“I’m Jennifer Bielstein, she/her/hers.”

That’s how Bielstein, executive director at American Conservatory Theater, introduces herself to cast and crew at the first rehearsal of a new play.

“Gender inclusivity is an important part of our overall commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion,” said Bielstein, who joined the company in the fall. ACT recently instituted a new policy that invites staff members to share their gender identity at meetings. “When someone has identified that they want to be called ‘they’ versus ‘her’ or ‘him,’ then everyone needs to honor that and respect that and work hard to remember how people identify.”

Bay Area companies and organizations have begun to put more emphasis on supporting transgender and gender-nonconforming employees by creating policies or offering training that creates a culture of respect around gender identity. At work, it’s becoming more common for people of all identities to use their pronouns in email signatures, name tags and professional introductions as a way of showing support for co-workers who are transgender or have a nonbinary gender identity — meaning their identity falls outside traditional gender categories.

Supporters say some of these workplace initiatives have been galvanized by the Trump administration’s rollback of national protections for transgender people.

Using appropriate terminology More on language usage: www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

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“With all of the federal attacks on the community, we know there has been a strong response from allies,” said Clair Farley, executive director of San Francisco’s year-old Office of Transgender Initiatives, which advises businesses on how to make workplaces more inclusive of people of all gender identities. “I think people are mobilized and want to learn how they can do more.”

President Trump has worked to phase out Obama-era protections for transgender schoolchildren and members of the military. In October, a leaked document showed that the administration was considering instituting a strict definition of gender identity based solely on one’s designated sex at birth.

For those who are transgender or gender nonconforming, gender identity and expression often don’t fall into the strict male or female category printed on their birth certificate. In the workplace, a transitioning transgender man may want to switch from using the pronouns she/her/hers to he/him/his and legally change his name. A person with a nonbinary gender identity, meaning they do not identify as either male or female, might want their co-workers to use the pronouns they/them/theirs when referencing them.

“There are some people who want to be outward and direct, while some don’t. They can start with the manager to express what their needs are, and we can set out a path,” said Brianne Gagnon, director of people and culture at Bi-Rite Market, which has 350 employees at several grocery store and cafe locations in San Francisco. “We wanted to make sure we’re really clear that we’re really supportive to staff who are transitioning or are nonconforming.”

Gagnon is drafting a staff guide with a new section called Supporting Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Staff, using resources from the city as well as Oakland’s Transgender Law Center. In the past year, one employee has changed the gender identity and name on work documents. The company recently added an optional field on its job applications for gender pronoun preference, and managers are encouraged to list their gender pronouns on email signatures, even if they seem obvious. “It shows ally-ship,” Gagnon said.

Staff members have similar philosophies around gender identity at the Alameda County Community Food Bank, which has an insurance program that covers transition surgery, for example, said spokesman Michael Altfest. The organization’s equity and inclusion initiative is vital because the organization works in what it considers an area of human rights — in its case, access to food for all, he said.

“It’s not just what we are doing out in the world but also how we care for our staff,” Altfest said.

Honey Mahogany, a former social worker and competitor on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” who is executive director of the Compton’s Transgender Cultural District in the Tenderloin, agrees with that notion. Identified as a boy at birth, she has used the pronouns she/her/hers for about six years, though she considers herself gender variant and doesn’t fully identify as a transgender woman.

“We live in a gendered society that’s very binary — we have specific boxes for men and women. When you fall outside of that binary and you don’t fit in those boxes, it creates a degree of cognitive dissonance,” Mahogany said.

Mahogany, who is about to switch to a new job as an aide to District Six Supervisor Matt Haney, said she doesn’t necessarily correct people who use the wrong pronoun with her because she assumes they have the best intentions.

“It’s a complicated conversation for me around what pronouns I’m using, and honestly it can be exhausting to have to correct someone every time they make a mistake,” Mahogany said.

Mahogany said the developments around gender inclusion in the workplace could have a positive impact also on the women’s movement and the push for equality and pay equity in the workplace, because it gives everyone a chance to re-examine any biases and expectations they may have about gender.

“When we’re talking about gender-variant people and gender-nonconforming people who do not fit into this idea of what it means to be a man or a woman, then we’re acknowledging that there’s this continuum that puts stereotypes and assumptions into question,” she said. “I think it’s part of a larger conversation around gender.”

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan