Arian Kajtezović

Arian (Ari) Kajtezović (any pronouns)
Ari Kajtezovic speaking in front of some whiteboard notes

Ari’s activism started in 2002, at age 16, as a Bosnian refugee in Canada, founding and coordinating an educational group for LGBTIQ high school students and our allies. S_he was also part of the founding and leadership of Trans Aid in Croatia since 2012, and TMB (Trans Mreža Balkan; EN: Trans Network Balkan) since 2014, involved in all aspects of the organizations’ work – community organizing and peer support, facilitation, advocacy, program management, team coordination, capacity building, training and education, media work, campaigns, writing, research, co-organizing events, finances, operations and administration, fundraising, etc.

Beyond the Balkan region, Arian’s experience includes serving as a member of the Steering Committee of Transgender Europe (TGEU) from 2013 to 2019 (as Secretary, Treasurer, then Co-chair), as well as globally, serving on the Advisory Committee of FRIDA—The Young Feminist Fund in 2014-2015.

Outside of activism, Arian has been a teacher in elementary school (grades 7-8), high school, and a teaching assistant at University. They were also a homework center volunteer (helping younger students with homework), and a youth volunteer teaching elderly people basic computer skills, both of which were part of volunteer programs in a public library.

Ari’s first encounter with Center for Artistic Activism was in 2015, as an activist participant in the School for Creative Activism, co-organised by TGEU. This training inspired her_his further activist work – tapping into the mindset of dreaming big, thinking outside the box, being creative, and having fun, all while trying to transform the world towards the visions and values those of us in the social and intersectional justice domain strive to embody.