A Conversation with Steering Committee Chair Tyler Duval
By Emily Connelly
Chair Ty Duval assisting ED Bre Kidman at Annual Meeting last month
In an ongoing series of articles profiling MaineTransNet Steering Committee members, Emily Connelly recently spoke with Tyler Duval about his thoughts on the coming year in the organization. Tyler is currently the Senior Chair, which is the President of the Steering Committee, the highest elected official in the organization. He stepped into that role in May, earlier than planned, but has been adapting to the leadership position. “Typically I would have the guidance of my predecessor for another bit before starting this role, but we’re making it work. I think that’s the nature of nonprofit anyway — sometimes we just jump in when we don’t expect to!”
Tyler is committed to ensuring that the organization is fulfilling its long-held goal of supporting its community members, and “creating a world where trans people can thrive.” And he wants to make sure that is extended to making sure the leadership is given that space to thrive as well. “We need to make sure we’re starting from the top down. Our goal isn’t to cut programming, our goal is to pump the brakes so we can prioritize our projects and do everything correctly.” He notes that the organization may look different in a year compared to how it has over the last years. “I want to make sure we are patching the cracks in our foundation so we can build a sturdy house.”
MTN was founded in 2005 by Alex Roan, a USM student who saw a need in the community for supporting trans people. “He started meeting with a few trans people at USM when he was a student there, and our programming has grown so much—and that makes me so happy!” Tyler says. “But the core root of this organization was this beautiful community building grassroots thing where you can show up, and you can meet your people, and you can feel like you’re not alone. I just want to make sure we’re not growing too fast and lose that, because I do think that’s what’s important. I just don’t want to lose the vision of our core values.”
When Tyler moved to Portland in 2012, he joined a MTN support group soon after. He attended for about a year and a half before being asked to help, and he completed a support group facilitation course and took on groups of his own. He has filled a number of roles for the organization over the years. Beyond group facilitation, he’s volunteered for Prides, and explains “I’ve been on the executive committee for two years as a chair, and was secretary for a year. There isn’t a lot I haven’t done!” His continued involvement helped him get a sense of what MTN meant for the community and caught the attention of the organization’s leaders, who helped him find new and exciting ways to get involved.
Tyler explained a bit about the organization’s structure for those not familiar. “There is a Steering Committee and an Executive Committee. If you think of the nonprofit as a ship, the Steering Committee is steering that ship. The directors are in charge of everything in the office and all of the staff, and the President and Vice President are there to make sure that the directors are steering the organization and its everyday decisions according to what the Steering Committee has dictated.” There is a new Steering Committee elected now after the annual meeting, though there are Junior and Elect chair roles yet to be filled. Tyler explains the first year you are elected into the chair role, you are the chair elect. The second year, you become the junior chair or Vice President, and the third year you are the senior chair, which is the President. “There is a prerequisite to being the chair — you have to have previously served on the Steering Committee, and been involved in a major project with MaineTransNet, or have been on one of our work teams,” Tyler explains. “Unfortunately we don’t have anybody right now who hits all of those prerequisites and has the capacity to do more than they currently are.” He’s glad to have those guidelines in place for the chair positions, so those making big decisions about the organization have the background information and understanding of the organization’s values. In addition to the work that goes into chairing the Steering Committee, Tyler says “There’s a lot of emotional labor that goes with being in these roles. We’ve always felt like it’s important for people to understand the weight of the role before they volunteer themselves for it.”
Tyler looks forward to continuing to support Maine’s trans community, and help guide the organization on into a stable and exciting future.
