Katherine Wolfgramme: Educating Corporate Australia With Glamor and Charm

All Katherine Wolfgramme ever wanted was to be a glamorous woman, though coming from a family of teachers, she supposes it must be in her DNA to educate and lead by example.

A public speaker, brand ambassador, educator, journalist, and transgender advocate, Wolfgramme has built great esteem for herself and her work in bringing transgender education to corporate Australia.

Charm, Wit, and Insight

Starting with only a website, a PowerPoint presentation, and a Trans Awareness Programme, she found great demand from companies looking to deepen their understanding of transgender people, a service she was eager to provide.

“[I] was the very first self-employed transgender woman delivering this service in Australia,” Wolfgramme says.

For this, she would generate great acclaim, being nominated for, and winning various awards such as the Inspirational Role Model of the Year Award at the Australian LGBT Awards in 2019.

Combining charm, wit, and insight, Wolfgramme promotes a language of common understanding with those she works with to convey the humanity of transgender people to a broader community.

“I believe through greater education towards our community we can reduce transphobia and in doing so also reduce objectification of our population,” she says.

She draws on her experience of over thirty years of transition to intimately communicate with her subjects, providing a human face to the often faceless and ambiguous issues and statistics surrounding transgender people.

“Storytelling, personal storytelling confirms truths and helps make statistics more human and easier to understand,” Wolfgramme says.

“I combine storytelling with statistics and also à knowledge of my last thirty-three years of lived experience living my life as Katherine.”

Now a veteran in the field, Wolfgramme has observed greater shifts in Australia’s corporate landscape, wherein demand for trans education has only grown in demand as more and more transgender people feel comfortable seeking employment.

“Now that more transgender people feel protected and safe enough to apply for work outside of the sex and entertainment industry, which was once the only line of employment available to transgender people, new employment opportunities also create gender diverse consumers – so all industries both in terms of consumer and employers now feel the need for greater education and understanding.”

More than happy to do much and more to meet the greater demand, Wolfgramme briefly reflects on this progress and the road behind her.

“We live in a most wonderful era far beyond what I could have hoped for in 1990,” she says.

“My Community Work Is Never Ending”

Today Wolfgramme is an exceptionally busy woman, dividing her time between her educative work, advocating, and campaigning.

In spite of days filled with meetings and campaign preparations, Wolfgramme feels only satisfaction, ultimately finding fulfilment in working towards the betterment of the transgender community and its future.

“My community work is never ending but it enriches and blesses me, and I firmly believe that I am doing my life’s work.”