Qnotes from Funders for LGBTQ Issues

Celebrating 30 years of mobilizing philanthropic resources for the LGBTQ community.

1982-2012

August 2012     

We are pleased to announce our latest publication, Towards a More Responsive Philanthropy: Grantmaking for Racial Equity and LGBTQ Justice. The report continues our efforts to advance work at the intersection of racial equity and LGBTQ justice. In it you will find the stories of 5 foundations who are working on these critical issues. For the report, we visited a variety of institutions, and heard from staff, board members, volunteers and grantees who took the time to share with us their experiences and insights.  We hope their stories will encourage others who are engaging in or considering similar work, and we offer it as a contribution to the conversation we forged in the sector with our Racial Equity Campaign, begun in 2007.  
 
As our society continues to face the fiscal challenges of the recent financial crisis, we highlight the work being done at this critical intersection. LGBTQ people of color communities are often among those initially affected and hardest hit during difficult economic times. Responding to the needs of these continually resource-challenged challenged communities is integral to a more responsive philanthropy. (Download the report here.) 

* * *

Save the Date:
GBTQ Men and Boys of Color
A One Day Symposium for Grantmakers 
 
Oakland, CA - October 1, 2012   

Plan now to attend our one-day fall symposium at the California Endowment for grantmakers interested in deepening their critical thinking, expanding their knowledge and increasing the impact of their men and boys of color initiatives and LGBTQ initiatives through an exploration of gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, and race. (Space is limited. For more information and to register, contact Bryan Glover at [email protected]

* * *

Save the Date:
2013 Grantmakers Retreat 
Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort, Santa Ana Pueblo, NM
March 13 - 16 

Join us for four days of discussion, strategizing, and knowledge sharing at our annual retreat for grantmakers working on LGBTQ issues. Registration beginning in September.   
    
Call For Session Proposals
Every year, we convene grantmakers from private, public and community foundations and funds to share strategies, best practices, cautionary tales, and success stories - all in service of our common goals of mobilizing more resources for LGBTQ communities and engaging in grantmaking that helps advance our movement(s). We are now accepting proposals from grantmakers for our March 2013 retreat in New Mexico. Proposals are due November 3, 2012. For the full call for proposals - including submissions guidelines - and an application, please click here.

Philanthropy Notes


John Barnes at AIDS2012 AIDS 2012: A Philanthropy Perspective   

  

A guest article by John Barnes, Funders Concerned About AIDS (excerpt) 

 

The XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012) took place in Washington, D.C. from July 23-27. On U.S. soil for the first time in more than 20 years,[1]this vibrant and sometimes chaotic conference boasted 24,000 attendees and close to 200 sessions over the course of six days.

 

FCAA was proud to be part of the fray, and prouder yet to see such a vibrant representation by philanthropy at the conference[2]. Private AIDS-related funders played many roles during AIDS2012: they launched major new initiatives; convened global advocates; led discussions on the sector's role in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy; and elevated the conversation around access to care (to name a few). Along with Levi Strauss Foundation and the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group, FCAA co-hosted a Global Funders Reception, bringing together nearly 300 funders and community partners to reignite the spark that has mobilized AIDS philanthropy for nearly three decades. That passion - and a great deal of dancing - was inspired by a performance from the original Dream Girl, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and the Howard University Gospel Choir. A longtime AIDS advocate, Ms. Ralph founded the Diva Foundation in 1990, and its signature event, "Divas Simply Singing," remains the longest-running musical AIDS benefit.

 

But the conference was more than just receptions - it was about coming together at this critical time and developing an agenda for an AIDS-free generation. As I sat at the The Lancet special session on Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and HIV on July 24th I found renewed resolve for FCAA to tackle an essential question: what does private funding for HIV+ MSM look like now, and what does it need to be to adequately address disparities among this group? Last July, in effort to prepare our networks for AIDS2012, FCAA and Funders for LGBTQ Issues collaborated on the webinar LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS: Beyond a National Strategy, Towards a High Impact Outcome for our Communities. This intersection was (and continues to be) a critical and long overdue opportunity for us to come together. (Read the full article here



[1] In 2009 President Obama lifted the HIV travel ban that restricted people living with HIV/AIDS from entering the U.S. Learn more. 

[2] Read the FCAA Funder's Guide to AIDS2012 for an overview of funding related issues and/or funder-sponsored/convened/featuring events at the conference.   


* * *

Enacting Marriage equality in New York State: A three-month campaign that took years to build

The historic win on marriage equality in New York State in 2011 was a major step forward not only in the battle to win the freedom to marry, but also in the national effort to advance this critical civil rights and social justice issue and the LGBTQ movement as a whole. The Civil Marriage Collaborative (CMC), a Proteus Fund initiative and major funder of marriage education over the years in New York, recently commissioned a case study on this successful effort in New York in an effort to not only deepen the understanding of this victory, but also inform future grantmaking and other work of allies on the ground in the many states still seeking marriage recognition.  This 14-page brief reviews the final steps in the New York effort and analyzes possible lessons learned. Confidential copies of this report, as well as the CMC's 2012 grants list, can be made available to grantmakers working on LGBTQ issues.
For these materials and other information on CMC initiatives that may be useful to you, contact CMC program officer and director Paul Di Donato .

* * *

Vermont Community Foundation Launches the Samara Fund The Samara Fund, a new component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, announces awards of $32,000 in grants in its first annual competitive grant round. The Samara Fund is the successor organization to the Samara Foundation of Vermont. Founded by Bill Lippert and David Curtis in the early 1990s, the Samara Foundation has a long history of serving nonprofit organizations that support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Vermonters. (Learn more here.)   


* * *

How Does a Small Family Foundation Encourage Equity?

Philanthropy Potluck, a blog of the Minnesota Council on Foundations covers how the John Larsen Foundation, a small non-staffed family foundation, decided to increase funding around equity and inclusion by increasing funding to LGBT issues - especially the fight against Minnesota's marriage amendment, on the ballot this November. (Learn more here.)
 
LGBTQ Notes

     

 
 
The LGBT Equality Maps
 

The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) has developed a comprehensive and collaborative resource, the LGBT Equality Maps, which tracks LGBT equality, populations, and other data by state. The maps provide hover-over pop-up facts by state, percentage bars that show the percent of LGBT people in America living in states, with various laws, summary tables that tabulate and break out laws by state, and more. There are currently include 18 "topic" maps (including summary maps, issue maps, and population maps) as well as individual state maps for all 50 states and D.C.    
The LGBT Equality Maps are easily accessible, and can also be embedded in other sites easily and free of charge (including the ability to customize navigation and which maps are displayed). Instructions can be found here on the WikiQueer website, or you can email Naomi Goldberg at MAP for more information and assistance.  

* * *

Public Opinion and Discourse on the Intersection of LGBT Issues and Race

National Telebriefing 
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EST 

The Opportunity Agenda presents new public opinion research on the intersection of LGBT and race issues. A growing number of advocacy organizations are working at the intersection of racial justice, sexual orientation, and gender identity, challenging the myths and biases that continue to hamper the rights and opportunities of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people, especially LGBT people of color. Public Opinion and Discourse on the Intersection of LGBT Issues and Race (PDF) provides important insight into the public opinion and discourse about LGBT people of color and their rights, and reveals challenges and opportunities for improving the media content. Speakers will discuss these findings and the impact they have had on their work. There will be time for questions from the audience. (Learn more here)   

* * *

Securing Our Future: Advancing Economic Security for Diverse Elders (PDF)  SAGE and the Diverse Elders Coalition announce the release of a new policy report by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development highlighting the economic issues facing vulnerable older people, notably Black elders; Hispanic elders; Asian and Pacific Islander elders; American Indian and Alaska Native elders; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elders. The report also offers policy recommendations in several areas key to the well-being of older people such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, employment policies, and more. (Learn more here.)

* * *

Improving the Lives of Transgender Older Adults (PDF)  A new publication from SAGE, the first of its kind examining how transgender older adults face profound challenges and experience striking disparities in areas such as health and health care access, physical and mental health, employment, housing and more.  This report includes a detailed literature review, profiles of the experiences of transgender older adults around the country and more than 60 concrete recommendations for policymakers and practitioners. (Learn more here.)





__________


Resources available at lgbtfunders.org




40 Years of LGBTQ Philanthropy


A Global Gaze
A Global Gaze







Common Vision Logo





Racial Equity



__________
 
President/CEO Search

Funders for LGBTQ Issues
has engaged Tim McFeeley
of the executive recruiting
firm Isaacson, Miller to find
our next President/CEO.
 Mor
e information can be found at www.imsearch.com.
   



__________
__________


 Funders for LGBTQ Issues

 Staff

 Richard Burns
 Interim Executive Director

 Communications Officer
 
 Program Director
 Director of Operations and 
 Member Services


Board of Directors

Andrew Lane, Chair
Johnson Family Foundation

Maria Cadenas, Vice-Chair
Driscoll's

Jesse King, Treasurer
Fulcrum Advisors

Mitchell Singer, Secretary
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors

Christina Cuevas
Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

Steven Lawrence
The Foundation Center

Lina Paredes
Connecticut Health Foundation

Judy Patrick
Women's Foundation of California

Cindy Rizzo
The Arcus Foundation


Patricia St. Onge
Seven Generations Consulting and Coaching


Funders for LGBTQ Issues seeks to mobilize philanthropic resources that enhance the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, promote equity and advance racial, economic and gender justice.