2026 Participant Biographies

Aisling MacDonald (she/her/ella) is a health equity strategist, program specialist, and statewide advocate working at the intersection of transgender wellness, trauma-informed care, and public health systems. At Garden State Equality, she designs and leads educational programs, community resiliency initiatives, and statewide training efforts for providers, schools, agencies, and LGBTQ+ communities. She also developed and implemented New Jersey’s largest intrastate research initiative focused on barriers to transgender healthcare, blending data, lived expertise, and community participation to illuminate gaps in access and equity.

Aisling’s facilitation style integrates grounding-based practices, accessible public health concepts, and narrative-driven teaching to help participants understand how systemic stressors such as discrimination, medical gatekeeping, rural access barriers, and carceral involvement shape wellness at the body level. Her work spans curriculum design, coalition building, policy education, and storytelling across healthcare, housing, and social service systems.

In addition to her programmatic work, Aisling serves on the New Jersey Department of Corrections State Prison Complex Board of Trustees and the Youth Correctional Institutional Complex Board of Trustees. These roles inform her intersectional approach to community health, emphasizing the importance of dignity, safety, and continuity of care for people navigating multiple, overlapping systems.

Aisling is committed to building pathways where transgender and gender-expansive people, especially those with marginalized identities, can access affirming care, reclaim agency, and experience collective resilience.