The Team - Transition Planning Services
Who we are
Abigail Ryster, MS., M.H.R (she/her), Founder
Diversity Consultant
Abagail started Transition Planning Services (TPS) in the UK several years ago when there was a clear need to assist professionals transitioning in the workplace but understood there were too few capable consultants and experienced mentors to service those that required help.
Abigail [she/her] began her professional career in financial services and customer support management. She holds an undergraduate degree in business administration and certificates in human resource management. For fifteen years, she has been a lead consultant to companies wishing to advance DEI policies in the workplace and advises company leaders on the value of a diverse workforce. Based in the United Kingdom, Abigail serves TPS clients in the UK, EU, and North America.
Mare Layne, PhD (they/them), Director
Workplace Transition Consultant / Advocate / Scholar
Mare Layne has spent more than seven years doing work that most people didn't even know needed doing: helping transgender, gender-diverse, and non-binary professionals find their footing, assert their rights, and build careers worthy of who they truly are.
Before Transition Planning Services, Mare built a distinguished career spanning higher education and people talent recruitment and consulting. With a Ph.D. in the social sciences, they brought an unusually rigorous lens to human organizations — how power flows through them, how cultures form and resist change, and how individuals negotiate identity within institutional structures. That scholarly foundation gave them a rare dual fluency: the bureaucratic machinery of workplaces, and the deep human experience of the people inside them.
Joining TPS for Mare was a calling. Mare watched colleagues, friends, and strangers attempt to transition at work without support, without a strategy. Some lost jobs. Some gave up on being themselves. Some lost their lives. Mare decided they were done watching.
Mare has received awards and commendations from several organizations, including a nomination for the International Pride Awards for 'Extraordinary Ally', a candidate for the 'Corporate and Workplace Inclusion award' at We Create Space and most recently a Partner in Courage Award for fostering international workplace diversity in 2025 given by the National Queer Organization of Iceland in Reykjavik.
Due to Mare's ongoing efforts in developing relationships with generous individuals, trans-allies, and corporate affiliates, more than half of TPS clients receive services at substantial discount or services for free. Mare is based in the eastern United States.
Learn about some of our clients!
We have engaged with dozens of clients over the years. We never share personal information or private details, but some of clients allow us to anonymously profile their successes. Here are a few examples. Please note: the stories are real, but the photos do not represent actual clients. All details that might identify actual persons have been excluded.
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