After experiencing job discrimination first-hand, a Milwaukee woman decided to launch her own Web site to assist transgender individuals in finding employment with truly inclusive companies and organizations.
Jillian Barfield created TJobBank.com, described as the first and only organization dedicated to providing employment services to the transgender community—a historially underemployed population. TJobBank.com launched in July, and there are several job openings already listed on the site.
TJobBank.com doesn't just list open positions. Barfield takes it one step further, and validates whether or not an employer is truly trans-inclusive. The site also lists companies that have been invited to post jobs on the site and have not yet submitted anything.
In order to be categorized as 'inclusive' on the Web site, a company accepts the offer to post on TJobBank.com . If Barfield can validate that it hires transgender individuals, it will then be placed on the 'truly inclusive' list.
As it says on the Web site, the mission is to differentiate between companies and organizations that walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
Barfield started by looking at the Human Rights Campaign's ( HRC's ) Corporate Equality Index ( CEI ) —specifically at those companies receiving perfect scores. The fact that a former employer who had once told her she could not transition if she wanted to continue working there recently received a 100-percent rating caught her attention.
'I decided we needed validation to see if these companies are truly inclusive,' Barfield said.
Currently, Barfield is reaching out to those on the HRC CEI, as well as companies and organization that have signed onto United ENDA. Several of those companies have posted positions. Barfield anticipates that the site will continue to grow as word spreads.
'When I started this, I knew it wouldn't happen overnight,' Barfield said. 'In a way, it confirms my suspicion that some of these companies don't walk the walk. I will just have to be relentless.'
While the online resource continues to grow, Barfield asks that people working at an inclusive companies encourage their employers to list job openings on the site. To learn more, see www.TJobBank.com .
