We are pleased to announce the newest members of the Funders for LGBTQ Issues Board of Directors. 

Joining the board in 2024 are Katie Carter (Pride Foundation), Trishala Deb (Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity), Maria Miranda (The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation), and Eugenio Smith (Movement Voter Project) who bring with them a wealth of leadership and connection to movement. 

The four new members were identified by the board’s Nominations and Governance Committee and voted into office unanimously.  They represent a range of philanthropic institutions and funding strategies and each share a deep commitment to creatively resourcing our movements with the urgency this moment demands. 

Under the leadership of our president, Saida Agostini-Bostic, and board chair, Cynthia Renfro, our board recruitment process has prioritized new members with a demonstrated history of network building and who have deep roots in social justice movements. Our new board members have deep connections to trailblazing movement organizations working to advance justice and wellbeing for LGBTQ people, women, people of color, and immigrant communities in the United States. 

“As we begin year one of implementation of our new strategic plan, we are excited to welcome this new slate of board members,” said Saida Agostini-Bostic. “They each exemplify the power-building central to our mission and are working to build a philanthropic sector that is holistically and intersectionally funding LGBTQ movement organizing with immense strategy, creativity, and rigor.” 

Please join us in extending a welcome and huge thanks to Katie Carter, Trishala Deb, Maria Miranda, and Eugenio Smith. You can learn more about these inspiring leaders below.

Katie Carter

Chief Executive Officer, Pride Foundation

she/her/hers

Katie Carter has been working for social justice in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors for more than 15 years, with a particular focus on LGBTQ+, gender, and racial justice. Originally from the Midwest, she moved to Portland, Oregon in 2008 to contribute her passion for social change with her skills in organizational development and change work, fundraising and communications strategy, and ability to build strategic and collaborative partnerships. Katie moved to Seattle in 2019 to become the CEO of Pride Foundation, after being on staff for over 5 years serving previously as the Interim CEO, Director of Strategic Priorities, and Regional Philanthropy Officer for Oregon.

Katie’s life and work are motivated by a deeply held belief in the possibility of transformational change and a constant striving for a more just, liberated, and loving world. She believes in the importance of community connection and engagement, and has served on a number of Boards including currently as Vice President for Grantmakers of Oregon and SW Washington, and co-founded a restorative justice group that facilitates a gender and sexuality seminar for people who are incarcerated in Oregon, among other volunteer and organizing work. 

Katie earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy of Science from Indiana University and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Philosophy from DePaul University. In addition to her professional and volunteer commitments, Katie finds rejuvenation and joy through crafting, watercolor, writing, reading memoir and poetry, everything having to do with cats, house projects, her tiny terrier Frank Bacca, and all bodies of water, especially the Oregon coast.

Trishala Deb

Director of National Programs, Collaborative for Gender and Reproductive Equity

(she/her/hers)

Trishala has been a social worker, community organizer, funder and advocate before joining CGRE. As the Director of National Programs, Trishala oversees implementation of the Alliance Table, a program supporting proactive responses to opposition strategies. Trishala spent the last 25 years with organizations such as the Audre Lorde Project, the Arcus Foundation, Caring Across Generations, and Thousand Currents.

Trishala is a graduate of the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. Her education has included work in movements for racial and economic justice, LGBTST liberation, immigrant rights, and ending state violence. She is currently serving on the board of Solidaire Action. As a former doula, she is also a student of healing justice movements. She is guided by dystopian science fiction, poetry and all things shark and cephalopod related.

Maria Miranda

Senior Program Officer and DEI Strategy Lead, Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

(they/them/theirs)

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Maria Miranda is a fat, queer, Black, Puerto Rican, radical feminist committed to advancing reproductive justice. For almost twenty years, they have worked in the social sector in various roles including public health advocate, fundraiser, grantmaker, lecturer, and community organizer. They currently work in philanthropy as a Senior Program Officer and the DEI Strategy Lead for the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation (STBF) in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Maria’s grantmaking focuses on national policy, reproductive justice and BIPOC-led organizations. Their interests are in organizational health, power building, institutional networks, coalitions, and policy. Their past role with STBF was as the Foundation’s Strategic State Advisor for Ohio and Pennsylvania where they worked on state-level movement building. This work included growing organizational networks, centering abortion at progressive tables, introducing racial equity measures, and refining partnership practices. Alongside their work at STBF, Maria proudly serves as co-chair of the Funders for Reproductive Equity board. 

Maria earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Women’s Studies from Eastern Michigan University, and a Masters in Public Administration from Villanova University. They also earned an advanced certificate in Public Policy from Northwestern University. 

In their spare time, Maria enjoys taking naps, fried foods, big hair, cuddling their French Bulldogs, drinking gin, and watching the Golden Girls daily. 

Eugenio Smith

Capacity Building Director, Movement Voter Project

As Capacity Building Director at MVP, Eugenio leads a team dedicated to helping groups achieve their goals sustainably. The Capacity Building Team ensures groups have access and connection to the tech tools, leadership development opportunities, skills-building organizational coaching, and training they need from trusted providers and provides the funding to best use those resources. As a former field director, program director, founder/director, and nonprofit generalist turned coach at organizations just like the ones MVP serves, they know firsthand what it feels like to need access to tools and resources to meet goals being set out by funders without a clear pathway to succeeding. We sought to flip that on its head in our program, centering each group’s needs, values, and power first. This allows MVP to fill an important gap in the movement, help the groups gain significant wins, and have fun while doing it.

Eugenio has two decades of community legislative and electoral campaign organizing experience in communities and states across the country. They have worked for Equality Maryland, Equality Utah, and Western States Center, running programs and Field campaign efforts. They founded and served as a director or co-director at organizations like Team Trans, The Charm City Boys, and Transforming Strategic Direction. They were born into an eclectic family of strong women and to a union-organizing mother who took them in a stroller to pickets with a small picket sign. From a young age, Eugenio saw the difference that could be made when folks who needed similar changes banded together and grew that into a fulfilling career of helping others and the world. Now living in Portland, OR, Eugenio can be found whale watching on the Oregon Coast or walking through old-growth conifer forests with their dog, Dashel.