Our Co-Founders
Tristan Vaught | they/he | Co-Founder and Acting Executive Director
Tristan N. Vaught is the cofounder and acting executive director of Transform, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive youth, young adults, their parents, allies, and the larger 2SLGBTQ+ community through free, community-rooted care.
A longtime community organizer, educator, and advocate, Tristan cofounded Transform in September of 2019 as a response to growing gaps in affirming, accessible support for trans youth and adults. Under their leadership, Transform has grown into a seven-day-a-week community hub offering gender-affirming clothing appointments, peer-led support groups, youth and family programming, community meals, and creative and social connection.
Tristan brings a relationship-centered and trauma-informed approach to leadership, grounded in lived experience and collective care. Their work focuses on building sustainable, local systems of support that prioritize dignity, autonomy, and belonging, especially for trans youth, BIPOC community members, and those facing economic and physical barriers.
In addition to their work at Transform, Tristan is an educator, coach, and consultant whose teaching and facilitation explore sexuality, gender, identity, culture, and power. They are known for creating spaces that balance accountability with compassion and activism with care.
Tristan believes that thriving trans communities are built not only through services, but through consistency, trust, and showing up for one another.
Email Tristan here: tristan@transformcincy.org
Ella Dastillung | She/her | Co-Founder / Former Youth Director
Ella became the third founder of Transform through helping her mother Nancy with starting the organization. She quickly fell in love with it, and became the “final piece of the puzzle” through designing logos, appointment forms, and organizing teens. Ella previously was president of the Oak Hills High School Gay-Straight-Alliance for two years. She learned how to work with other LGBTQ+ teens and ran events, such as a counter-protest of the Westboro Baptist Church at her school in 2017. Ella graduated from the School for Creative and Performing Arts in 2020 and graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2023. She loves movies, dogs, and collaborating with other people. Ella has moved on to her career as an incredible educator in a local school district. She will always be a part of organization and is invested deeply in the mission/vision of Transform.
Email Ella here: ella@transformcincy.org
Nancy Dawson | She/her | Co-Founder
Nancy Dawson, mom of five, founded and owned BRIDEface makeup and hair for fifteen years. Her experience with her own transgender daughter inspired her to create Transform. Nancy passed away from breast cancer in April 2020, and her legacy lives on through Transform Cincy and her five children.