Expanding Beyond the Gender Binary

This course will help your team move past the assumption that gender is a simple either/or. Through Hideko Akashi’s personal story — woven together with the lived experiences of three colleagues from Liberation Consulting — learners build the language, awareness, and everyday habits that make workplaces more welcoming for trans, non-binary, and gender-expansive people.


“Challenging the gender binary is not about completely getting rid of male and female categories. It is about allowing for a more expansive definition of what we consider to be masculine or feminine, and recognizing that we should have the freedom to be along that whole spectrum, without any societal pressures or consequences.”
— Hideko Akashi

“As we expand our way of thinking about gender identity, no matter where you fall, we’re participating in everyone’s liberation.”
— Isaac Ruelas

Write your awesome label here.

Watch the short trailer for the eLearning.

Award-winning!! 🏆
Excellence recognized with the Communicator Award of Distinction  

Why this course, why now?
Gender expectations shape how people are hired, promoted, talked over, called on, listened to, and trusted with leadership. They also shape how people show up — or shrink — at work. As a wave of legislation and rhetoric in the United States targets trans and non-binary people, employers have a choice: stay quiet and let bias do its work, or build the everyday literacy that makes inclusion real.

Expanding Beyond the Gender Binary gives your team that literacy. It is grounded, clear, story-led, and — above all — practical. No blame, no walls. Just the knowledge you need to show up differently tomorrow, from someone who has spent two decades helping organizations grow.


Enroll as an individual and start now!
Or, license the course for your organization. Request a quote with the form below.

About this eLearning course

What learners will take away
  • A working vocabulary for gender identity, expression, assigned sex at birth, cisgender, transgender, non-binary, anti-binary, and queer — explained in plain language.
  • A clear understanding of what the gender binary is, who it harms (including cisgender men and women), and what it means to think beyond it without erasing anyone’s identity.
  • Confidence with pronouns — including they/them and neopronouns — plus a simple, low-stakes script for when you slip up.
  • The ability to recognize how rigid gender roles affect hiring, promotion, leadership perception, and day-to-day workplace dynamics.
  • Concrete language swaps for phrases like “that’s so gay,” “you throw like a girl,” “boys don’t cry,” and “man up” — and a sense of why these phrases land harder than they sound.
  • Small, repeatable actions each learner can take at home and at work to model inclusion for the people in their lives.

Voices you’ll hear

Isaac Ruelas (they/he/she) — gender non-binary, self-identified detribalized Indigenous meso-American with Mexican ancestry.

Lyssa Ichikawa (they/them) — multiracial, queer, and anti-binary.

Jessie Justin (they/them) — transgender / gender non-binary, queer, and parent in a queer family.

Who this is for


  • All-staff DEI training rollouts
  • Manager and people-leader development
  • New-hire onboarding
  • Educators, healthcare teams, nonprofits, and any workforce that interacts with the public
  • People who want to move from good intentions to accountable action

Course details

  • Format: Self-paced online course
  • Length: ~30 minutes
  • Modules: 7
  • Includes: Video stories, downloadable transcripts, definitions, reflection prompts
  • Best for: Teams of any size; volume licensing available
WATCH A CLIP FROM THE COURSE:
Write your awesome label here.
Meet your instructor
Hideko Akashi — Founder & Lead Consultant, Liberation Consulting
With more than 20 years in the educational sector, Hideko has guided individuals and institutions to think critically about diversity, privilege, social justice, inclusion, and equity.

She teaches from her own self-reflective journey, drawing on both her membership in historically included groups and her multiple targeted identities. She believes in personal and social transformation — and that organizations can shift their culture to become genuinely equitable and inclusive places to work.

Meet Your Instructor

Hideko Akashi

“I created this course to help you gain deeper insight and awareness of what it means to expand beyond the gender binary. By sharing my story, my goal is to bring these issues closer to home and foster greater understanding and empathy.”
                                                                                      ~ Hideko Akashi 

Hideko Akashi is the founder and lead consultant for Liberation Consulting. With over 20 years of experience in the educational sector, Hideko has challenged individuals and institutions to think critically about issues of diversity, privilege, social justice, inclusion and equity.

Read a feature article about Hideko 👉🏼 

There Are 2 Ways to Experience The Course

As an individual or license the course for your organization 

  1. Individuals – Enroll in the course and start learning now! 
  2. Organizations – License and install the SCORM file on your LMS, or, we can host on our LMS. We'll send you a quote. 
Choose the option that works best for you!

Individuals - start now!

Enroll and get access for 4 weeks
Enroll now to start the eLearning course immediately.
Hideko Akashi's expert insights and strategies, typically reserved for exclusive webinars and coaching sessions, make this a unique chance to deepen your understanding and elevate your skills with guidance from one of the best in the field.  

Learn More
Start Today

Organizations - license

License the SCORM to install on your LMS
License the eLearning course to install the SCORM on your LMS, or, we will host this course on our LMS. This course provides:
  • Scalable and trackable
  • 24/7 on-demand
  • Consistent content
  • Completion certificate
Fill out the form below to learn more about licensing, pricing and the incredible support we provide.
"Gender is not what people look like to other people; it is what we know ourselves to be. No one else should be able to tell you who you are; that’s for you to decide."
  – Alok Vaid-Menon
     Beyond the Gender Binary
Alok is a gender non-conforming performance artist and nationally bestselling author

Would you like to license Expanding Beyond the Gender Binary for your organization?

Special pricing is available when you license for your group, team, school, university or corporation. 

Fill out this form, and Joel Lesko, SunShower Learning's director will respond with information about licensing and how you can install the course in your internal LMS or use our LMS. 

SunShower Learning is experienced in helping large and small organizations integrate eLearning courses into training systems.