About Us
Started by a mom who lived the paperwork
Transcenders was co-founded by Tera Lisicky, M.Ed. After almost twenty years as an educator, she could see the gap in the system. As a mom of two autistic sons, she lived it: kids getting dropped the moment they aged out of K-12, and transition IEPs that were just checkboxes with no real next-step guide for families.
For years, managing benefits, school services, medical appointments, and legal protections for her older son has been, in her words, like a full-time job. Not because she chose it. Because nobody else was going to do it, and the systems do not explain themselves.
That experience is the reason this nonprofit exists.
Why we pivoted
Transcenders began with a broad focus on education. Then Tera watched what actually happens when a disabled student ages out of the K-12 system: the supports fall away, the waitlists stretch for years, and parents are left to become benefits experts, legal researchers, and care coordinators overnight. She also started planning for the hardest question of all: what happens to her sons when she is gone.
She realized the families who need help most are the ones in that transition window, roughly ages fourteen to twenty-six, when school is ending and adult systems are beginning. So the mission changed to meet them there.
What we believe
Families should not need a law degree to get their child services. The information exists. It is just scattered across a dozen agencies, written in jargon, and guarded by phone trees. We translate it.
Every learning style deserves real support. In K-12, support is individualized. In college, it shrinks to almost nothing. We advocate for tools, including AI tools, to become standard accommodations in IEPs and 504 plans, because they genuinely help every kind of learner.
Planning for adulthood is an act of love. Special needs trusts, adult support orders, benefits coordination: these are not just paperwork. They are how a parent protects a child after they are gone. We make them understandable.
Disabled young people have futures worth investing in. College programs, job training, transportation, community: our kids are not problems to manage. They are people with plans, and they deserve systems that take those plans seriously.
Who we are
Tera Lisicky, M.Ed., Co-founder. Tera holds a master’s degree in education and has spent almost twenty years as an educator. As a mom of two autistic sons, she has also spent years navigating special education, vocational rehabilitation, VA benefits, and family law as a parent. She also created and hosted Bringin’ It Backwards, a music interview podcast with 1,700+ episodes. She brings a parent’s urgency and an educator’s clarity to everything Transcenders builds. An estate planning attorney recently told her she had educated him on special needs planning. She takes that as confirmation that families need this resource, not as a compliment to frame.
Sean Ulbert, Co-founder. Sean is a father, educator, and advocate who loves making online courses accessible, like the ones Transcenders is building for families.
A note on who we are. We are not lawyers, and nothing on this site is legal advice. We are parents, educators, and advocates who have lived this paperwork and decided to face it together, so the next family does not have to start from zero.
Our standing
Transcenders Inc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity recognized by the IRS (determination letter dated October 9, 2024). Federal EIN: 99-3771541. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
We are currently transitioning our state registration from Tennessee to California, where our work is centered. In the meantime, we operate as a nonprofit, full stop: no state in the name, no confusion about where our loyalties lie. They lie with families.
Work with us
We collaborate with regional centers, the Department of Rehabilitation, schools, colleges, and the VA. If your organization serves transitioning youth and their families, contact us. We would rather build together than duplicate.