We have an amazing slate of speakers lined up for this year’s Funding Forward. To help get you ready for our annual conference of grantmakers committed to LGBTQ issues, we thought we’re compile some of the best pre-reading available. (See the full Funding Forward schedule here.)

Youth Criminalization

Thursday morning’s plenary will focus on the plight of the approximately 300,000 gay and transgender youth arrested and detained each year. While LGBT youth represent between 5 and 7 percent of nation’s youth, they compose between 13 and 15 percent of youth in the criminal justice system. (See the specific session here.)

• For background reading, see the 2012 Center for American Progress report, “The Unfair Criminalization of Gay and Transgender Youth “

The Future of LGBTQ Funding

Thursday afternoon’s plenary will offer predictions about the future of LGBTQ funding. Joining us for this important conversations will be the CEOs of the Arcus Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Gill Foundation, and the Levi Strauss Foundation. (See the specific session here.)

• Courtney Cuff, President and CEO of the Gill Foundation, recently laid out her vision of where LGBTQ funding should go in the future with a piece in the Advocate entitled “Where Will LGBT Activism Dollars Go Next?”
• Kevin Jennings, Executive Director of the Arcus Foundation, also explored what it means to be LGBT in 2014 and where we need to go next with his Huffington Post piece “Why All LGBT People Should Care About Places Like Russia, Uganda and Gambia”

HIV/AIDS

Thursday will also feature a session sponsored by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Funders Concerned About AIDS exploring the lived experience of gay men and transgender people in relation to HIV.(See the specific session here.)

• To better understand HIV/AIDS funding, see FCAA’s report: “Global Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS in 2012”

LGBTQ Philanthropy in the U.S. South

One of Friday’s sessions will feature Southern-based funders sharing new and innovative strategies for supporting LGBT organizations in the U.S. South and explore how we might build a sustainable infrastructure for increased LGBTQ funding in the region. (See the specific session here.)

• If you haven’t yet seen it, make sure you read part one “Out in the South: Building Resources for LGBTQ Advancement in the U.S. South” – which focuses on foundation funding for LGBTQ issues in the U.S. South.
• Also check out the GA Voice article “Left Out in the South” which covers reaction to the “Out in the South” report and new efforts to improve the lived experience of LGBTQ Southerners.

Trans Issues

Friday we’ll also explore the state of Trans and Intersex organizing. (See the specific session here.)

• For background reading, see the American Jewish World Service and Global Action for Trans Equality report, “The State of Trans* and Intersex Organizing: A case for increased support for growing but under-funded movements for human rights”

BONUS:

Our closing plenary will feature a keynote from Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black, which is the inspiration for the hit Netflix show of the same name. See the trailer for season two here.