Aiden Jay Kaplan joined the bachelor’s internship program at PFY, a Division of Long Island Crisis Center in January 2014.

A young transgender man, in his senior year of college, seeking a way to give back to the Long Island LGBTQ+ community that had been a safe and affirming space for him in his early teenage years.

Aiden was pursuing a Liberal Studies degree from Purchase College with little vision of what he wanted to do in the future, other than to help.

When Aiden entered the internship program at PFY he soaked in all he could learn and rapidly developed a passion for health and human services work which fulfilled his soul and often lead to him going beyond his dedicated internship hours.

At the end of placement, Aiden was offered a position as the LGBTQ Youth Services Coordinator. During this time Aiden learned the definition of the term hustle. He entered this role to take a program that was in its twenty second year of service and was rapidly seeing a decrease in participation and turn it around.

In his first two years in the role the program doubled its participation from an unduplicated client count of 350 clients annually to 700 LGBTQ+ youth and allies being served in a single year.

Aiden expanded his knowledge and expertise moving into the LGBTQ Services Coordinator role in 2017. At this time Aiden began to provide trainings and community education for the organization and became the face of the agency for much of the next few years.

Aiden spoke at conferences, rallies, legislative sessions, and town halls to educate and inform the public of the needs of Long Island’s LGBTQ+ community.

He utilized his own story to tug at the heart strings of community members and help them to see LGBTQ+ people in a new and personal light.

Aiden’s experiences at PFY led him to seek out a master’s degree in social work and he graduated from Stony Brook University with his MSW in May 2018 and was quickly promoted to LGBTQ Services Manager at PFY in August of 2018.

Aiden used his expertise as a social worker and his passion for ethics to guide his work as he became a supervisor. Throughout his four years in this position Aiden worked to develop his team to meet the growing needs of Long Island’s LGBTQ+ community with a focus on decreasing the impacts of the social determinants of health.

Aiden began overseeing the agency’s education programs and social media focusing on developing curriculums and campaigns that are culturally responsive and accurate.

In 2022 Aiden was promoted to assistant director – operations & programs where he now oversees the day to day operations of PFY’s three locations, 6 agency vehicles including a fully functional mobile medical clinic, two websites, and multiple social media accounts.

Aiden supervises a team of passionate and hard working staff who are dedicated to the agency’s mission and works alongside a team of managers whose drive and vision is unmatched.

Aiden continues to advocate in both his personal and professional life for policy advancements for communities disproportionally affected by homophobia, transphobia, and racism on Long Island.

Beyond his professional achievements, Aiden is a proud husband to a supportive and loving wife, a grateful son to a mother who has given so much of herself to ensure he had what he needed, and an honored friend to have a best friend to always celebrate alongside.