What to read before Funding Forward 2019 #FF2019

By: Luis Ramirez on March 14, 2019

It’s almost time!

Next week, we are headed to Tucson for three sunny days of networking and collaboration. Funding Forward 2019 is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating grantmaker convenings of the year.

In close collaboration with our Funding Forward 2019 planning committee we have assembled a compelling slate of plenaries and breakout sessions addressing some of the most pressing issues facing our movement as well as unique content centering the American Southwest. This year’s sessions include topics ranging from immigration rights to religious freedom, from trans issues to reproductive rights, and other content emphasizing practical and tactical tools for funders committed to LGBTQ communities.

Be sure to check out the full conference schedule online and learn more about our amazing speakers.

LGBTQ Leadership on the Borderlands
Immigration is a pressing issue facing our communities, particularly in the Southwest. This session will explore the devastating impact of the current administration’s policies on LGBTQ immigrant communities and the inspiring leadership of queer people at the borderlands.

• Four Freedom Fund at NEO Philanthropy published the report and accompanying documentary, Out of the Closet, Out of the Shadows, highlighting LGBTQ leadership in the in the struggle against deportation.
• This past winter the Washington Blade reported on the LGBTI+ Migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Building Bridges Toward the Common Good — The Power of Partnerships in the Fight Against Religious Exemptions
This session will highlight how partners from wide-ranging backgrounds, such as other progressive movements, faith communities, and the business community are working collaboratively to not just engage the public and elected officials on the dangers of these broad exemptions but to also leverage their collective power to advance protections for all people.

• This article from the Center for American Progress presents a roadmap to reclaim religious freedom.

We Are Families: Expanding Movements and Winning Policies
In this post-marriage era, with an administration that is intent on dismantling even the most basic protections afforded to LGBTQ people, family recognition advocates have been effective at sparking the imagination of our communities; lifting up experiences at the intersection of race, gender and sexuality; and shifting policy and culture.

• This report from the Building Movement Project explores the success of family recognition organizing campaigns in Georgia and New Mexico that were funded and stewarded by Family Justice Network partners.

Out & Proud in Philanthropy?: Confronting the Philanthropic Closet
How many LGBTQ people work in philanthropy? Recent research from Funders for LGBTQ Issues finds that upwards of 10 percent of people working in philanthropy identify as LGBTQ, however, the majority are not open about their sexual orientation or gender identity with their work colleagues. What are the implications of these findings?

• The Philanthropic Closet: LGBTQ People in Philanthropy highlights the findings on sexual orientation and gender identity from the inaugural Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals (DAPP) Survey, a first-of-its-kind pilot study on diversity in philanthropy.
• Dissonance & Disconnects: How entry and mid-level foundation staff see their futures, their institutions, and their field, examines the thoughts and feelings of early- and mid- career practitioners on philanthropy and their futures in the field. The report focuses on themes including participants’ experiences at work, the alignment between their institutions’ practices and their values, and how participants see their futures in the sector.

Making Space for Two Spirit Communities – The Blanket Exercise
The Blanket Exercise is an important part of the Truth and Healing Movement, which was launched by Native Americans in Philanthropy in late 2018. This Exercise leads a group of people through a historical narrative experience that quickly and effectively informs participants about truths often not told in our country about Native peoples.

• Read more about how NAP’s Truth and Healing Movement seeks to foster truth, understanding respect, and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples

Resisting Erasure: How Advocacy and Storytelling Can End Conversion Therapy
This plenary will present data on the scope of the harm caused by conversion therapy, analyze the key components of recent policy successes, present the strategies advocates are putting in place to fight legal challenges, and discuss the opportunities funders can support to bring a decisive end to conversion therapy in the United States.

• This 2018 report from the Family Acceptance Project (FAP) finds that, whether conversion efforts are carried out at home by parents or by practitioners and religious leaders, parents serve as gatekeepers to both engage in and take their LGBT children for external conversion interventions.
• Learn more about the Trevor Project’s 50 Bills 50 States campaign to end conversion therapy in every state.

_______
This year at Funding Forward we are also excited to honor the recipients of the 2019 Pride in Philanthropy Awards at a special ceremony. Click here to read more!

Image note: Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash