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Danni Askini is a transgender rights policy expert, civil rights leader, and Executive Director of Gender Justice League who has secured landmark healthcare victories in Oregon and Washington State and whose case before the UN Human Rights Council brought international attention to the persecution of transgender Americans.

Danni Askini is a transgender rights advocate and policy strategist with 25+ years of experience delivering concrete legislative victories including comprehensive Medicaid coverage expansions, conversion therapy bans, and successful defeats of discriminatory ballot measures. She holds an MBA from the University of Washington and an MSW from the University of Southern Maine. She currently leads Gender Justice League and co-chairs No Hate in Washington State coalition.

Danni Askini is Executive Director of Gender Justice League, Executive Director of Trans Pride Seattle, and Co-Chair of No Hate in Washington State coalition. Over 25+ years of advocacy, she has secured landmark policy victories including comprehensive transgender healthcare coverage in Oregon and Washington Medicaid, statewide conversion therapy bans, passage of the Gender Affirming Treatment Act (2021), and successful defeats of multiple discriminatory ballot measures.

In 2016, Danni became the first openly transgender candidate for the Washington State Legislature. She has served as a senior health policy consultant to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee on COVID-19 legislation. From 2018–2020, she sought asylum in Sweden after receiving 12,000+ hate messages; her case was resolved through the UN Human Rights Council. She holds an MBA (University of Washington) and MSW (University of Southern Maine).

Danni Askini is a nationally recognized civil rights leader, policy strategist, and writer whose career spans more than 25 years of advocacy at the intersection of transgender rights, healthcare equity, gender-based violence prevention, and democratic governance.

As founder and Executive Director of Gender Justice League in Seattle, Danni built one of the Pacific Northwest’s most effective transgender rights organizations, growing it from a grassroots collective to a professional policy and advocacy institution serving over 1,000 people annually across 27 states, with annual revenue exceeding $1.5 million. Under her leadership, GJL led a coalition of 45 organizations to secure transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage in Washington’s Medicaid program, defeated over 23 anti-trans bills and ballot measures, helped ban conversion therapy for minors, and established Trans Pride Seattle as the largest transgender pride celebration in the Pacific Northwest, serving over 35,000 people.

In 2016, Danni became the first openly transgender candidate for the Washington State Legislature. Her federal experience includes serving as a senior health policy consultant to the U.S. Senate HELP Committee on Medicaid policy, childhood nutrition programs, LGBTQ+ and HIV health equity, and the Violence Against Women’s Act. She has partnered with Lambda Legal, the ACLU, National Women’s Law Center, and Advocates for Trans Equality on federal regulatory advocacy and impact litigation.

From 2018–2020, Danni was forced into exile in Sweden after receiving over 12,000 hate messages and death threats. Her passport crisis was resolved through an unprecedented UN Human Rights Council intervention that brought international attention to the persecution of transgender Americans.

Danni holds an Executive MBA from the University of Washington, a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern Maine, and certifications as a Certified Public Policy Analyst (CPPA) and Project Management Professional (PMP). She is currently writing a memoir tracing her journey from the foster care system in Maine to the front lines of the civil rights movement.