writer. The blood pumped by this writer’s heart is that of a community empowerer, DEIB consultant, facilitator, healthcare nerd, life coach, mediator, and teacher.

Brandyn is a devoted servant leader committed to the equitable redistribution of happiness. Their voice addressing exclusions in clinical studies for transmasculine people improved research methods and design internationally. They’ve served communities by providing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training, subject matter expertise, and independent consulting on culturally responsive care in health and social services settings since 2015. They’re passionate about building people up to achieve their fullest potential, bridging divides across the chasms of structural inequity, and healing collective wounds.

For two years, Brandyn served as a moderator of the WHO-recognized PrEP Facts: Rethinking HIV Prevention and Sex. They then formed the Trans MSM: Rethinking Sexuality and Health educational support group in 2015 and continue to facilitate candid, evidence-based discussions there. Brandyn loves engaging with researchers heart-to-heart in addressing the importance of trans-inclusion in medical science.

What’s Brandyn’s favorite job?  Reminding you how awesome you already are, and helping you thrive.

In 2021, Brandyn built upon this love with an Executive Leadership Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. DEIB services and coaching are available with direct professional experience in healthcare research, trucking, domestic violence, law enforcement, and serving minoritized communities. How would you put Brandyn’s talents to use?

Where does Brandyn come from? 

Brandyn is a Southerner rooted in the foothills of the Ozarks, a small mountain region which overlaps the States of Arkansas and Missouri. They come from eight generations of mostly poor, working, and farmer-class English descendants who, in the mid 1600’s, brought their genetic material to this red land rightfully inhabited by Native American tribes. They grew up singing on the back porch and playing Mountain Dulcimer, piano, saxophone, and guitar. The Baptist Hymnal — the one for white people that don’t get too exciting — is where they first learned to sight-read music.

After ten years away from the South, Brandyn has returned home, to reside on land not bound by Treaty obligation with any Native American tribe. The Osage, Caddo, and some Cherokee people lived here before white people colonized the land. The neighboring Quapaw were relocated by Treaty obligation in 1833. The Quapaw Tribe honored and upheld their Treaty agreement with the U.S.  The Caddo were forcibly removed in 1834, as Arkansas prepared to establish white-dominated statehood. Approximately 16,000 Cherokee human people were forcibly removed from their homes at gunpoint by order of United States President Andrew Jackson in 1838, and passed through Brandyn’s neighborhood en route to the modern-day Cherokee Nation reservation in Oklahoma. These tribal nations are alive and well today. Among them are Brandyn’s friends, colleagues, and mentors. Brandyn holds a responsibility to collective healing and uplifting Native American neighbors as a sacred duty.

The views expressed on this site are Brandyn’s alone and do not reflect the position of any agency or project with which they are affiliated.