Anand grew up the youngest child in a progressive South Asian family in rural Illinois. After leaving home at 17, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Math from the University of Michigan, where his undergraduate thesis explored the connection between internalized gender oppression and externalized racial oppression among white transgender people. The findings from this research formed the basis for workshops he taught from 2008 – 2013 on healing internalized oppression in queer and trans communities. In 2010, while completing his Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, Anand began to integrate information literacy into his work on self-actualization as an entry point for recognizing and healing internalized oppression. As a reference librarian, Anand helped thousands of people overcome barriers in their lives by finding the right information at the right time. As a facilitator with more than 20 years’ experience, he’s built up a solid foundation of active listening, situational analysis, and finding alternate perspectives, while staying grounded with a peaceful frame of mind. As a writer, musician, and filmmaker, he explores the tragedy and comedy of privilege, oppression, and justice as shaped from his perspective as an able-bodied, middle class, queer, leftist, feminist, brown trans man. Prior to launching his independent practice, Anand has applied his skills, training, and knowledge in a wide variety of settings, including academic libraries, university classrooms, pre-K and elementary schools, and health clinics, and spent four years organizing public policy wins in the health care system for transgender and gender non-conforming people as health programs manager with Transgender Law Center. He currently lives in Oakland, California, with his cats.

I'm responsible for bridging the big-picture vision and the every-day work of carrying out QCC's mission to promote social justice and the artistic and financial development of queer art and culture. Right now, QCC is growing and building our infrastructure to be able to scale as needed over the next few years. It's an exciting time for the sustainability for QTBIPOC artists in the Bay Area!

As Health Programs Manager at Transgender Law Center, Anand Kalra translates wins in law and policy into practice at the level of user experience. Coming from a background in library & information science, Anand applies systems analysis to identify breakdowns in the administration of health care in the private and public sectors, and uses this knowledge to create understandable educational materials and trainings for transgender community members and service providers. Prior to joining Transgender Law Center, Anand worked in public schools, private museums, academic libraries, and a pediatric clinic. He has ten years’ experience as an activist in trans and LGB communities and holds a master’s degree in Information Science from the University of Michigan. Anand lives in Oakland with his cats, Finch and Sparrow.