Trynia Kaufman

Trynia Kaufman is an extension associate at the Yang Tan Institute. In her current role, she creates and facilitates professional development experiences and provides coaching for education specialists with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) Office of Special Education (OSE) Technical Assistance Partnership (TAP) for Transition and Data.

Trynia brings a wealth of experience in special education teaching, post-secondary transition services, and educational publishing. She is passionate about improving outcomes for students who have disabilities and those who hold other marginalized identities traditionally disadvantaged in education and economic systems. This goal has fueled Trynia’s interest in universal design for learning, trauma-informed teaching, culturally responsive practices, and the neuroscience of learning.

Most recently, Trynia worked with Bank Street College of Education as an educational equity specialist where she co-led the development and dissemination of training materials to improve culturally responsive and sustaining educational practices across New York. Prior to that, Trynia worked as the senior manager of educational research for Understood where she researched, wrote, and reviewed educational resources.

In 2024, Trynia published the book Overcoming the School Trauma Cycle: Academic and Emotional Supports for Struggling Learners.