The Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund at Borealis Philanthropy is excited to announce more than $1.5 million in grant support for 16 movement organizations. This includes nine renewal grants and six new grants, making this grant cycle the largest expansion of grantees since the fund was founded in 2015.
The Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund (ELLC) supports young LGBTQ organizers of color and their organizing homes. The fund’s mission is to increase the impact of social justice movements with an integrated, intersectional approach to the work of addressing oppression across communities.
ELLC Fund grantees also place an emphasis on supporting the development of young trans and queer leaders of color. This new cohort brings together organizations with a proven history of innovative power-building practices for multi-issue struggles, with this particular grant cycle addressing a previous gap in funding by bringing more trans and gender-nonconforming leaders into the ELLC grantee cohort.
“It is the mission of the ELLC Fund to find and support the most promising young trans and queer leaders across the country, and we are proud to have expanded our reach with this grant cycle,” said Dani Martinez, Program Director for the ELLC Fund. “The talents and vision of such leaders are needed now more than ever, and we can’t wait to partner with them to bring meaningful change through their unique work.”
Among the communities supported by grantees are Black youth, trans and queer Asians and Pacific Islanders, rural BIPOC residents, Latine communities, and young women of color. This cohort will be tackling issues such as fighting the spread of anti-trans legislation, as well as amplifying important efforts like increasing voter mobilization, local government investments in education, housing, community welfare, and restorative justice programs for youth. See below for a full list of ELLC Fund grantees.
New Grants:
A Better Chance, A Better Community – North Carolina
ABC2 ensures young people have the necessary skills to be game changers in their communities and achieve their dreams. We’re excited to support ABC2’s mission to connect rural communities with resources to activate youth power and advocate for realistic solutions and healthier lifestyles.
API Equality – Northern California
APIENC bridges personal transformation and political work to meet the needs of trans and queer API people. We are excited to support APIENC in educating and organizing to build a world in which all people have the tools to create change and show up fully and authentically.
Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative – Atlanta, Georgia
Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative is a black trans and queer led organization fighting for greater resources and safety for Trans sex workers and the larger Atlanta community. We are excited to support their vision of a vibrant, radically inclusive metro Atlanta, where all people are safe, free, and living and thriving authentically.
Southeast Asian Freedom Network – National
SEAFN is a national movement family of anti-deportation projects and local organizations dedicated to the mobilization of Southeast Asians towards abolition. We are excited to support them in the development and mobilization of Southeast Asian communities with base-building, grassroots organizing, and movement building through gender and queer justice lenses.
The Knights and Orchids Society – Alabama
TKO provides affirming STD/STI testing, reproductive care, Trans-Gender Non-Conforming (TGNC) care, and behavioral and direct support assistance. We are excited to support them in obtaining justice and equality through group economics, education, leadership development, and organizing cultural work throughout rural Alabama and across the South.
Trans Queer Pueblo – Phoenix, Arizona
TQP is is a base-building racial and gender justice organization that is collectively governed by a growing membership of 300+ trans and queer undocumented and documented migrants and people of color. We are excited to support them in building power and mutual support among LGBTQ migrants of color in Phoenix, Arizona.
Renewed Grants:
- Bold Futures – New Mexico
- BYP100 – National
- California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance – California
- Freedom, Inc. – Madison, Wisconsin
- Khmer Girls in Action – Long Beach, CA
- Mijente Support Committee – National
- Providence Youth Student Movement – Providence, Rhode Island
- Southern Vision Alliance – U.S. South
- SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW! – Georgia