Hi! I’m Lyss, and I use any pronouns. I’m located in Pittsburgh, PA.

I currently work as an educator and consultant in disability justice and liberatory mental health. I’ve worked with individuals, collectives, and nonprofits to help co-create access-centered cultures, both as an individual consultant and as a trainer and tech support lead at PeoplesHub. I previously served as the founder and lead organizer at Inside Our Minds, a radical mental health mutual aid collective (2017-2022).

I am a certified personal trainer (NASM-CPT), USAW L1, and have completed the Center for Trauma and Embodiment’s Trauma-Informed Weightlifting Certification Program. I also compete in Olympic weightlifting at the lower national level. Starting in 2025, I will begin taking clients for trauma-informed weightlifting personal training and movement coaching, starting with small groups before expanding to one-on-one clients.

Teaching is another passion of mine, and I believe creativity is vital for our collective liberation. I have held spaces for poetry and artistic expression for teens and adults. I was previously the Director of Liberatory Education at Write Pittsburgh and helped build their Rainbow Writers and Teen Council programs.

Recent Learnings + Reads: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer; No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model by Richard C. Schwartz.

Things That Give Me Life: writing poetry and creating all sorts of wild art; wandering around cemeteries with a black coffee; having a pastry and a think at the riverside; the feel of a barbell in my hands; dancing at 80s and goth nights; being in the pit at hardcore shows; wearing black lipstick and biodegradable glitter.