Sean Hayes (he/him)

Sean deeply believes in the power and joy of an interconnected community. He has been a community advocate and organizer for the transgender and queer community for over 8 years now. He is the co-founder and executive director of Trans Northland (TN), a local non-profit organization in the Twin Ports area that provides support, advocacy & connection to the transgender community. TN welcomes folks who are transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, two spirit, genderqueer, gender diverse, and gender expansive. Sean participates in community through facilitating peer-to-peer support groups, leading Trans 101 trainings for community organizations and businesses, and organizing events such as Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR), Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV), and most recently, Trans Joy Fest. Sean is a resourceful and compassionate advocate for anyone seeking help, connection, and community.

He previously worked at Men As Peacemakers (MAP), which is a mainstream organization that focuses on primary prevention of gender-based violence. Sean worked there for 8 years and served two roles at MAP: he was the program coordinator for The Don’t Buy It Project, a program that seeks to prevent commercial sexual exploitation from happening in our communities; Sean also co-coordinated a statewide coalition called the Men & Masculine Folks Network, which focuses on fostering and creating a hub where men and masculine folks from diverse communities and organizations across Minnesota are connected and moving towards a collective goal of ending gender-based violence. He also participated in restorative justice circles with repeat offenders of domestic violence, within MAP’s Domestic Violence Restorative Circles program. Sean was also a business owner of Hayes Photo LLC for 5 years, and photographed weddings, graduation photos, and more for 5 years.

Sean was invited to attend and graduated from a 1-year program called Indigenous Focusing-Oriented Therapy (IFOT) in 2019 at the American Indian Community Housing Organization. IFOT is ‘rooted in a humanistic, person-centered approach to healing, and is a modality used in situations of violence, intergenerational trauma, and collective, cultural, and economic genocide.’ He earned his Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Superior, majoring in English with a communications minor.

Sean was recently awarded the University of Wisconsin, Superior’s 2023 Dr. P.B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ People. He was also awarded the University of MN, Duluth’s 2017 Pride Award for being a ‘Community Contributor’ from the Sexuality & Gender Equity Initiatives.

He has lived in the Twin Ports area for almost twenty years. Sean is a single dad to an incredible and energetic kiddo. He is an 8 year veteran of the Air National Guard, where he was a photojournalist in the Public Affairs division. He enjoys having deep conversations, preferably near Lake Superior. Sean loves driving up the Scenic North Shore, meeting up with friends for coffee, as well as graphic design and fantasy movies like The Lord of the Rings.