Members Respond to the Trump Administration

By: Andrew Wallace on February 27, 2017

The weekend of January 20^th saw the inauguration of a President who had promised to curtail the rights of immigrants, LGBTQ people, people of color, and women. As the new administration began taking steps to fulfill that regressive agenda, millions of people around the world took to the streets to oppose hate, bigotry, greed, and misogyny. A number of philanthropic leaders and institutions have responded with bold statements and actions, standing up against the Trump administration and taking innovative steps to support rapid-response resistance and long-term movement building for social change. Below are highlights of how members of Funders for LGBTQ Issues have taken steps not only in defense of LGBTQ rights, but also of immigrant rights, racial justice, and reproductive justice.

• Executive director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, J. Bob Alotta, addressed the crowd at the Women’s March on Washington on January 21^st. Alotta’s speech urged the crowd to unite in solidarity and embrace a queer notion of love. Read a full text of the speech or watch the video from the event.

• The Arcus Foundation announced limited funding to help grantees address specific, short-term needs and pressures they are experiencing in light of new political realities.

• The California Endowment announced it’s Fight4All Initiative to protect health and safety net programs in California and shared a blog post on the fate of Dreamers under the Trump administration and another on the foundation’s role in the resistance.

• Judy Belk, President and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation considered both the challenges ahead and reasons for hope in her post-election statement.

• Funders for LGBTQ Issues and more than 20 of its members signed GCIR’s statement on the administration’s executive actions on immigration, including Andrus, Contigo, Haas, Jr Fund, Ford, FSG, Groundswell, Horizons, Levi-Strauss Foundation, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Rosenberg Foundation, Surdna Foundation, The Boston Foundation, Cal Endowment, Cal Wellness, New York Women’s Foundation, The Philadelphia Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Tides.
• Vanessa Daniel, Executive Director of Groundswell Fund spoke to a crowd of 500 donors and activists at the “Take Back the Ball” fundraising event on January 20th. Watch a full video of her moving address.

• Roger Doughty, president of Horizons Foundation, reflected on the opening days of the administration and encouraged supporters to take action.
• Ana Oliveira, CEO of New York Women’s Foundation offered a clear-sighted vision for the foundation’s work under the Trump presidency.
• Open Society Foundations launched “Communities Against Hate” in response to the surge in hate crimes following the election. The $10 million initiative will support organizations responding to hate crimes.
• In a statement, Kris Hermanns, CEO of Pride Foundation, announced that the foundation was taking immediate steps to create a Rapid Response Fund. The fund will provide timely grants to help counter both local and national threats against hard-fought legal, economic, and cultural advances our communities have made in recent decades.

• Third Wave Fund‘s Mobilizing Power Fund will provide rapid response funding for direct action, community mobilization, and healing justice to fuel the resistance to the administration’s policies.

• Surina Khan, CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California and trustee of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, issued this statement following the election.