2020 was a year of reckoning. In the midst of the devastation of COVID-19, people around the world rose up to defend Black life and, in doing so, helped accelerate conversations about safety, race and injustice. The power of queer and trans Black, indigenous and people of color was especially palpable, whether organizing people in the streets or turning out communities to the polls.

What will philanthropy do now that the media frenzy of 2020 has seemingly calmed, but our communities continue to face the same underlying crises of white supremacy, transphobia, patriarchy and more? This moment offers a critical opportunity for funders to reckon with ways our sector has hindered movement efforts and to step up to instead support silo-busting organizing for liberation.

Join groundbreaking queer, trans and non-binary organizers of color from Southerners on New Ground, the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, and the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) in conversation with funders. We’ll explore the challenges and opportunities movements are facing as they set the bold visions and build power towards a world where our communities can thrive. Borealis Philanthropy’s Transforming Movements Fund and the Foundation for a Just Society will facilitate conversation to examine ways our sector has hindered organizing, share lessons on supporting power-building, and explore opportunities for funders to amplify the impact of movements for liberation.

Moderated by Dani Martinez, Borealis Philanthropy, Paulina Helm-Hernandez, Foundation for a Just Society

Speakers:
Vanessa Maldonado- Flores, Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM)
Monserrat Padilla – Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network
Aesha Rasheed – Southerners on New Ground

The field of philanthropy needs to be more honest with itself about how its practices inhibit the kinds of social justice and liberatory work we need right now. We know that traditional (and even some “progressive”) funder practices embody white supremacy culture and inhibit or disrupt the very work we need most right now.

Over the past 10 years, the Out in the South Initiative and Grantmakers for Southern Progress have been identifying how funders can be in actual alignment with southern movement organizations to build power and create structural change in the South. We would like to share some key lessons learned about how we can move money in ways that meet the needs and supports the vision of southern movement organizations. While the examples offered are rooted in southern movement work, they are applicable to work happening in most regions of the country (and the globe) that are facing long standing structural oppression and recent backlash and subsequent increases in white supremacist violence.

Join us to learn about three southern based funding structures that are moving money in ways that resources some of the most creative and brilliant work happening right now in service to LGBTQ liberation. The funding structures we will be learning from are The Contigo Fund, the Queer Mobilization Fund and the Southern Power Fund.

Speakers:
Chantelle Fisher-Borne, Project Director, Out in the South Initiative
Tamieka Mosley, Director, Grantmakers for Southern Progress
Ricky Bratz, Coordinator, Queer Mobilization Fund at Southern Vision Alliance
Michelle Ramos, Vision Keeper/Executive Director, Alternate ROOTS
Angelica Jones, Steering Committee, Contigo Fund

This year has shown us our opposition’s next strategy for stigmatizing and dehumanizing trans people: pushing trans youth out of school sports. This panel will discuss what we learned this year, how this tactic is targeting the South, and how far we have to go to counter it. Panelists will discuss messaging and organizing responses, key areas of leverage for TGNC and allied communities, and how this tactic is driving a wedge between us and our usual allies.

Speakers:
Ryan Li Dahlstrom, Director of the Fund for Trans Generations, Borealis Philanthropy
Rebby Kern, Director of Education Policy at Equality North Carolina
Anne Lieberman (they/them) Director of Policy & Programs for Athlete Ally
Ashland Johnson, Founder and President , Inclusion Playbook

Are you an early-or mid-career professional in philanthropy, wondering what a journey forward looks like in this sector? Are you hungry to find more of your people who share values of intersectional racial equity and feel committed to building the future of philanthropy to reflect these values? Join Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, a community of changemakers committed to using philanthropy to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. Learn About professional development opportunities for emerging practitioners, how to get connected with your peers, and share your favorite cocktail or mocktail with the EPIP family while we engage in some lighthearted activities to keep us all connected.

Speaker:
Elyse Gordon, Director of Programs, EPIP

For many in the Black transgender and gender-nonconforming communities, the COVID-19 pandemic was a continuation of the centuries-long crisis of anti-Black racism, misogynoir and transphobia that has left these communities largely unable to access health care, housing, and employment. When national shelter-in-place orders went into effect last spring, Black trans community leaders mobilized their own grassroots networks and relationships to raise and distribute funds to trans and gender-nonconforming BIPOC communities with unprecedented speed. Together, they moved at least $3 million into the hands of QTBIPOC community members across the country hit hardest by the virus and ensuing economic fall-out, largely before institutional philanthropy could respond.

In this plenary, representatives from some of these grassroots groups will share what they learned in adapting their existing relationships and work to move money so quickly. They will also discuss the challenges they faced stepping into the vacuum left by the government and institutional philanthropy in the immediate wake of the pandemic, all while continuing to the day-to-day operations of their own under-resourced organizations. Panelists will also pose important questions to the audience about how institutional philanthropy can take accountability for its past failures to adequately support Black trans communities by helping groups like theirs continue to expand and thrive even as the pandemic recedes. Audience members will come away with new insight behind this alternative vision of “doing philanthropy” that is rooted in radical trust in community, as well as suggestions for how they can immediately adapt their own grantmaking to better support Black trans communities.

Speakers
Devin Lowe, Founder & Executive Director, Black Trans Travel Fund
Socorro “Cori” Moreland, Founder and CEO, Brotherhood510
Sybastian Smith, Vice President, I am Human Foundation
LaSaia Wade, Founder and Executive Director, Brave Space Alliance

Moderated by Bré Rivera, Program Officer, Black Trans Fund, Groundswell Fund

Session resources:

• The Black Trans Fund
• Black Trans Fund 2020 Docket
• Philanthropy OUTlook: LGBTQ Black Communities, from Funders for LGBTQ Issues and ABFE
• Black Trans Travel Fund
• I Am Human Foundation
• Brave Space Alliance
• Brotherhood510

We invite Funding Forward attendees to help inform our Day 2 plenary, Black Trans Brilliance: Black Trans Community Moving Money in Times of Crisis, by completing a brief pre-conference survey to help make the session as relevant as possible!  Please take a moment to share your thoughts in this short survey.

LGBTQ+ and immigration justice advocates currently face critical challenges and opportunities. The previous administration prioritized rolling back rights and protections for LGBTQ+ people across a spectrum of federal agencies and dramatically escalated attacks on immigrants – from increasing militarization at the Southern border to the separation of families to turning away asylum seekers, while allowing grave abuses by ICE and detention facilities to occur with impunity. This all-out assault against immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers dramatically increased LGBTQ+ immigrants’ vulnerability to detention, deportation, violence, and even death. Advocates and organizers are pushing the current administration and Congress to not only undo these harms, but also transform policies and practices at the border to respect the humanity of LGBTQ+ migrants. However, this transformation will not be easy. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and with increasing numbers of migrants arriving at the U.S./Mexico border seeking refuge and home in the United States, advocates and service providers must simultaneously address growing needs for resources on the ground, effectively respond to political and media rhetoric describing the “crisis” and “mess” at the border, and continue to fight against the criminalization of trans, queer, and Black asylum seekers. This workshop will provide a space to learn about these complex issues, including current and proposed immigration and asylum policy and practice changes and their impact on LGBTQ+ community members. It will also highlight a unique collaboration between Transgender Law Center, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, and other LGBTQ+ and migrants’ rights organizations: a holistic humanitarian response that integrates grassroots organizing, legal services and advocacy, and uplifts the leadership of the most impacted.

Speakers:
Desiree Flores, Program Director, U.S. Social Justice, Arcus Foundation
Guerline M. Jozef, Co-founder & Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance
Emem DuPuis Maurus, Attorney, Transgender Law Center
Judy Yu, Senior Program Officer, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Program, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Sponsored by: Arcus Foundation and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Remember when Black LGBTQ youth saved democracy? This session will explore the intersection of LGBTQ funding and nonpartisan civic engagement funding, telling the story of how Black, queer, and youth organizers in Georgia created one of the largest voter turnout operations in the history of the state. Spoiler alert: it started long before January 2021.

This conversation will demonstrate why Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE) is a proven model to increase civic engagement using c(3) funds and learn what kinds of funding make IVE a reality for local organizations. As described by Funders for Civic Engagement, “IVE groups train community members to reach out to their peers in a continuous, ongoing effort that increases the number of voters and leads to policy changes. […] In addition, their work has a long-term impact by developing local leaders and involving people in shaping the public policy decisions that affect their lives.” 

Grantmakers will learn how strategic c(3) investments in capacity building and organizing helped change the game in Georgia, built progressive infrastructure, and allowed the LGBTQ community to show up in a big way.

Moderator:
Rebecca Fox, Senior Program Officer in the SOGIE department, Wellspring Philanthropic Funds
Speakers:
Malika Redmond, Co- founder and CEO, Women Engaged
Fran Hutchins, Executive Director, Equality Federation Institute
Eric Paulk, Deputy Director, Equality Foundation of Georgia

Sponsored by: Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Intersectional social justice feminism* has long been at the root of the movement for LGBTQI justice. From the trans women of color who stood up to violent policing of LGBTQI people and spaces to the leadership of Black and brown lesbians and Bi+ women that paved the way for many of our core LGBTQI organizations and foundations, we stand on the shoulders of women. Yet, as the movement for LGBTQI equality professionalized, the leadership of women of color was pushed to the margins. In this session, we will name and examine the underfunding of work by and for women and have an honest conversation about why many women of color do not feel at home in the LGBTQI movement. We will amplify the leadership of our movement’s LGBTQI women of color across generations and explore the effects of investing in their leadership. Through a dynamic, provocative, honest and undoubtedly humorous group conversation among brilliant and bold changemakers, this plenary will deepen the audience’s understanding of gender justice, racial justice, and LGBTQI liberation.

*please note that all mentions of feminism, gender justice, and women are fully inclusive of trans, nonbinary, and intersex women

Speakers:
Katherine Acey, Senior Activist Fellow Emerita, Barnard Center for Research On Women
Kendra Johnson, Executive Director, Equality North Carolina
Andy Marra, Executive Director, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF)
Isa Noyola, Deputy Director, Mijente
Moderated by Aldita Gallardo, Senior Program Associate for the Fund for Trans Generations, Borealis Philanthropy

Sponsored by: Arcus Foundation, Borealis Philanthropy, Third Wave Fund, and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Sex workers have always been an integral part of collective liberation struggles, whether or not

we receive credit or recognition. LGBTQ and sex positive feminist movements are hugely indebted to the leadership of sex workers, from Janet Mock to Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson. 

In February 2021, Third Wave Fund released a report on the funding of the last three years of funding Sex Workers. Creating Community is a Threat to Power: Three Years of Resourcing Revolution and Liberation at the Sex Worker Giving Circle. This report highlights the central role sex workers have played at the forefront of the most essential movement building work, while being largely ignored by philanthropy or restricted from doing open sex work related. This session will bring use this report as a building block to illustrate the power of funding sex worker-led movements. Speakers will share various parts of sex worker movements from decrim to immigration to mutual aid. As a political strategy, Sex Workers have been under invested in while facing mutliple forms of interpersonal and state violence. 

Speakers:
Yin Q, Co-Director, Red Canary Song
Evelyn Quintana, Program Assistant, Groundswell Fund
Christian Giraldo, Program Associate, Sex Worker Giving Circle, Third Wave Fund
Lakeesha J. Harris, Reproductive Justice and Sexual Health Program Manager, Women With A Vision

Sponsored by: Third Wave Fund and Wellspring Philanthropic Advisors

Full description and speaker information coming soon.

Registrants of Funding Forward are invited to attend this affiliated funding briefing on the once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure bipartisan federal LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections. The program will include remarks by key Democratic and Republican senators, a behind-the-scenes look at the current legislative and legal opportunities, and a briefing on Freedom For All Americans Education Fund’s public education and advocacy strategy to win protections for LGBTQ people across the country.

This affiliated session is hosted by Freedom for All Americans. Funding Forward attendees interested in attending should confirm attendance with an RSVP to Saurabh Bajaj at [email protected]

Additional speaker information will be announced soon.

Note: these briefings are open to funders and field partners. Please feel free to share with colleagues who you think may be interested in this briefing.

Presented by San Joaquin Valley Health Fund: Census Research Project

The webinar will present findings from the San Joaquin Valley Census Research survey and focus groups research on Latino immigrants’ willingness to respond to a census without or with a citizenship question in 2020. The presenters will discuss implications for messaging, outreach, and advocacy to enhance collaborative efforts to “Get Out The Count”.

Speakers:
Ellen Braff-Guajardo, Sierra Health Foundation
Dr. Cindy Quezada, CVIIC (Central Valley Immigrant Integration Collaborative)
Ed Kissam, WKF Fund

Moderated by: Karen Narasaki, Bauman Foundation

Cosponsors: Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Associated Grant Makers, Bauman Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Funders Network, Color of Change, Democracy Funders Collaborative Census Subgroup, Economic Opportunity Funders, Environmental Grantmakers Association, Forefront, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Funders Together to End Homelessness, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Grantmakers Council of Rhode Island, Grantmakers In Health, Hispanics in Philanthropy, Leadership Conference Educational Fund, Minnesota Council of Foundations, NALEO, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, NY Funder Alliance, Philanthropy California, Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, Philanthropy New York, Philanthropy Northwest, Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders, United Philanthropy Forum.

Register HERE 

In honor of Black History Month, this month’s policy call will celebrate the diversity and strength of the black immigrant community in the U.S., as well as delve deeper into the experience of black immigrants, refugees, and asylumseekers. We will explore current challenges black immigrants are facing, ranging from the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS), access to asylum, engagement on census, to ongoing efforts to build intersectional organizing networks. Please join us for a dynamic conversation moderated by Carl Lipscombe, Deputy Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, to explore these issues and bring your questions!

Please register by COB Wednesday, February 20th.

Premier Sponsors: Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund | Jim Johnson and Paul Hokemeyer |

Partner Sponsors: Amalgamated Bank | FMA – Fiscal Strength for Nonprofits | Gill Foundation | HRC Foundation | Maurizio Morello & Fulton Vittoria LLP | van Ameringen Foundation

Thursday, November 2nd from 4pm-7pm

(Awards Ceremony to Begin at 4:15pm)

The Flatiron Room
37 W 26th Street
New York, NY 10010

Honoring

Marco Antonio Quiroga with the Reed Erickson Trailblazing Leadership Award for his work at the Contigo Fund, leading a philanthropic response to the Pulse massacre that is driven by – and builds – the leadership of LGBTQ Latinx communities and other communities of color.

Laughing Gull Foundation with the Out in the South Leadership Award for its thought leadership and impactful grantmaking bringing more resources to LGBTQ Southern communities.

Henry van Ameringen with the Paul Rapoport Award for Lifetime Achievement in Philanthropy for his decades of philanthropic giving to LGBTQ communities, including early leadership responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and long history of funding for LGBTQ communities of color.

The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund with the Out for Impact Award for its significant commitment to LGBTQ issues over the course of almost two decades, which was one of the first and most significant investors in the movement for marriage equality and has continued to be a leading funder of LGBTQ rights since the marriage victory.

The Trans Justice Funding Project with the Out for Impact Award for its leadership supporting grassroots trans-led groups across the country, empowering transgender leaders in community-based organizations and in philanthropy, and transforming the conversation around impactful grantmaking in trans communities.

(For more detailed information about the honorees, click here.)

About the Awards & Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ 35th Anniversary

Funders for LGBTQ Issues was founded 35 years ago in 1982 at the annual conference of the National Network of Grantmakers, when a small group of funders met to discuss how philanthropy could better support lesbian and gay issues. Since that pivotal moment, we have come into our own as a fully staffed organization with a committed board of directors and staff, a history of successful initiatives, and an annual convening of grantmakers which has reflected both our growth and the growth of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) philanthropic sector. We are now a network of more than 80 foundations, corporations, and funding institutions that collectively award more than one billion dollars annually, including more than $100 million specifically devoted to LGBTQ issues. Our mission is to increase the scale and impact of philanthropic resources aimed at enhancing the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, promoting equity, and advancing racial, economic and gender justice.

For our 35th anniversary, we want to celebrate and acknowledge the philanthropic leadership that has brought LGBTQ funding to this moment. We are thrilled to announce our inaugural 2017 Pride in Philanthropy Awards, celebrating 35 years of Funders for LGBTQ Issues and honoring four individuals and institutions that have led the way in funding the advancement of equality, social justice, and better lives for LGBTQ communities.

Host Committee*

J. Bob Alotta, Richard Burns, Jennifer Ching, Karina Claudio Betancourt, Paul Di Donato, Roger Doughty, Rebecca Fox, Carly Hare, Matthew Hart, Kris Hermanns, Surina Khan, Rachel Korberg, Andrew Lane, Rickke Mananzala, Jason McGill, Leticia Peguero, Cindy Rizzo, Michael Seltzer, Mitchell Singer, Kristine Stallone, Alvin Starks, Bia Vieira, Edgar Villanueva, Rye Young

*Still in Formation

Click Here To Get Your Tickets!

Sponsorships

A number of sponsorships are available for this event. For information about sponsorships and program ad sales, click here. To secure a sponsorship or place an ad in the program please contact Rebecca Wisotsky at [email protected].

Making a Gift in Honor of the Awardees

If you’d like to make a gift to Funders for LGBTQ Issues in honor of one of the honorees, please do so below!

Funders for LGBTQ Issues is pleased to co-sponsor this webinar with the Funders Committee For Civic Participation (FCCP) to share more about important milestones before and during the 2020 Census, and ways your foundation can support “Get Out the Count” activities, including participation in state and local Complete Count Committees.

Join us to learn more about important milestones before and during the 2020 Census, and ways your foundation can support “Get Out the Count” activities, including participation in state and local Complete Count Committees.

Funders will learn about:

• Important decision-making points as the Census Bureau finalizes the 2020 census operational plan.
• Key milestones in census preparations and implementation, including when the standards of collection of race and ethnicity data will be released, when local offices will open, and when address canvassing will begin.
• What is already happening on the ground to ensure a fair and accurate census and how that informs your grantmaking timeline
• How philanthropy can play a key role as a census partner and catalyst of statewide get-out-the-count activities
• Effective ways philanthropy can influence the formation of effective and representative complete count committees at the state and local levels

Moderated by Xiomara Corpeno, Groundswell Fund

Speakers:

Steve Choi, New York Immigration Coalition

Terri Ann Lowenthal, Consultant to FCCP Funders Census Initiative

Melina Sanchez, The James Irvine Foundation

Bob Tracy, Minnesota Council of Foundation

Co-sponsored by Environmental Grantmakers Association, Funders Concerned About AIDS, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Funders Together to End Homelessness, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Grantmaker Income Security Taskforce, Grantmakers in Health, PEAK Grantmaking, Philanthropy California, Philanthropy Northwest, United Philanthropy Forum

This past September, the Trump Administration announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, with all benefits to be revoked by March 2018. DACA provided nearly 800,000 immigrants with the opportunity to live, work, and thrive in their communities without fear of deportation. DACA’s cancellation will deeply disrupt the lives of the DACAmented immigrants and their families and reaches into many diverse communities. Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), Black, and LGBTQ immigrants are among the least-visible DACAmented individuals, and often lack both access to services and community support. Over 16,000 AAPI immigrants and an estimated 12,000 Black immigrants received protection under DACA before its termination, as did nearly half of the estimated 75,000 eligible LGBTQ undocumented immigrants. The end of DACA will have ripple effects across these immigrant communities nationwide, as a legislative solution such as a DREAM Act has yet to be realized.

We are pleased to co-sponsor this webinar to learn from organizations working closely with the AAPI, Black Diaspora, and LGBTQ immigrant communities as well as from philanthropic leaders with national, state, and local funding strategies and insights for supporting DACAmented immigrants and their families. Participants will:

• Hear an update on DACA within the context of the larger political climate and immigration context, with a particular focus on the AAPI, Black Diaspora, and LGBTQ community;
• Understand immediate and long-term needs, challenges, and opportunities related to diverse DACAmented individuals and their families; and
• Learn about key funding strategies at the local, state, and national level to reach and support AAPI, Black Diaspora, and LGBTQ DACAmented individuals

Speakers:

• Aarti Kohli, Executive Director, Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus)
• Jonathan Jayes-Green, Co-Founder, UndocuBlack Network
• Julia Yang-Winkenbach, US Program Associate, Unbound Philanthropy
• Allie Larson, Program Manager, Community Impact, Greater Twin Cities United Way
  Additional speakers will be announced

Co-Sponsors:

• Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP)
• ABFE – A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities
• Change Philanthropy
• Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR)
• Northern California Grantmakers
• Southern California Grantmakers

Orlando Strong: One Year Later Funders Symposium will bring together national and local philanthropic leaders to share lessons learned from the response to the pulse tragedy on June 12, 2016. Visit the Contigo Fund website for more information and registration information.

In the wake of marriage equality, many expected the significant backlash against LGBTQ people that is now occurring.  One strategy opponents of LGBTQ equality have been focusing on is “bathroom bills.”  Ballot initiatives or legislation that specifically target transgender and gender diverse people in places of public accommodation under the guise of safety and protection.

Washington State may be facing a well-funded ballot initiative in this fall.  Massachusetts has an initiative that will be on the ballot in 2018.

While this strategy may seem narrow in scope, the impact for LGBTQ people across the country is potentially profound. If opponents of equality are successful in their anti-trans state-based efforts, we should expect it to embolden opponents of LGBTQ equality to pursue even more extreme efforts to rollback all kinds protections benefiting LGBTQ people.

As a funder, you may have questions about how you can help.

Join us on June 28^th to hear from advocates, funders, and researchers about how they are working to shift the public dialogue about transgender people and prevent a rollback of LGBTQ rights.

This attack on LGBTQ people is occurring quietly, but strategically.  These efforts are well-funded by anti-LGBTQ groups. Early efforts to effectively counter attempts to rollback LGBTQ rights will be critical to ensure that significant ground is not lost in the fight for LGBTQ equality.

Join Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Freedom for All Americans, Pride Foundation, and Transgender Law Center for a webinar to learn more about the “bathroom bills,” the response from the LGBTQ movement, and the role funders can play.

Click here to Register

Whether you are a grantmaker funding or interested in LGBTQ issues, an LGBTQ grantmaker looking for friends, or just a proud ally to LGBTQ communities, Funders for LGBTQ Issues invites you to join them for complimentary drinks and light fare. Come hear about emerging trends in LGBTQ philanthropy and get an update on the pressing issues affecting LGBTQ communities in a post-marriage equality environment. Get caught up with old friends and make new ones!

As a new Administration sets its policy agenda in motion, vulnerable communities across the country are moving to protect themselves from attack and build power across differences. Join a briefing with the coalition partners of CHANGE Philanthropy who help funders build and strengthen bridges with marginalized communities. Hear:

• Insights and updates on how the current climate is affecting communities of color, LGBTQ communities, women, young people, and a range of social justice issues;
• Thoughts on how philanthropy is responding and what more is needed; and
• Guidance on what you can do to support people/communities within your institution and beyond, regardless of how much formal power you have at work.

Are you a member of EPIP or any of the CHANGE Philanthropy Organizations? If so, click here for FREE member registration.

Nonmembers: $10 fee (register below)

Please join us for a funder conversation with national, regional, and local leaders about the LGBT landscape in 2017.

Moderated by Vincent Jones, Co-Chair of Southern California Blacks in Philanthropy, our panel features a variety of experts in the field:

• Janaya Kahn, Gender Justice LA
• Nii-Quartelai Quartey, Senior Advisor & National LGBT Liasion, AARP
• Brad Sears, Executive Director, Williams Institute
• Rachel Tiven, CEO, Lambda Legal
• Geoffrey Winder, Co-Executive Director, Genders & Sexualities Network

Even before the November election, the LGBT landscape was shifting. With marriage equality legal nationwide, some felt that LGBT equality had been achieved, while others noted the reality on the ground told a different story, particularly given the rise in religious freedom bills which allow discrimination against LGBT individuals.

With the incoming Administration’s pledged support for these types of bills and the new Attorney General’s record on LGBT issues, institutional funders and individual philanthropists are seeking clarification about what’s at stake and what is being done to ensure that equity and equality for the LGBT community are protected.

We hope you can join SCG, the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, David Bohnett Foundation, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Southern California Blacks in Philanthropy, the OUT Fund, and The California Endowment for this robust discussion.

Contact [email protected] to register.

General Sponsors: David Bohnett Foundation and Dwight Stuart Youth Fund

Participating Sponsors: SCG, Southern California Blacks in Philanthropy, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, OUT Fund, The California Endowment.

The election of Donald Trump poses unprecedented challenges for all those funding LGBTQ rights and other social justice issues. The new administration is wasting no time taking action on promises made during a divisive campaign that threaten the safety and livelihoods of many in our communities. As we brace for upcoming action on immigration, healthcare, civil rights issues, and more, it is more critical than ever that grantmakers committed to civil rights and social justice join together in conversation and collaboration.

Northern California Grantmakers, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Bay Area Justice Funders, and California Criminal Justice Funders invite funders to participate in a briefing on the state of LGBTQ funding. Speakers will share updates from the movement, explore national funding trends, and dive into local funding landscapes while considering how funders can respond to attacks on LGBTQ rights. The briefing will touch on issues most pressing in the face of this new administration, including criminalization, immigration, and religious exemptions.

Speakers

Roger Doughty is President of the Horizons Foundation. He has been an activist and leader in the LGBT movement for more than 25 years, and has led Horizons Foundation since 2002. Prior to joining the foundation, he served as the Executive Director of Horizons Community Services in Chicago, the Midwest’s largest LGBT social service and advocacy organization.

During his tenure, Roger led that organization’s expansion into the Chicago LGBT Community Center, known as the Center on Halsted. Before moving to Chicago, he was the Director of Programs for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, where he oversaw the Center’s 40-plus programs and services. Roger’s San Francisco background includes his tenure in the law firm of Heller Ehrman, where he specialized in refugee, immigration, and asylum cases involving people fleeing from gender and sexual orientation-related discrimination.

Roger also has served as president of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance in Washington, D.C., and was Associate Director of the Coro Foundation. He serves on the boards of Northern California Grantmakers and the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). Roger holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College, a master’s degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a J.D. from the UC Berkeley School of Law.

Surina Khan is CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California. For more than two decades, Surina has been a leader in the philanthropic and non-profit social justice sector starting with local community-based publishing in New England and then shifting to national and global work on an array of social justice issues including women’s rights, LGBT rights, human rights and more.

Before being appointed CEO in 2014, Surina served as a Director in the Democracy Rights and Justice Program at the Ford Foundation where she shaped more than $30 million in annual grantmaking around the world to expand rights for women, LGBT people, people living with HIV/AIDS, and in the area of strengthening democratic participation and governance.
Before joining Ford in 2011, Surina spent six years at the Women’s Foundation of California, serving as Vice President of Programs and providing strategic direction for grant making, strengthening the organizational effectiveness of social justice organizations and overseeing the Women’s Policy Institute, a policy advocacy training program for community-based leaders.

She previously served as executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, where she worked to advance the human rights of LGBT people and people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Earlier in her career, Surina was a research analyst for Political Research Associates, conducting groundbreaking research on the Right’s attacks on women and LGBT people.

She currently serves on the Boards of Alliance for Justice, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, and OutRight Action International (formerly the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission). Surina is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Campaign for College Opportunity, the Ambassador Council for the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and a member of the Public Policy Committee for Southern California Grantmakers. She previously served on the boards of directors with numerous organizations including Funders for Population, Reproductive Health and Rights and the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Her writing and research have been published widely in print and online publications.

Kristina Wertz joined Funders for LGBTQ Issues as Director of Engagement in 2013. Kristina oversees the organization’s programmatic efforts to increase the scale and impact of funding for LGBTQ communities through convenings and collective action. Kristina has a deep commitment to social justice with over a decade of experience advocating for LGBTQ communities as an attorney and policy advocate. Her track record includes litigating a number of groundbreaking transgender rights cases and expanding legislative protections for transgender and gender nonconforming people. Most recently, as Director of Policy and Programs and Legal Director at the Transgender Law Center, Kristina lead multidisciplinary litigation, advocacy, and movement building programs.

In 2011, Kristina was named on the National LGBT Bar Association’s inaugural list of “Top Lawyers Under 40.” She is a graduate of NYU and Brooklyn Law School. A proud San Francisco native, Kristina is adjusting to country life in upstate New York with her partner and daughter.

Ginna Brelsford is co-executive director of the GSA Network. Originally from Juneau, Alaska, Ginna is a highly qualified administrator with progressive leadership experience, who managed GSA Network’s finance and operations as Finance and Administrative Director before becoming Co-Executive Director. Ginna joined GSA Network’s staff in 2011 where she has served as a member of the Executive and Management Teams. A graduate of Smith College, Ginna has over 10 years of nonprofit financial and operations experience having previously been employed at MassEquality, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and Environmental Justice Coalition for Water. In her tenure at GSA Network, Ginna has overseen organizational human resources and operational needs in a rapid expansion of staff and infrastructure, including expansion to another state. Ginna became Co-Executive Director in 2015 and is also an Arcus Foundation Leadership Fellow. When not at GSA Network, Ginna enjoys traveling around California’s wine country with her wife, Jill.

Target Audience

Open to NCG members and members of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Bay Area Justice Funders and CA Criminal Justice Funders. If you are a NCG member, please log in to register. If you are not a NCG member, please email [email protected] to register

Join Us!

Join your philanthropy crew at the 111 Minna Gallery for the most fun to be had this side of Mardi Gras at our annual holiday party. Get down and celebrate the year’s accomplishments with art, music, a photo booth, hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

Who’s Invited

Northern California Grantmaker members and philanthropy peers who love a good party.

Raise a Toast with our Holiday Cheer Hosts:

Pamela David, Walter and Elise Haas Fund
Sara Davis*, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Roger Doughty*, Horizons Foundation
Jeff Malloy*, Heising-Simons Foundation
Sandra Nathan*, AIDS Emergency Fund
Diane Parnes*, Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2)
Lateefah Simon, Akonadi Foundation
Brenda Solorzano*, Blue Shield of California Foundation
Bob Uyeki, Y&H Soda Foundation

*NCG Board Member

Thank you to our co-sponsors:

NCG is coming together again with Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Asset Funders Network, Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy, Bay Area Justice Funders Network, Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, Funders for LGBTQ Issues, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, Hispanics in Philanthropy, Native Americans in Philanthropy and Neighborhood Funders Group.

If you care about Southern communities, we are certain that you’ve been looking for ways to make sense of the election results and find ways to continue to support Southern people and places. Join us for a conference call next week to hear from Southern leaders about the importance of supporting social justice work in the South during this new chapter of our work.

Grantmakers for Southern Progress, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and Funders for LGBTQ Issues are co-hosting a conference call for funders to explore the impact of this year’s election results in Southern communities.

We have asked leaders and practitioners from throughout the region to offer their perspectives about implications for progressive work in the South. As we know, Southern communities have been navigating challenging political climates for decades. Speakers will offer their insights about the challenges and opportunities of the current national narrative about what happened in the South and what is needed as we move forward.

We’ve invited partners throughout the region to provide a multi-state analysis using election data; explore key learnings from civic engagement efforts in North Carolina and Georgia, and provide an emerging analysis on the impact of the election on social justice efforts that aim to support LGBTQ, people of color and immigrant communities in the South. We will also explore what we know about the impacts of the new administration’s first 100-day agenda on policies essential to health, well-being and human rights in the region.

Justin Maxson, Executive Director of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, will moderate the conversation and offer context for working in Southern communities.

Speakers will include:

• Chris Kromm, Executive Director, Institute for Southern Studies
• Page Gleason, Executive Director, Pro-Georgia
• Erin Byrd, Executive Director, Blueprint NC
• Paulina Helm-Hernandez, Co-Director, Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
• Monica Hernandez, Executive Director, Southeast Immigrant Rights Network

Rigid gender norms have immense raced and classed impacts on youth of color. In fact, gender affects almost every problem funders address. Yet, while some funders are solidly grounded in racial and economic justice, few do innovative work or challenge their grantees to do so when it comes to gender. Studies clearly show that young Black men and women who internalized rigid ideals for masculinity and femininity have lower life outcomes in areas like health and education. On the flip side, those who don’t conform to gender norms – who are gay or trans –face their own adverse life impacts from rigid gender expectations.

This session will help participants reconnect race, class, and gender. Participants will learn how gender norms have specific impacts on life outcomes among youth of color. Concrete examples will be provided on integrating a gender lens into “intersectional” giving. No prior knowledge necessary, but reports will be shared to provide context.

The recent, critically acclaimed movie, <a href=”http://moonlight-movie.com/”>Moonlight</a>, tells a powerful narrative of some Black males becoming men. It has struck a chord with many of those who have seen it. If you can, see the film, before the webinar, as it’s in theaters now.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Know and understand basic gender associated terminology

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• Understand the basic concepts of gender transformative giving

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• Know how gender norms impact Black and other youth of color, and how to integrate this into an intersectional approach to gender

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