Honoring Nex Benedict

Image Credit: Freedom Oklahoma

Funders for LGBTQ Issues is heartbroken by the loss of Nex Benedict, a nonbinary high school sophomore of Choctaw ancestry who died as a result of being brutally beaten at Owasso High School in Oklahoma. Nex was a straight-A student. They liked cats and Minecraft and they deserved to live a life full of joy, abundance and the most mundane aspects of everyday living. 

Their death, alongside the deaths of so many trans and gender expansive folks, was preventable and directly tied to the violence of the state. Over the last several years, we’ve seen legislative attacks on trans and gender nonconforming people skyrocket. We’ve seen youth policed for just trying to live authentic lives. These draconian assaults, as hard as they try, cannot hide the simple truth that trans people have always and will always continue to exist. 

Read the full statement here.

GUTC Fellowship Announcement

Funders for LGBTQ Issues is pleased to announce the newest cohort of Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC) Leaders Fellows: Nico Fonseca, Sanjar Kurmanov, Emily Lai, Míchél Macklin, Rainier Miles, Nahr Suha, and Maximilián Vega Vélez.

This year’s seven fellows bring a wide array of experiences and goals to the program, exemplifying Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ commitment to furthering racial equity and gender justice in philanthropy. The fellows hail from all across the country— from Oregon to Puerto Rico— and are all BIPOC identified. 

We are thrilled to be able to continue to offer a holistic professional development program focused not only on skills development but also on self-care. We look forward to sharing more about the work of our newest fellows throughout the year.

Read more about the program and the new cohort here!

Join Our Team! Now Hiring Communications Officer

Join our team! Funders for LGBTQ Issues is hiring a Communications and Storytelling Officer to strengthen our communications capacity to better tell the story of our work. 

The Communications and Storytelling Officer will work closely with all departments at Funders for LGBTQ Issues to develop and enhance branding, messaging, content creation, and social media campaigns and will serve as a thought partner to the Director of External Affairs. Remote, $93K salary, excellent benefits, and a 4-day work week!

Learn more and apply here.

Out in the South Pooled Fund: Announcing the 8th Round of Funding

Funders for LGBTQ Issues is pleased to announce its eighth grantmaking cycle for the Out in the South Fund, awarding $500,000 to 12 LGBTQ funds and allied grantmaking organizations throughout the US South.

The Out in the South Fund is a collaborative fund awarding general operating grants to build and support locally-driven Southern funds supporting LGBTQ movement work. Over the last eight years, the fund has distributed over $3.7 million dollars to catalyze this imperative funding infrastructure.

Find more information about the fund and current grantees here.

ICYMI: Justice Ain't Cheap Episode 3

Episode 3 of Justice Ain’t Cheap brings together legislators and organizers on the movement front lines who have been impacted by the far right’s legislative assault, targeting trans and gender non-conforming communities.

Host Saida Agostini-Bostic talks with Representative Kim Abbott (MT, HD 83), Representative Mauree Turner (OK, HD 88), and Emmett Schelling (Transgender Education Network of Texas: TENT), who are organizing against this tide of anti-trans hate.

This episode of Justice Ain’t Cheap is co-sponsored by Funders Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) and National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Soundcloud 

The work of Funders for LGBTQ Issues is made possible by the support of our members. In 2023, our network of members grew to over 100 foundations and philanthropic institutions—a first in our organization's history! We were thrilled to welcome (or welcome back!) the following members to our network in 2023:

To learn more about membership eligibility and benefits, please visit our website or get in touch with Membership Engagement Officer, Amara Reese-Hansell. We look forward to sharing 2024 membership updates throughout the year.

Celebrating Ollin

Sign Up for the 2024 DAPP Survey and Report

The DAPP Survey and Report aim to help the philanthropic community better understand its workforce and leadership. The survey is unique in soliciting anonymous self-reported information from individuals on the staff and board of participating foundations, helping grantmakers to accurately assess the culture and climate of their institutions. Drawing on the survey findings, the DAPP Report—a landmark tool for analyzing the philanthropic sector’s ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts— is created providing a temperature gauge for the sector's progress toward inclusion.

Learn more and sign up your institution today.

WEBINARS + BRIEFINGS

Movement on Trial: An Update on the RICO cases against Stop Cop City Activists Wednesday, February 28 @ 3pm ET | 2pm CT| 1pm MT | 12pm PT

An urgent funder briefing for resources to support ongoing legal defense of Atlanta #StopCopCity activists that is now approximately $2.5 million dollars.

RESEARCH, RESOURCES, AND UPDATES

How Kataly Foundation is divesting from Wall Street to reinvest in communities

Lynn Hoey, Chief Investment Officer at the Kataly Foundation, introduces a new blog series on ImpactAlpha that discusses accountability and transparency in philanthropy and aims to provide a forum for learning opportunities.

How to Fund Narrative Ecosystems

Mandy Van Deven and Jody Myrum write about how philanthropy can effectively support narratives of liberation, discussing a convention led by International Resource for Impact and Storytelling (IRIS), Puentes, and the Global Narrative Hive that brought together activists, journalists, academics, storytellers, campaigners, and funders.

Why the 2024 elections will be a turning point for LGBTQ+ rights all over the world

Maria Sjödinis, Executive Director of Outright International, writes about the historic importance of the 2024 elections, with nearly half the world's population in at least 64 countries voting on key issues that will impact LGBTQ+ movements worldwide.

Trans Visibility Is Nice. Safety Is Even Better.

Chase Strangio, a trans rights activist and lawyer at the ACLU, explores the contradictory relationship between growing trans representation in media and the rise of transphobic legislation.

Racial Justice Programs Under Fire: Foundations Are Running Scared When They Should Double Down

Lori Villarosa, Ben Francisco Maulbeck, and Gihan Perera of the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, advocate for foundations to support campaigns, strategy sessions, research projects, and other work that will lead to true justice, instead of complying with right-wing narratives.

Director of Institutional Partnerships

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

Remote

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Horizons Foundation

San Francisco, CA

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Transhealth

Northampton, MA

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