Monica Forrester is a Program and Outreach co-ordinator for Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project. Since 1999, she has worked in various agencies to educate and make services accessible for trans* folks. She actively works to promote awareness and visibility of trans women. From living and working on the streets to being instrumental in creating a drop-in and an outreach program for transpeople at the 519 to her current work as a program coordinator for Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project, Forrester has long advocated for transgender people in Toronto. She was also part of advocating for trans women to be allowed into women’s shelters and in creating policies to prevent shelters from discriminating against trans women.

Monica Forrester is a transgendered woman of colour born and raised in Toronto. She’s been a part of the LGBTTQ community for twenty years and has advocated for awareness and visibility of trans women in Canadian society.For the past ten years, she has been working with the 519 Church Street Community to help low-income women sexworkers and to bring more visibility to agencies that trans women access. She produces a bi-monthly zine called “Trans Pride Toronto,” which fosters a connection for trans-identified people within the community and abroad.Forrester has been an important educator within the Fred Victor Centre, an important resource for people who provide housing, such as landlords and non-profit housing organizations, as well as a supportive touch-point in the lives of many transgendered and transsexual women who are seeking housing. She believes in her work in advocating for the trans community because gaining acceptance, tolerance, and equality is very important to this community that has a lot to offer in mainstream society.