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Elliott Hinkle, BS
Principal and Founder, Unicorn Solutions LLC
Elliott Orrin Hinkle (they/them) is a skilled consultant, facilitator, trainer, speaker, advisor, and national expert focused on elevating lived experience and expertise in systems that serve children, youth, and families. As Principal and Founder of Unicorn Solutions LLC, they are an advocate and professional with 14+ years of experience in child welfare, youth mental health, and the LGBTQIA2S+ community, gained through training, advising, and facilitating culture change efforts. They are a graduate of Portland State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Queer Studies. While completing their degree, they worked at the Portland State University, School of Social Work, Regional Research Institute (RRI) as a coach on the My Life and Better Futures Projects. At PSU, they also served as the Youth/Young Adult Coordinator on the Oregon Healthy Transitions grant, funded by the Oregon Health Authority and SAMHSA. From August 2019 to 2025, they were certified as a Traditional Health Worker and Youth Peer Support Specialist in the state of Oregon by the Oregon Health Authority. They have served as Vice Chair and Commissioner to the Oregon Governor’s Child Foster Care Advisory Commission. Elliott also served as a Lived Experience Expert Partner for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Equity Technical Assistance Center (ETAC) for three years.
Elliott has lived experience in the Wyoming Foster Care System as a young person. After graduating from Casper College with two Associate’s degrees and with the help of their Daniels Fund scholarship, they transferred to Portland State University to complete their Bachelor’s. They spent 10 years making a home in Oregon after undergrad. In the summer of 2024, they moved back to their hometown in Wyoming to continue supporting the local LGBTQ+ community and improving the experiences of youth and families. They have assisted and participated in child welfare and youth mental health research, they actively work to reduce barriers to access to care for LGBTQIA2S+ youth and families, and are trained in evidence-based peer coaching. Additionally, their skills include consultation and reviewing state’s Independent Living programs and National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) survey work, as well as providing support in program and policy development. Since 2014, Elliott has been a trainer and advisor of the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Youth Thrive initiative and is a certified trainer for Youth Thrive for Youth. Elliott was also a member of the LGBTQ Xchange for Change team and served as the Executive Editor and Co-host of the Xchanges podcast. In 2022 Elliott was recognized as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Healthy Equity winner via Youth Move National.
As a volunteer, Elliott served as Vice Chair of the Casper Pride Board of Directors and is currently a member of the HOPE National Advisory Board and Family and Community Experts Council for HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences). On the Oregon Pride in Business Board, they served as ORPIB NGLCC and Supplier Diversity Chair. They also serve on NGLCC’s TGX Initiative committee. They joined the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Board in March of 2024 and began their term as board treasurer in January of 2025. Previously, they served as Board Secretary of Portland’s Bridging Voices LGBTQ+ youth chorus.
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