Martin Rawlings-Fein, MA is an Educational Technology Specialist in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. Before joining UCSF in 2006, Martin worked for five years as a Library Assistant in the Public Health Library at the University of California, Berkeley. During his time with the University of California, he has never relented in his studies and just recently received his advanced degree from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.
Martin became involved with SFUSD during his daughter's kindergarten year when Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy was looking for volunteers to assist with the Castro Street Fair and he never looked back. He eventually led the School Site Council (SSC) through difficult waters and continues to help whenever possible now with membership in his son's elementary school PTA. In the 2015-2016 school year Martin stepped in to head his children's Jewish supplementary school during a transitional period and became the Interim Director of Education. Working with students in any educational setting gives Martin the greatest gift, he both learns from the amazing children that he is teaching and also educates them about differences and acceptance.
After the Interim Director of Education position his thoughts turned to his own leadership in school settings and he set his sights upon the San Francisco Board of Education. His daughter is now in middle school while his son is a new first grader. Both children attend public schools in San Francisco and Martin is a product of multiple public schools across bay area districts. Moreover, he is an advocate for public education, affordable teacher housing, equitable and innovative scholarship and strengthening bridges between students, parents and faculty.
Martin is passionate about his work in the education of radiologists because he is a survivor of childhood stroke. At ten-years-old, he acquired the Chicken Pox and experienced an Arterial Ischemic Stroke (AIS). A strong vaccine proponent, his experience with a simple childhood illness is what drives his work. Through his mother's strength and the work of dedicated physicians, he recovered over time with only a slight limp and a crooked smile.
Training new residents through innovative means and the latest technology is just one of the reasons that he loves his work, coming full circle as first a patient and then the educational tech specialist is another. In 2016 he was honored to be a coauthor on the abstract RISE (Radiology International Student Education): creation and utilization of virtual online classroom for global radiology education, and the primary author of another abstract Conquering the Distance: Video Conferencing as a Clinical and Educational Tool for Radiology.
Martin was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area by his single mother alongside his two older brothers and an older sister. Although raised as a girl, Martin began identifying as male in his youth, and now lives happily as a trans man. He began his transition from female-to-male in his late teens after graduating high school and changed his name formally soon after. He has been an educator on trans and bi+ issues since the early 2000s and welcomes questions on both his identities from those who would like to learn.
In Martin's history of community activism he has served on multiple nonprofit boards and held leadership positions throughout the Bay Area, he spent five years with the Bay Area Bisexual Network filing the initial non-profit paperwork for the organization, and several years with various trans organizations such as, FTMI and TGSF. He remains a founding member of the Lou Sullivan Society and currently serves as a board member of Sha'ar Zahav.
Martin has also chaired many committees such as the San Francisco LGBT Community Center's San Francisco Transgender Empowerment Advocacy and Mentorship (SFTEAM) creating the Trans Pride Awards and assisting in the creation of the Transgender Job Fair, Trans March and the Trans Employment Program (TEEI) and became an appointee to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Advisory Committee (LGBTAC) to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission in 2006 serving officially until late 2010 but remaining on committees until all his reports and research were complete.
Reports and Research through the LGBTAC:
LGBT and Intersex Communities
Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations, March 2011
Beyond Marriage: Unrecognized Family Relationships, March 2011
Native American Community
Discrimination by Omission: Issues of Concern for Native Americans in San Francisco, August 23, 2007
Martin enjoys being on the cutting edge of education and technology and is excited about putting his skills to use with his candidacy for the San Francisco Board of Education.
Martin became involved with SFUSD during his daughter's kindergarten year when Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy was looking for volunteers to assist with the Castro Street Fair and he never looked back. He eventually led the School Site Council (SSC) through difficult waters and continues to help whenever possible now with membership in his son's elementary school PTA. In the 2015-2016 school year Martin stepped in to head his children's Jewish supplementary school during a transitional period and became the Interim Director of Education. Working with students in any educational setting gives Martin the greatest gift, he both learns from the amazing children that he is teaching and also educates them about differences and acceptance.
After the Interim Director of Education position his thoughts turned to his own leadership in school settings and he set his sights upon the San Francisco Board of Education. His daughter is now in middle school while his son is a new first grader. Both children attend public schools in San Francisco and Martin is a product of multiple public schools across bay area districts. Moreover, he is an advocate for public education, affordable teacher housing, equitable and innovative scholarship and strengthening bridges between students, parents and faculty.
Martin is passionate about his work in the education of radiologists because he is a survivor of childhood stroke. At ten-years-old, he acquired the Chicken Pox and experienced an Arterial Ischemic Stroke (AIS). A strong vaccine proponent, his experience with a simple childhood illness is what drives his work. Through his mother's strength and the work of dedicated physicians, he recovered over time with only a slight limp and a crooked smile.
Training new residents through innovative means and the latest technology is just one of the reasons that he loves his work, coming full circle as first a patient and then the educational tech specialist is another. In 2016 he was honored to be a coauthor on the abstract RISE (Radiology International Student Education): creation and utilization of virtual online classroom for global radiology education, and the primary author of another abstract Conquering the Distance: Video Conferencing as a Clinical and Educational Tool for Radiology.
Martin was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area by his single mother alongside his two older brothers and an older sister. Although raised as a girl, Martin began identifying as male in his youth, and now lives happily as a trans man. He began his transition from female-to-male in his late teens after graduating high school and changed his name formally soon after. He has been an educator on trans and bi+ issues since the early 2000s and welcomes questions on both his identities from those who would like to learn.
In Martin's history of community activism he has served on multiple nonprofit boards and held leadership positions throughout the Bay Area, he spent five years with the Bay Area Bisexual Network filing the initial non-profit paperwork for the organization, and several years with various trans organizations such as, FTMI and TGSF. He remains a founding member of the Lou Sullivan Society and currently serves as a board member of Sha'ar Zahav.
Martin has also chaired many committees such as the San Francisco LGBT Community Center's San Francisco Transgender Empowerment Advocacy and Mentorship (SFTEAM) creating the Trans Pride Awards and assisting in the creation of the Transgender Job Fair, Trans March and the Trans Employment Program (TEEI) and became an appointee to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Advisory Committee (LGBTAC) to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission in 2006 serving officially until late 2010 but remaining on committees until all his reports and research were complete.
Reports and Research through the LGBTAC:
LGBT and Intersex Communities
Bisexual Invisibility: Impacts and Recommendations, March 2011
Beyond Marriage: Unrecognized Family Relationships, March 2011
Native American Community
Discrimination by Omission: Issues of Concern for Native Americans in San Francisco, August 23, 2007
Martin enjoys being on the cutting edge of education and technology and is excited about putting his skills to use with his candidacy for the San Francisco Board of Education.