Get to Know TKO: Kai

Kaitoria Banks (she/her) Peer Navigator for The Knights and Orchid Society Image Courtest of StoryCorps

“UNIQUE! That’s what you are.”

This lyric plays in the mind of Kaitoria Bankz when she needs a little dose of motivation. Luckily for her, though, self-love and the desire to encourage love among others is usually all the motivation she needs.

Read more about Kaitoria, her work at TKO, and her plans for the future in this snapshot from our February newsletter! Check it out here: https://tkosociety.org/monthly-newsletters/feb2025

She is working toward her GED, and also plans to go to college. Her inquisitive nature and curiosity about people lead her interest in studying psychology. One of her greatest aspirations is becoming a “hood therapist,” she said. “A lot of Black people are less fortunate and need to heal. They need an outlet. I want to be that outlet, I want to help people and it’s the people in the hood who need it most.”

While she is enjoying the present moments of her life, Kaitoria looks forward to those days, too. “At 25, I decided I wanted to start my transition by 30, and I did. I’ve overcome the obstacles that were in my life before, so I’m ready for any obstacles that come.

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