TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction: Rationale and Background
Systemic Disparities and Developing Context that Drove the Need for this Project
Philanthropic Response to Sustain and Grow LGBTQ+ Leadership for and by Youth
II. Program Design: What We Did and How We Did It
Values Driving Pride Foundation’s Approach
1. Outcome: LGBTQ+ staff in LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations in Washington State develop their skills, leadership, and networks.
2. Outcome: Emerging LGBTQ+ youth leaders in Washington State are identified and supported to develop their leadership.
3. Outcome: Washington State LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations are strengthened and their capacity is expanded, improving the coordination of the ecosystem of support and community.
4. Outcome: Pride Foundation deepens its own understanding of the needs of LGBTQ+ youth organizations in Washington, both to support planning for future investment and to share learnings from the wider philanthropic sector.
III. Learnings and Recommendations
INTRODUCTION: RATIONALE AND BACKGROUND
In 2021, Pride Foundation sought support from The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to better sustain the field of LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations in Washington State. In 2022, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation made a two-year investment in multitiered support to LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations across Washington State to grow stronger LGBTQ+ leaders and expand the reach of youth-serving organizations to ensure the LGBTQ+ supporting ecosystem continues to make progress now and into the future.
Systemic Disparities and Developing Context that Drove the Need for this Project
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Navigating an increasingly hateful world.
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This project was developed in response to three significant, intersecting factors:
1. Long-standing and persistent disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ communities and especially LGBTQ+ youth.
LGBTQ+ people experience significant economic disparities1, including greater poverty, minimal savings, and lower rates of homeownership; disproportionate health disparities and barriers in accessing healthcare2, and dramatically higher rates of violent victimization3, both from people who are known to them and strangers.
LGBTQ+ youth face particular challenges:
LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately represented among unhoused youth, with various data sources showing 20-40% of unhoused youth identifying as LGBTQ+, and with sources identifying four major causes: family rejection; physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; aging out of the foster care system, and financial and emotional neglect.4
In school, 81.8% of LGBTQ+ students reported feeling unsafe because of at least one of their actual or perceived personal characteristics; 76.1% experienced verbal harassment and 31.2% were physically harassed; 60.3% of students who reported such incidents said that school staff did nothing or told them to ignore the harassment.5
LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately represented in foster care, with about 30% of youth in foster care identifying as LGBTQ+ and 5% as transgender, in comparison to 11% and 1% of youth not in foster care.6
LGBTQ+ youth of color are disproportionately overrepresented in the juvenile justice system and are more likely to experience discrimination and violence within it.7
The Trevor Project’s annual survey for 2023 on the mental health of LGBTQ+ young people8 found that, among 28,000 respondents ages 13-24:
seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, with young people who are transgender, nonbinary, and/or people of color reporting higher rates than their peers.
only 38 % found their home to be LGBTQ+ affirming of those who wanted mental health care in the past year were able to get it.
2. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 LGBTQ+ communities.
Numerous reputable sources9 identified multiple significant, disproportionate effects of the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022) on LGBTQ+ communities, including higher rates of pandemic-related job loss (at least in part related to higher representation of LGBTQ+ people in affected employment sectors); higher rates of food insecurity; greater household financial challenges, and more stress and health worries (especially for those living with HIV). Moreover10:
LGBTQ+ youth reported higher levels of loneliness and anxiety than their non-LGBTQ+ peers.
LGBTQ+ youth who were at home with unsupportive families faced particularly significant increases in feeling unsafe.
3. An escalating anti-LGBTQ+ and especially anti-transgender backlash nationwide that has continued to accelerate in recent years.
In our initial needs assessment for this project, one respondent noted the challenges of “navigating an increasingly hateful world.”11
Over the last four years, hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills each year—led by a barrage of anti-trans bills—have been proposed in states across the U.S. Just to note a few of the most impactful on youth, such bills take aim at:
How “out” LGBTQ+ youth can be at school without their parents being informed; What books representing LGBTQ+ lives and experiences youth can access;
Whether trans youth can play on school sports teams and access appropriate bathrooms and locker rooms;
Whether trans youth (and, increasingly, adults) can access gender-affirming care, despite support from all major U.S. medical associations for such care.
And the harm extends beyond the individual states, affecting the emotional wellbeing of youth across the country who are subject to the anti-LGBTQ+/anti-trans rhetoric and see what is happening to people like them in other states. The Trevor Project’s research has found, starting in the first year after anti-transgender laws were enacted, there were statistically significant increases in rates of past-year suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) young people ages 13–17 in states that enacted anti-transgender laws, relative to states that did not, and for all TGNB young people beginning in the second year 12
Moreover, in December 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to Tennessee’s ban on affirming care for transgender youth. The specific legal issue on which the Supreme Court will rule is narrow: do these bans violate the equal
protection clause of the 14th Amendment? Ruling that they do violate the Equal Protection Clause would invalidate such bans but ruling that they do not would still leave the bans open to challenges on other grounds, and would not require other states to impose bans. The impact of this upcoming ruling for trangender people in states with such bans is incredibly significant, and it also has broader implications for the government’s ability to insert itself in the practice of medicine more broadly and the care of individual patients.
Beyond state legislation, many local school districts across the U.S. are also engaging in antiLGBTQ and anti-trans policy development. In the midst of writing this report, in Washington State, 14 school districts are advocating with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) to change rules on transgender student athlete participation in school sports.13
In addition, transphobia was prominently featured in ads for the Trump presidential campaign. A hostile federal administration has the capacity to undo protections put in place by executive order and may not challenge state-level discrimination with the power of federal oversight.
Both in the face of these recent challenges and in the years prior, LGBTQ+ communities and leaders in Washington State have been creating effective spaces of care and empowerment for LGBTQ+ youth that lean into joy and a vision of a future where all youth can thrive. Yet these lifesaving programs have long been subject to deep underinvestment. Funders for LGBTQ Issues notes that for every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2022, only 25 cents specifically supported LGBTQ+ communities and issues. Within that, only 4.6 cents specifically supported transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary communities and issues.14
Despite the disparities and the force of the current backlash, data demonstrates that strong majorities of Americans continue to support non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people.15 How do we in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors ensure that this public support becomes substantial and effective in enabling LGBTQ+ youth and the organizations that serve and empower them to thrive? With LGBTQ+ communities across the country facing additional headwinds, learnings from this report are as critical now, if not more critical, than when this project began.
[Youth] organized a week-long initiative to raise awareness about bullying and harassment of LGBTQ+ students. Activities such as doordecorating competitions, campus cleanups, and the culminating Day of NO Silence demonstration provided participants with opportunities to lead advocacy efforts, foster community engagement, and promote school inclusivity. This event empowered youth to address pressing social issues and encouraged them to become proactive leaders for equity and justice.
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Sustaining and Growing LGBTQ+ Leadership for and by Youth:
A Philanthropic Pilot
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation recognizes that youth are natural changemakers, interested in acting on the issues they care about. They are the generation that is inheriting our planet and will also determine its future, but not all young people have the resources, skills, or support they need to participate and lead. The foundation has a strong history of supporting programs that engage, empower, and mobilize youth to act on the issues they care about.
Thanks to decades upon decades of LGBTQ+ organizing, Washington State has a particularly robust legal and policy framework in place for protecting LGBTQ+ residents.16 These include:
Nondiscrimination in family services and family leave laws.
Nondiscrimination protections in employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit and lending.
Nondiscrimination and anti-bullying protections for LGBTQ youth in schools.
A ban on so-called “conversion therapy” (therapy attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, which research has shown to cause devastating harms) for minors.
Protections for LGBTQ+ youth in the child welfare system.
Private health insurance nondiscrimination protections.
A ban on insurers excluding transition-related care from coverage. Processes for changing names and gender markers on ID documents.
Strong policies like these are a valuable foundation for supporting the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth. They are not, however, simply secured once, but must be continually protected. AntiLGBTQ+ bills have regularly been proposed in the state, including a “Parents’ Bill of Rights” in 2024 that would force schools to “out” children to their parents, jeopardizing the safety and wellbeing of an already vulnerable population by increasing their vulnerability to harm at home – making LGBTQ+ youth who feel unsafe at home also less safe in school.
Laws and policies can also only provide a framework for shaping the daily lives of LGBTQ+ young people in Washington State–not prevent all the harms of bias, discrimination, violence, and other disparities that LGBTQ+ youth continue to experience. A range of community organizations have been working tirelessly for years to implement programming designed to meet the needs of these young people and make safety, equality, and wellbeing that can be actualized in their lives. These organizations also invest in the leadership of these youth, many of whom are eager to take action for themselves and for their wider community.
Pride Foundation is building a better, safer, and more equitable world for LGBTQ+ people and our families in the Northwest, guided by the fundamental belief that every person should be able to live safely, openly, and genuinely in all of the communities we call home. Pride Foundation’s founders in 1985 built a public, regional, communityembedded foundation for the LGBTQ+ community, where supporters of equity and justice could confidently invest in a brighter future.
Recognizing that the future of the LGBTQ+ community, like all people and communities harmed by oppression and injustice, requires leaders and organizations that are sustained and supported, this project was designed to pilot multi-layered grantmaking and programming that strengthens LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations and programs, the LGBTQ+ leaders who staff these efforts, and the LGBTQ+ youth who are both navigating barriers and developing their own leadership.
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation invested in Pride Foundation as a trusted intermediary and collaborator on this pilot. This work drew on the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s experience in investing effectively in youth leadership, and Pride Foundation’s deep relationships and experience resourcing LGBTQ+ movements, LGBTQ+ serving organizations, and LGBTQ+ youth organizations, in Washington State and the wider Northwest. This collaboration leaned into strategies where both foundations were growing and learning.
To our knowledge, this is the largest singular investment in LGBTQ+ youth organizations in Washington State’s history.
In recent years, Pride Foundation has more and more often served as an “intermediary,” with the infrastructure and relationships to more directly support particular communities, leveraging resources from larger, non-LGBTQ+ specific foundations to directly support LGBTQ+-led and -focused organizations that are often smaller or grassroots. This strategy grew and expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Pride Foundation played a critical role in moving resources directly to LGBTQ+ groups responding to the needs and challenges of their communities.
Launching this project in partnership with The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation was the largest initiative of its kind that Pride Foundation had undertaken, though we had led a number of other LGBTQ+ youth focused initiatives historically. To our knowledge, this is the largest singular investment in LGBTQ+ youth organizations in Washington State’s history, and we deeply appreciate The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s trust in us and investment in our communities.
PROGRAM DESIGN: WHAT WE DID AND HOW WE DID IT
Through this pilot two-year initiative, we sought to demonstrate that a thoughtful combination of leadership development, skill building opportunities, and an investment in grassroots organizations could create immediate and sustained impact. We recognize that both funding and capacity building are often critical for grantees. Our hope was that participants of this pilot would emerge with a wider skill set, stronger network, and more stable organizations to further strengthen service to LGBTQ+ young people.
Connecting and collaborating with other Youth Initiative grantees has been invaluable. Hearing from others how they engage youth in leadership development activities helps inform and inspire [our] work. Additional support and resources provided via meetings, skill shares, and listening sessions have also been a great benefit of the Youth Initiative.
This pilot was explicitly designed for the project to engage in deep learning about what youth organizations need across multiple different political landscapes of the state and develop the work iteratively through feedback to help us understand how best to scale up resources for LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations.
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Specifically we:
Values Driving Pride Foundation’s Approach
Pride Foundation leaned into our community-driven model of trust-based philanthropy to guide the conceptualization, development, and implementation of this project.
Approached this project with a learning mindset, and a willingness to change our plans or rethink how we would achieve our goals based on what we learned from grantee partners and youth.
Took the time to build relationships and listen to our grantees, rather than assuming we knew what they needed. We did this by asking grantees directly and frequently what they wanted to help them thrive. For example, in our grantmaking, we asked grantees how much funding they needed to better understand their actual needs. For our capacity building programming, we asked grantees what topics they wanted to talk or learn about and what form of facilitation style they wanted.
Compensated our grantees for their time and perspectives when we asked them for information to support the development of this initiative. We offered a $100 gift card for participation in the listening sessions and $50 for participation in the skill shares, surveys, and convening.
Created opportunities to engage every grantee deeply, while recognizing that grantees have many demands on their time, and we made sure that grantees knew that they were not required to participate in all cohort activities but were welcome to engage in those that were relevant to them and their work.
Acknowledged that the dichotomy between “services” and “organizing” is false. For LGBTQ+ communities, basic survival is under constant threat, so funding youth survival needs like housing is a critical part supporting youth leadership and organizing.
Invited LGBTQ+ youth and frontline LGBTQ+ staff to engage with us, rather than only holding relationships with executive and fundraising staff at these organizations. For example, we did this by hosting listening sessions with youth and frontline staff, and paying participants $100 for each session.
Continuously worked to humbly, thoughtfully, and transparently navigate the power dynamics between our role as a funder and that of the grantees.
The project involved identifying two cohorts of grantees and making additional capacitybuilding resources available to staff and youth they serve, while also deepening our understanding of the needs not only of individual organizations, but of the broader ecosystem of LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations.
Overall, the initiative provided support to 20 cohort members from across the state, listed below with staff and budget size at the time of applying to the Washington Youth Initiative.
Cohort Grantees
Camp Ten Trees (1 staff, $205,000 budget)
Communities in Schools of Benton-Franklin (48 staff, $3,813,112 budget)
FEEST (8 staff, $1,300,000 budget)
Funhouse Commons (4 FT, 14 PT staff, $780,000 budget)
FYRE (16 year-round staff, 20 summer staff, $1,100,000 budget, of which $215,000 for recreation space of which LGBTQ support groups and events are a part)
Harbor Include (2 PT staff, $10,000 budget)
Hope Development Practice (3 staff, $739,000 budget)
Oasis Youth Center (9 staff, $1,169,131 budget)
Odyssey Youth Movement (5 staff, $286,000 budget)
Olympic Pride (1 FT, 1 PT staff, $35,000 budget)
Pizza Klatch (5 staff, $570,034 budget)
POCAAN/Pacific Northwest Black Pride (4 PT staff, $86,000 budget)
Powerful Voices (7 staff, $1,129,439 budget)
Rod’s House (40 staff, $1,925,897 budget)
ROOTS Young Adult Shelter (12 FT, 14 PT staff, $1,800,000 budget)
Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center (20 staff, $2,500,000 budget, of which $382,000 for youth)
Stonewall Youth (7 staff, $410,000 budget)
Trans Families (8 FT, 3 PT staff, $1,200,000 budget)
Trans Health & Wellness Center of WA (11 PT staff, $280,000 budget)
UTOPIA (25 staff, $3,600,000 budget)
Cohort selection is discussed in more detail below under the third outcome, and brief information about the cohort members is included in an appendix.
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This project was built around four key outcomes:
Outcome: LGBTQ+ staff in LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations in Washington State develop their skills, leadership, and networks.
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LGBTQ+ staff and volunteers are the heart of LGBTQ+ youth-serving programs and organizations, providing mentorship and modeling adulthood as they ground-truth the work in lived experience. At the same time, in many small, under-resourced organizations and programs, these critical staff and volunteers are responsible for wearing multiple hats and learning key competencies on the job. The grantee cohort model was designed to provide a community and ecosystem in which they could build skills and peer support and have their leadership supported and further developed.
Our initial grantee cohort needs assessment survey, found that:
Prior to being awarded with this specific funding, our organization has been unable to find the time or funding to help our staff and volunteers to develop their facilitation skills and communication with one another. These opportunities have greatly benefited our work environment and our ability to provide the best programming we can.
Many (75%) of the groups were interested in connecting with other youth-serving groups to share experiences and skills
58% (7 groups) noted an interest in support with fundraising, including connections to funders, information about local or values-aligned funders, and training in grassroots fundraising.
Health, mental health, and violence prevention were among key arenas identified for building skills and knowledge.
Through this initiative, it became clear that many staff at these organizations wanted deeper connections with staff at other organizations working in the ecosystem, and valued someone else convening them so that they did not have to lead, organize, and facilitate, and instead could focus on participating and connecting.
Our multi-tiered response to these staff leadership needs included:
1. Making $169,000 in professional development funds available to staff in 19 cohort organizations (one organization closed during the time of this pilot). More than 235 staff members benefited from professional development opportunities. Some organizations also provided opportunities to board members and other volunteers with these funds.
2. Hosting a grantee convening for cohort participants to connect.
3. Organizing 4 skill-shares addressing key topics identified by cohort members. One focused on fundraising. Three addressed specific aspects of mental health (of youth participants and of staff and frontline volunteers) that emerged repeatedly in cohort feedback in the course of the project: neurodivergence, burnout, and addressing self-harm and suicidal ideation by youth participants.
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[The skill-share] gave focus to ideas not thought about concerning fundraising.”
Outcome: Emerging LGBTQ+ youth leaders in Washington State are identified and supported to develop their leadership.
LGBTQ+ youth are the future of the LGBTQ+ movement, and it is essential that those most harmed by systemic disparities have the opportunities and skills to be leaders in changing the conditions that dehumanize them. From our first cohort needs assessment survey, it was clear that many of the youth served by these organizations are struggling to have their survival needs met (with mental and physical healthcare, job readiness/job training, life skills, and core survival needs among the needs surfaced), but that many are also looking to engage in ways that support wider safety and wellbeing in their communities.
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Providing youth with resources, education, and support in order for them to display leadership in what they’re passionate about.
We provided $214,000 in resources to support youth in diverse stages of their leadership journeys by providing flexible funding to cohort organizations. As a result of this funding, more than 1,940 LGBTQ+ youth benefited from leadership development programming by cohort members.
Outcome: Washington State LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations are strengthened and their capacity is expanded, improving the coordination of the ecosystem of support and community.
Pride Foundation already recognized from existing grantee relationships that a significant number LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations and programs were small and under-resourced, and that they were doing this work in hostile environments with little support from funders or other youth-serving institutions.
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We wanted to identify organizations where a modest influx of funding and additional supports could have a meaningful impact.
It has been really meaningful to be able to connect with other organizations serving LGBTQ+ youth from across the state….Being able to build relationships and share experiences, including wins and challenges, felt really beneficial.
We thoughtfully established baseline eligibility criteria that organizations be based in Washington State, be 501(c)(3) organizations or fiscally sponsored, and have programming focused on LGBTQ+ youth. Beyond these baseline criteria, we also established the following priorities to select cohort members that were:
Explicitly focused on Racial Justice
Rural and/or participated in regional movement building
QTBIPOC-led organizations or programs.
Youth-led or youth-centered organizations and programs.
Were mostly for and by people ages 25 and under, with flexibility for organizations’ own definitions of ‘youth’. (We should note that cohort members had a wide array of definitions for “youth” in their work: Overall, groups tended to focus on some combination of middle/junior high school and high school ages–with the lower end ranging from 10-14, and the upper end ranging from 17-24; 5% specifically focused on those “under 17” and 5% on those ages 18-25. Almost half of the groups noted serving those ages 20 and up as at least part of their service population.)
Operating with budgets of $750,000 or less or with 5 or fewer FTE staff.
Our low-barrier, trust-based, transparent application process included these key components where we:
Shared drafts of the application format 2 months prior to the deadline and asked for feedback,
Provided explanations of why we asked application questions and why we required certain information.
Proactively offered extensions and flexible timelines when asked.
Did not have specific word or character count limits, instead offering general guidance on response length.
Offered the opportunity for alternative application formats (by phone, video).
Transparently shared how funding would be allocated
Asked grantees how much money would be impactful for them, instead of predetermining the amount for them, and whether restrictions would be.
First Cohort Grantees: For the first round of grantmaking, we engaged in internal mapping of the field and identified 14 organizations—a mix of current grantees and groups that were new grantee partners to Pride Foundation—that seemed most strongly aligned, and invited them to apply through an invitation-only process for a total of $410,000 in grants available for two consecutive years. Of the organizations we invited to apply, 13 submitted applications and were funded, including 3 organizations that were new to us. Among these organizations, 7 were organizations led by queer and trans BIPOC (QTBIPOC) people, 6 were rural, and 6 had fewer than 5 staff and/or had budgets of less than $750,000 per year.
We made $383,425 in unrestricted grants, with amounts ranging from $15,000 to $50,000. We had hoped to be able to renew 100% of our grantees for a second year of funding. However, despite the additional support our grantmaking provided, one of these organizations (Olympic Pride) was forced to close due to resource constraints. We renewed funding to the remaining 12 organizations in April 2024 (distributing $364,000 in second-year general operating grants ranging from $15,000-$50,000.)
Second Cohort Grantees: Through a mix of responsive and proactive processes, we identified 17 additional organizations to invite to apply for the second cohort. We used the same funding priorities as our previous cohort, prioritizing organizations that are BIPOC-led, rural, LGBTQ+-led, serving youth who are harmed by injustices. Of these, 12 submitted applications and 7 were selected to receive funding, mostly in grants of $26,500, with one organization receiving $27,000. We made a total of $186,000 in unrestricted grants to this cohort.
Among these organizations, 3 were organizations led by QTBIPOC people, 3 were rural, and 3 had fewer than 5 staff and/or had budgets of less than $750,000 per year.
Additional responsive grants: Recognizing a need to be flexible in response to emerging threats and opportunities, we also made 2 responsive, one-time grants to cohort organizations who were experiencing significant financial challenges.
Outcome: Pride Foundation deepens its own understanding of the needs of LGBTQ+ youth organizations in Washington, both to support planning for future investment and to share learnings from the wider philanthropic sector.
“I liked that the Pride Foundation values input from people that are working directly in the organizations. That’s not something that is common with grantors.
”Having two years of funding to offer multifaceted support to the LGBTQ+ youth-serving ecosystem in Washington State offered an opportunity not just to support their critical work, but also to better understand what youth, staff, and organizations need to survive, as well as what kinds of inputs, resources, and events are most critical to enabling these organizations to stabilize, thrive, and grow to meet the needs in their communities.
As LGBTQ+ youth continue to experience wider threats to their well-being, we hoped information gleaned through this process would:
Inform Pride Foundation and The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s own strategies and investments as grantmakers.
Provide data that can help make the case for increased resources for LGBTQ+ youthserving organizations, in Washington State and beyond.
Provide a baseline and model of learning- and listening-centered grantmaking and related resources that other funders can use as a starting point for better supporting LGBTQ+ youth-serving organizations in their own communities.
Help us discern how providing funding and capacity building could be transformative and replicable for organizations at scale now and in the future with increased resources.
This project intentionally included significant information gathering through listening sessions and surveys with LGBTQ+ youth and LGBTQ+ staff and volunteers that directly informed the work of this two-year pilot, and also contributes to this resource, providing a more granular and nuanced assessment of the needs, strengths, and aspirations of LGBTQ+ youth, staff, volunteers and organizations/programs in Washington State.
We engaged in the following information-gathering and relationship building activities:
Initial needs assessment survey (12 organizations responded)
Listening sessions with LGBTQ+ youth (65 youth participated)
Listening sessions with LGBTQ+ youth organization staff/ volunteers (17 staff/volunteers participated)
Discussions with grantees about fundraising needs (5 organizations participated) and learning from cohort members in the skill-shares
Closeout Survey 1: Professional Development & Youth Leadership Development Funds Impact (17 organizations responded)
Closeout Survey 2: Programming and Cohort Impact Survey (35 staff/volunteers from 19 organizations responded)
Ongoing communication with cohort members
In the final section of this report, we share lessons learned through these processes to strengthen awareness within the youth-serving nonprofit sector and the philanthropic sector.
LEARNINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Learnings from our Information-Gathering and Relationship-Building
Initial Needs Assessment Survey
Broadly, the survey confirmed that participating groups and the youth they serve have a substantial range of needs.
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Many (75%) of the groups were interested in connecting with other youth-serving groups to share experiences and skills.
A majority (58%) welcomed opportunities to strengthen access to funding
I have liked the supportive nature of this process.
Nearly half were eager for support with outreach and amplifying their work to key audiences.
BIPOC-led or BIPOC-focused groups were particularly excited to connect with other BIPOC groups
Questions about training needs and youth interests elicited a wide array of responses that clustered around topics such as mental and physical health; survival, basic needs, and opportunity; leadership, activism and justice; LGBTQ and intersectional identity, culture, and history; safety and violence; as well as a host of other issues.
While there was a strong emphasis on LGBTQ+ events and spaces, there was also a strong interest in engaging in BIPOC, anti-racist, or culturally-specific trainings, gatherings, and collaborations
Connecting with groups or conferences focused on health, mental health, and violence prevention was also a priority.
Listening Sessions with LGBTQ+ Youth
In the listening sessions, many youth expressed a strong interest in developing leadership skills and engaging in activism. They sought resources on how to mobilize people, plan effectively, and communicate within communities. This included a desire for both know-yourrights events and opportunities for community service/volunteering. Leadership and activism do not exist in a vacuum for youth, but grow out of being in key spaces and the opportunities they provide. From these listening sessions, we gained a better understanding of the kinds of spaces LGBTQ+ youth specifically needed and wanted:
Spaces for Radical Joy and Connectedness: These spaces are not just about enjoyment but about creating a shared sense of freedom. Radical joy involves celebrating who we are, even in the face of adversity, and being fully present with others. When we engage in these spaces, we step away from the heaviness of day-to-day challenges and tap into collective energy. It’s about the joy of simply being together, learning from each other, and uplifting each other’s spirits in ways that are both healing and empowering.
Spaces to Create Belonging: These spaces are about creating a collective identity that celebrates diversity. Belonging goes beyond fitting in—it’s about being accepted for who we truly are. In these environments, people of all backgrounds, experiences, and identities are invited to bring their whole selves. The challenge of inclusion becomes an opportunity to learn from one another, and by doing so, we deepen the bonds between us, ensuring that everyone has a place to feel at home.
Spaces to Learn from Each Other and Grow: These spaces are learning hubs—places where ideas, experiences, and wisdom are exchanged freely. Everyone has something valuable to offer, and these spaces encourage us to share knowledge, challenge each other’s thinking, and grow together. Through this exchange, we can evolve, breaking down barriers of misunderstanding and increasing our capacity to empathize, collaborate, and expand our collective potential. Growth here is not just individual but collective.
Even as they reflected on leadership aspirations, youth in the listening sessions also noted an array of other needs that had to be met alongside leadership programming. What LGBTQ+ youth are seeking from organizations includes:
Creative and Empowering Events: Youth repeatedly sought events that create safe spaces to blend arts, creativity, and community building. Many youth expressed a strong interest in events that allow for personal expression and empowerment, such as music festivals, dance parties, art showcases, and leadership development activities.
Skill and Resource Sharing, Including Practical Life Skills: Participants also voiced a clear desire for skill-building and resource-sharing opportunities. Key topics included practical life skills such as career development, financial literacy, adulting, and navigating high school as an LGBTQIA+ individual. Mentorship opportunities were mentioned frequently, with youth seeking approachable and trustworthy mentors who can provide guidance on personal development, careers, and navigating their educational journeys. Many participants highlighted the importance of integrating both skill-building and personal development within programs. This desire reflects their awareness of the complexities they’ll face and a deep hunger for self-efficacy and empowerment as they step into adulthood.
Mental Health Support: There was a consistent call for more accessible support options, and many participants emphasized the importance of providing educational resources for families to help them better understand mental health and LGBTQ+ identities, fostering more supportive environments at home. Specifically, youth were looking for support groups/group therapy, mental and emotional wellness workshops, resource fairs or resource sharing, and trainings and education sessions for youth and their families.
Intersectional Support: A major theme was the need for more inclusive resources that address intersectionality, especially for BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth. Many participants shared feelings of invisibility in mainstream LGBTQ+ spaces, where their unique experiences were often overlooked. There was a strong call for events and programs that celebrate diverse identities, provide cultural competency, and encourage allyship. Ensuring that these events are by and for marginalized communities—such as QTBIPOC—was emphasized as crucial for fostering an inclusive environment.
Youth also named the multiple systemic, structural and personal barriers they faced in accessing the resources they need, which included:
Systems of oppression including but not limited to racial discrimination, capitalism, and government policy
Lack of family support
Finances
Fear of judgment
Lack of community support
Lack of time
Listening Sessions with Cohort Organization Staff/Volunteers
Building from the Initial Needs Assessment, these Listening Sessions enabled us to surface key staff and organizational needs, and in part informed the skill-shares that we offered. We were particularly pleased to engage in a robust, highly-specific discussion about the kinds of mental health needs cohort members are seeing in their youth and among staff/ volunteers, and the kinds of resources, knowledge, and capacity they would like to help them address these. The multifaceted needs and the complexity of engaging with youth about their own mental health and how they engage with peers who are experiencing mental health challenges were acknowledged. Cohort organizations brought different levels of expertise with these issues, with some groups having mental health programming or strong mental health referrals and others having little or no formal programming addressing this.
“The listening sessions…and the skill shares facilitated by various professionals were helpful because they offered the chance for us to connect with other people/ orgs who work to support LGBTQ+ youth. It also gave us a space to learn from each other through sharing our experiential knowledge of different contexts and settings for working with our youth populations.
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Listening Session participants noted a specific need for more learning regarding:
Being a mandatory reporter and the implications that has for youth safety, as well as navigating what it means to be participating in the carceral system by default.
How to address barriers to access/disparities experienced by BIPOC youth regarding mental health services and resources and culturally-specific mental health stigma.
How to support the mental health of staff, address/reduce burnout, and build mental health supports into organizational structure, recognizing that youth sometimes bring significant trauma experiences to staff, and not all staff have the professional or life experience to manage the impact of vicarious trauma effectively.
Participants also noted a need for information/training to better equip staff to address youth suicidality, self-harm, anxiety, depression, healthy/unhealthy relationships, substance use, interpersonal violence, trauma, neurodiversity, peer conflict, mental health stigma, technology addiction, interpersonal skills, boundary-setting, and healthy communication.
Participants noted interest in learning skills/accessing curricula around:
Neurodivergence especially ADHD and Autism, and accommodating/supporting neurodivergent youth
Mental health first aid
Suicide prevention
Harm reduction
Boundary setting
Other areas that were surfaced included the need to:
Build strategies to be able to teach youth how to talk with their peers about mental health, including stigma.
Build their social media literacy so that they are able to question and fact-check things like TikTok mental health trends, self-diagnoses, and viral self-help approaches.
Understand how to be supportive of peers/friends, while recognizing their own limits and knowing when they need to engage other forms of support.
Hear from BIPOC therapists and BIPOC youth regarding their experiences of depression, anxiety, etc., to have a broader cultural representation of these issues.
We also gleaned important knowledge about needs in the LGBTQ+ youth-serving ecosystem through the iterative process of identifying the skill-share topics and refining them based on cohort-member participation, as well as from the discussions that took place during the skillshares themselves
“
The skill-shares focused on fundraising were very significant in adding to the professional development of our organization. The WA Youth Initiative grant gave us a strong start this past year, but the skills gained in these sessions will allow us to gain greater financial sustainability moving forward.
a. Fundraising Skill-Share
”
We held three skill-share listening sessions to help us drill down to the fundraising topics that would be most useful for cohort members. This model of going deeper to better understand what was being asked for created space for participants to reflect more about what they needed. The robust discussion in the skill-share listening sessions addressed how groups set fundraising goals; the kinds of fundraising groups would want to do if capacity and time were not an issue; individual donor work, and tools, resources, and skills that groups are seeking.
We learned that grantees are often practicing community-centered fundraising that prioritizes building community, not just raising funds. As an example, one of our grantees saw and filled the ever-present need by developing a fundraising leadership development program for youth to fundraise for gender affirming care. As one grantee said: “People are our power, so having a strong base is really important.”
Grantees shared the challenges of fundraising for organizations serving highly marginalized, criminalized, and dehumanized communities. A grantee said: “It can be hard to get people to care about our communities, especially when there is so much misinformation.” Grantees also noted the current challenge of there being fewer donors, who are giving smaller amounts or just holding steady, even as the costs of programming are rising with inflation. Participants felt like they are having to work twice as hard to raise the same amount of money. Grantees all discussed their pursuit of more unrestricted funding and more recurring donors. Participants had many questions about individual donors, particularly around finding new donors; finding major donors; converting donors into sustainers; figuring which donors to pursue and engage; developing an individual donor strategy; fundraising with limited staff and capacity; widening the donor base beyond the impacted community, and keeping donors engaged.
b. Mental Health Skill-Shares.
The Skill-Share on Neurodivergence addressed neurodivergence in ways that could be useful for working with program participants and staff. It included discussion of tools for connecting with one’s internal experience with neurodivergence, executive functioning, unmasking, medicating, managing burn out, and asking for accommodations.
“ ”
One of the most meaningful aspects I’ve noted is Pride Foundation’s commitment to bringing in experts from diverse communities to facilitate these opportunities and skill shares. It felt really good to have members of our communities in these positions, sharing their wisdom and knowledge.
The Skill-Share on Burnout, Boundaries, Conflict & Communication focused on staff/volunteer mental health challenges and engaged participants in group discussions around preventive care; policies and organization climate related to staff asking for supports to meet their needs; navigating conflict at work, including organizational culture and practice, and the kinds of tools or frameworks that are needed to address conflict. We learned that burnout is prevalent and pervasive in the nonprofit sector, and requires more systemic and institutional level solutions. It is especially hard for our caring and compassionate grantees to have boundaries when the organizations and communities they are a part of are often in survival mode. While everyone wishes for more work-life balance and boundaries, it’s hard to reduce people’s work loads when organizations consistently have more work than the staffing necessary. We also heard that organizations are eager to explore how leadership and policies can create a culture of safety and accountability that supports meaningful conflict resolution since conflict is inevitable and hard.
The Skill-Share on Crisis or Conversation (Suicidal Ideation) was designed specifically for helping providers develop skills on how to have difficult conversations with TGNC youth around self-harm and suicidal ideation, recognize symptoms associated with anxiety and depression and how these symptoms may look different within TGNC communities, and receive resources that they can use in their work. Participants were eager to get tips and tools on how to respond to youth who say they are actively suicidal, and especially how to tailor these conversations; how to navigate being a mandatory reporter, and how to address the reality of mental health challenges within LGBTQ+ communities without perpetuating a perception of suffering and doom. The resources also included information on resources that can be shared with youth (helplines, mental health services, etc.).
Professional Development Funds for Cohort Organization Staff
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The funding also contributes to staff morale, showing a commitment to their development and helping to build a stronger, more skilled team.
”
Professional development funds for use by cohort organization staff were distributed alongside the general support funding and youth leadership development funding. Cohort members made use of the funding over the course of their grants and some designated the funding for specific staff development opportunities in 2025. As part of our closeout surveys, we asked about the use of these funds to help us understand shared needs in the ecosystem.
Cohort members used professional development funds in a variety of ways:
Participation in in-person and virtual trainings
Participation in relevant conferences
Purchase of access to online /e-learning curricula on a wide range of relevant topics so that staff could access trainings they want/need
Bringing on experienced consultants/coaches to work with staff
Using resources to support updating internal training curricula
Staff retreats/meetings
Topics of professional development included:
Safety trainings, including CPR certification, first aid training, mental health first aid, and child sexual abuse prevention training for youth-serving staff
Behavioral health, suicide prevention, bullying prevention, de-escalation and crisis management, safety planning, peer support, identifying and responding to sexual exploitation and trafficking, and trauma-informed service provision
DEI and anti-racism training
Youth development, anti-adultism, and youth leadership development training
Coalition building, power-sharing, ethical storytelling, youth voice, organizing, fundraising, nonprofit management, accounting and finances, management/supervision training
Many groups used the resources for both youth-facing staff skill development, as well as for nonprofit management/fundraising skill building.
Overall, participants noted the same barriers to professional development: costs/funding, staff time to participate (especially on small teams or where staff have challenging schedules), and challenges in identifying the most useful professional development programs for their particular needs. For example:
“
The primary challenge lies in the scarcity of professional development opportunities that explicitly center Queer and Trans youth and their advocates. This often forces us to navigate or adapt existing spaces or to create our own, which requires significant effort and resources. These barriers underscore the need for more inclusive and intersectional professional development opportunities in the field.
”
“
...many conferences and trainings do not meet the advanced level of expertise we require. While these events often provide foundational knowledge or general strategies, they can lack the depth or specificity needed to address the nuanced challenges we encounter in our work with LGBTQ+ youth, particularly QTBIPOC communities. More robust training opportunities often require travel and are often more expensive.
“
”
LGBTQ+ Youth Leadership Development Funds
When students feel more confident in who they are, they are more able to ask for the accommodations they need in their classrooms, correct peers and teachers when they are misgendered, [and] stand up for fellow students who are being bullied.
“ “
Funds to support LGBTQ+ Youth Leadership Development were distributed to cohort organizations to use for the youth they served, alongside the general support funding and professional development funds for staff. Cohort members used the leadership development funds in a variety of ways:
Strengthening or expanding existing youth leadership programming.
Creating new leadership development opportunities for youth.
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Laying the groundwork for new leadership development opportunities to launch in January 2025.
Cohort members identified a range of skills in the category of youth leadership development, including communication and storytelling; advocacy for self and others; accountability and social/emotional skills; facilitation, group dynamics, and consensus building; community, movement, and power building; outreach, public speaking, and event planning; political education; fundraising; mentoring and peer education, and arts-based advocacy and community-building.
While all of the cohort members were working in the LGBTQ+ youth development arena, they were all engaging youth and building leadership in different contexts and ways. There was an incredibly wide breadth of creative ways that youth leadership funds were used by cohort members. Some were helping particularly vulnerable youth develop skills for negotiation, self-advocacy, and collaborating with leadership in the direct service organizations where they sought support; some were developing school and community-based peer leadership programs, and some were developing more outward facing advocacy.
By centering the voices and talents of young adults, we aim to nurture leaders who will not only thrive within our programs but also contribute to creating equitable and inclusive communities….
Here are some tangible examples of what this looked like for some cohort organizations:
“The youth peer mentor program was expanded and the three (soon to be four) youth who aged out of regular programming this year were provided training on using their lived experience to support their peers in struggles around identity, bullying, dealing with poverty, and dealing with school challenges.”
“By integrating cultural pride, intersectionality, and lived experiences into our programs, we empower youth to lead authentically and effectively in ways that honor both their heritage and their identities.”
“...we will be stipending youth for their participation and ensuring they have ample opportunities to amplify and elevate their own voices around matters of educational equity. This can occur at the building leadership level, in school board meetings, and in meetings with local elected officials.”
“...funding will support the training of peer facilitators for this program, ensuring that youth get the leadership skills needed to support their communities….”
One of our core learnings has been that even though groups are working in the same sector in the same state, there was no one-size-fits-all set of programming that would meet the varied needs of the different cohort members. Listening and providing flexible resources and opportunities was critical to making this initiative work.
General Feedback from the Closing Survey
“[Participating in the cohort session was] helpful for a feeling of community, connectedness, and networking.”
In addition to the more detailed feedback above, the closing survey of cohort staff/ volunteers revealed that, among survey respondents:
94% of respondents assessed the grantee convening as “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
92% of respondents who assessed the listening sessions for youth found them “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
86% of respondents assessed listening sessions for staff and volunteers as “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
100% of respondents who assessed the fundraising listening sessions/ discussions found them “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
79% of respondents who assessed the fundraising skill-share rated it “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
88% of respondents who assessed the neurodivergence skill-share rated it as “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
77% of respondents who assessed the burn-out skill-share found it “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
100% of respondents who assessed the skill-share on dealing with suicidal ideation rated it “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
93% of organizations rated receiving general operating support for participating in the cohort as “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
90% of respondents who assessed connecting with other organizations and staff by participating in the cohort rated it as “meaningful” or “very meaningful.”
Note that not all participants in each event filled out the closing survey. In some cases only one person from an organization filled out the survey. In others, multiple individuals within an organization completed it.
This feedback reinforced our learning that while not every organization participated in every activity offered by the cohort, offering a range of activities and cohort components helped to meet the needs of many organizations and their staff.
“ ”
...because there are so [few] funding opportunities like this, it may be helpful to organizations to increase the number of years of funding to allow for more youth leadership development opportunities to be built sustainably.
Guidance for Philanthropic Action
The Washington Youth Initiative was an exciting, sometimes challenging, and incredibly impactful and inspiring pilot project that was deeply appreciated by participants. The lessons Pride Foundation has taken from this work and that we are eager to share with peers in the philanthropic sector are:
Increase impact of grant awards:
Many groups, especially groups by and for communities harmed by oppression receive little support, and thus are often stuck in survival mode and a continuous cycle of uncertainty while providing life-saving support to youth and our movements. Funders can make a difference by:
Increasing and maximizing funding going directly to BIPOC & LGBTQ+-led groups.
Even if funders have limited grant dollars available, offer more grantee spaciousness and a higher sense of peace by awarding multi-year, general operating support grants.
Reducing the burden on applicants and grantees wherever and whenever possible by simplifying applications and incorporating trust-based practices.
“
General operating support is massively beneficial, especially for smaller organizations….
Understand and incorporate addressing widespread burnout into grantmaking:
We consistently heard that organizations want to reduce burnout and increase sustainability. Many staff and volunteers work beyond the 40 hour work week to fulfill the many roles and responsibilities necessary in our movements. We recognize that burnout is a widespread issue connected to systemic and societal factors that philanthropy alone cannot solve, but there are ways funders can influence and mitigate some of its harm by minimizing how we contribute to or perpetuate it by incorporating funding practices that better support our grantees to address it, such as:
Extending flexibility on grant expectations and deliverables.
Offering general operating support so that grantees have the autonomy to utilize funding for priorities they identify, such as increased staffing.
Promoting pay equity when building relationships with grantees to demonstrate advocacy for the decreased probability of economic precarity
Providing financial or other resources that invite rest and restorative practices to be a part of their work (for example, the practice of 32 hour work weeks)
Seek and incorporate feedback early and often:
Grantees have varying needs and capacities, and it is not helpful to assume what grantees want and need. It is important to ask grantees directly–and early enough on in processes so their needs can shape programmatic offerings. Given the power imbalances inherent in funder/grantee relationships, we found that it is important to have and build relationships with partners and grantees in which we are transparent about how we are working to support the success of everyone in our ecosystem. Some practices to incorporate include:
Being sincere about how their voices and feedback will be incorporated, and enter these conversations with openness to trying approaches that might be new or different than what was assumed or expected.
Engaging grantees before developing program that is intended to benefit or support them so that they have the opportunity to meaningfully shape it.
Compensating grantees for their additional time beyond the grant award, understanding that this is additional labor that impacts burnout and stretched capacities.
Ensuring frontline staff and volunteers, as well as program participants, voices and feedback are sought out and incorporated
Committing as funders to approaching feedback with humility, transparency, and a commitment to learning and improvement.
Offer grantees relationship and skill building opportunities:
Grantees in our cohort deeply yearned for and appreciated the opportunity to connect with each other and have skill-shares provided through a process that did not require them to expend more capacity to self organize. At the completion of this project, we saw such great value in gathering and learning opportunities for grantees and were encouraged by our grantees to continue the offering due to its impact. Some practices that funders can incorporate include:
Creating spaces for grantees to build relationships with each other in their own, autonomous spaces.
Creating opportunities for grantees to build relationships with us as funders.
Creating programmatic offerings that grantees can shape and impact, and utilizing the expertise from community organizations and leaders.
Making sure that programmatic opportunities are optional and will not affect their current or future funding so they do not feel pressure to attend because it was offered by one of their funders
Providing stipends to help encourage participation as well.
Collaborate with and listen to grantees:
In this pilot project, offering programming and capacity building was a newer endeavor for us in this format and at this scale, and this project was made exponentially better because grantees directly shaped the work. Engaging with grantees as an iterative and collaborative process when designing and implementing programming that is meant to serve them made those offerings significantly more effective. Funders can replicate this by:
Developing intentional processes to better understand and respond to what grantees share they could benefit from in terms of programmatic offerings
Not entering into these processes with prescriptive or preconceived notions about the details of the programming, and instead seeking out grantee feedback to guide the process of programmatic construction and offerings.
Being comfortable with offerings that are unique and specific to the grantees wants and needs who are involved.
“
The
onboarding process overall was very humanizing and supportive. A lot of thought was put into the program offerings and communication with grantees.
Guidance from LGBTQ+ Youth for Youth-Serving Organizations
Our listening sessions with youth surfaced powerful feedback on how youth-serving organizations can better serve them that we offer here as learning for both youth-serving organizations to consider among their practices, and for funders to better understand the feedback from youth on programming they are seeking.
Address systemic inequities:
Deepen our efforts to combat systemic barriers that impact LGBTQ+ youth, especially those at the intersection of race, class, and gender. The biases that exist in both the LGBTQ+ and broader societal structures must be actively dismantled, not just acknowledged.
Know that representation matters:
Representation is a powerful tool for both self-affirmation and community validation. With the practice of increasing representation, the critical need for diverse role models and mentors creates a pathway for our communities who have been harmed by systemic oppression to be supported by, and become those invested in fostering resilience and a sense of belonging. Through amplification of BIPOC, disabled, TGNC, and other intersectional communities, voices within youth programs can be moved toward active and continuous inclusion practices that are crucial to ethical decision making.
Build a culture of radical inclusion:
Create and support programs that center radical joy, connection, and a sense of belonging for LGBTQ+ youth. This includes spaces where young people feel empowered to learn life skills, explore their identities, and connect with mentors who can model activism and community organizing. There’s a deep need to build frameworks that support youth not just as individuals but also as active agents of change in their communities.
Prioritize mentorship and capacity building:
There is a high strong hunger for mentorship—not only in life skills, but in how to engage in activism and community organizing. Building youth capacities to support their own learning about structural inequalities, and guiding them in creating their own solutions to the challenges they face not only builds skills and knowledge, it also builds and sustains self and community efficacy.
Engage in ongoing listening and solicit feedback:
Periodically holding strategically planned listening sessions each year to gather feedback specifically from QTBIPOC youth on programming and execution allows organizations to avoid assumption of wants and needs in an ever-changing landscape and can significantly inform continuous improvement.
Ensure programs are by and for community:
Ensuring that events and programs are created by and for the communities they aim to serve is crucial for our ecosystem and the success of our movement efforts. When programming is by and for the community, a sense of empowerment creates spaces where representation cultivates leadership, encourages creative thought, strengthens our ecosystem, and creates spaces where lived experience transforms into the creation of something that is relevant and important for the community as a whole.
APPENDIX
“
The most meaningful thing that has come out of the programming that the Pride Foundation offered has been the opportunity to learn about and from different organizations in the region who are doing similar (and vastly different) work!... I looked forward to each breakout session when folks had time to share about their experience within their organizations.
Washington Youth Initiative Cohort Members
Camp Ten Trees (https://camptentrees.org/) is a nonprofit residential camp in Washington State. Camp Ten Trees strives to create a socially-just, youth-empowered camp community for LGBTQ youth, allies, and youth of LGBTQ and nontraditional families. In addition to traditional camp activities like swimming, archery, and nature hikes, campers engage in age-appropriate workshops exploring identity, issues of oppression/privilege, youth coalition building, social justice, and more.
Communities in Schools of Benton-Franklin (https://bentonfranklin.ciswa.org/) works directly inside 28 schools throughout Richland, Pasco, Kennewick, Finley and Prosser School Districts to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. CISBF ensure students have access to basic needs such as food, stable housing, and technology; while also facilitating social-emotional learning, increasing access to mental and physical healthcare, and supporting college and career readiness. CISBF offices are considered a safe haven for LGBTQIA2S+ students and are frequently a place students can find respite and support from non-affirming peers and school staff members. CISBF staff participate in and often solely facilitate GSAs and Equity Clubs in their buildings.
FEEST (https://feestseattle.org/) trains youth of color and working class youth to build collective power and organize for transformative and systemic change in their schools. FEEST’s primary work includes the Student Organizer Program, which builds youth organizing
power for social, racial, and environmental justice. FEEST youth are currently leading multiple systems change campaigns regarding food justice and mental health in schools. FEEST works in South Seattle and South King County.
The Funhouse Commons (https://www.funhousecommons.org/) serves rural areas including Orcas Island, Lopez Island, Friday Harbor, San Juan County. Programming has included a bi-weekly club of LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12-18; art/skills-based mentorship opportunities; partnership with GSA clubs to organize an inter-island queer prom; and event internships; among other activities.
FYRE (https://www.okfyre.org/) is a youth center located in Omak, WA serving young people ages 12-24 across Okanogan County. FYRE positions itself to connect with communities furthest from justice because of its commitment to responsible representation throughout our organizational structure, so that youth can see themselves in our staff, volunteers, partners, and Board. FYRE’s Pride programming grew out of direct requests from youth and led to coordinating the community’s first ever Pride event. FYRE youth leadership councils are addressing topics including reproductive justice, sexual violence prevention, youth rights, and cultivating a safe and emboldened LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Harbor Include (http://harborinclude.com/) is a weekly social gathering program for LGBTQ+ teens and their friends ages 13-18 in Grays Harbor. Harbor Include is a space for youth to feel safe, and where their needs as queer, rural, and poor are understood and addressed.
Hope Development Practice (https://www.hopedevelopmentp.com/) is a nonprofit behavioral health agency serving rural Eastern Pierce County. Programming includes an art therapy group supporting LGBTQ+ youth; Plateau Pride, the first Pride event of its kind serving rural Eastern Pierce County; and a group program for neurodivergent teens and young adults.
Oasis Youth Center (https://www.oasisyouthcenter.org/) is a drop-in and resource center in Tacoma serving LGBTQ+ youth in Pierce and surrounding counties. Oasis aspires to foster transformative experiences beyond immediate outcomes and seeks to cultivate a sense of belonging and empowerment among participating youth, enabling them to develop critical life skills, self-confidence, and resilience. Having multiple staff members who once participated in Oasis youth programs speaks volumes about the impact our programs and supports impact on members.
Odyssey Youth Movement (https://www.odysseyyouth.org/) is a youth-led, adult-supported organization serving LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24 in Spokane WA. Odyssey hosts Name & Gender ID Change Clinics and provides microgrants to local GSA school-based programs. The young adult program (ages 18-24) provides job preparedness support.
Olympic Pride, which closed in 2024, was committed to providing a safe space, community, and resources for LGBTQ+ youth in Jefferson County, where there was no other such space.
Pizza Klatch (https://pizzaklatch.org/) fosters resilience in LGBTQ+ youth and creates a safe and positive school experience through support, education and empowerment. Pizza Klatch hosts lunchtime support groups in largely rural and small town schools, not only to mobilize resources for LGBTQ+ youth in those schools, but also to help ensure that those students who are rejected or unable to come out to their families have a confidential, safe place to seek healing-centered support.
POCAAN (https://www.pocaan.org/)/ Pacific Northwest Black Pride (http://www. nwblackpride.net/) engages LGBTQ+ youth in King County through programming including monthly game nights; “Lituation Party Night” to celebrate youth as they are; health programming includedMPOX vaccination, HIV/STI screening, and COVID-19 testing and prevention; and programming serving youth who have been in foster care and the juvenile criminal legal system and youth who are unhoused or facing housing instability.
Powerful Voices (https://www.powerfulvoices.org/) is a fully femme, womxn, non-binary staff of color that aims to build a place where young girls and gender expansive youth of color can feel brave enough to share their truths. Since 1995, Powerful Voices has created genderspecific, social justice programs for youth ages 11-19 so that they can be equipped with communal knowledge and platforms to speak up. Powerful Voices’ work primarily impacts BIPoC youth and their families in central and south Seattle and south King County, and even as far south as Tacoma. Powerful Voices wants BIPoC LGBTQIA2S+ youth to have power and use their voices to reclaim control over the narratives society constructs about who they are and what they’re capable of.
Rod’s House (https://rodshouse.org/) provides services that are trauma informed, culturally responsive, developmentally appropriate, and meet the self-determined needs of young people experiencing homelessness in Yakima County. To combat the barriers young people face being homeless and suffering with a traumatic experience, Rod’s House offers traumainformed services to help ensure their basic needs are met; they have a safe, stable home and permanent, positive connections; they have meaningful education and employment opportunities; and they are able to access behavioral and physical healthcare and supports that reinforce their individual abilities.
ROOTS Young Adult Shelter (https://rootsinfo.org/) provides emergency shelter, warm meals, specialized case management, hygiene and laundry facilities, non-emergency healthcare, facilitates peer support, life-development programming, referrals to employment and healthcare, and housing assistance. More than a third of ROOTS guests identify as LGBTQ+ and a majority identify as living with a disability or mental health challenge.
Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center (https://www.gaycity.org/) hosts youth advocacy programs rooted in creating community, self-determination, and self advocacy for LGBTQ+ youth. Programming includes in-person and online drop-in spaces; arts, media, and mentoring programs; a Youth Advisory Council that guides programming and provides leadership opportunities; and a program for youth who have had contact with the criminal legal system due to domestic violence.
Stonewall Youth (https://www.stonewallyouth.org/) is a youth-led organization that supports LGBTQ+ youth liberation and the eradication of the intersecting oppressions that harm LGBTQ+ youth and all peoples. Stonewall Youth primarily serves youth ages 12-21, with some activities for QTBIPOC folks up to age 30 in Thurston, Lewis, and Mason Counties. Programming includes peer support groups; drop-in hours; ongoing art projects; advocacy and mentorship; safe and sober social events (such as dances and performances); an annual 4-day youth leadership development and organizational planning retreat; and projects that provide essential items and emergency financial support to low-income youth.
Trans Families has been supporting parents and families with trans/nonbinary (trans) children since 2013. Starting in-person in Seattle, WA, TransFamilies expanded to launch virtually in 2019 with programming focusing on parents/caregivers of trans children, their children, and the professionals who serve them. Programming includes a Youth Community Space for trans youth ages 13-24; Tween Spark for trans youth ages 11-23; Kid Spark for trans youth ages 8-10; Trans Youth Taking Action Now (TYTAN), a leadership program for trans youth; and Healthy Relationships, a sex education class specifically designed for LGBTQ youth.
Trans Health & Wellness Center of WA (Trans-Wa) (https://transwa.org/) is a trans-led organization that advances health equity and justice for gender-expansive people across Washington State by eliminating barriers to self-determination, building gender-expansive community and capacity, and driving institutional and systemic change. Trans-Wa provide legal clinics for name and gender change on IDs; access to mental health assessments to support readiness for surgery for those ages 18+; referrals to services and an affirming directory of services; Trans Day of Celebration - a family friendly event; opportunities for young trans artists; and programming to support unhoused youth.
UTOPIA Washington (https://utopiawa.org/) is a queer and trans people of color-led, grassroots organization born out of the struggles, challenges, strength, and resilience of the Queer and Trans Pacific Islander (QTPI – “Q-T-pie”) communities. UTOPIA’s MANA Program is a queer and trans Pacific Islander-centered and -led youth program for QTPI/QTBIPoC Youth, creating a safe space for youth journeys into their identities and for those who are questioning their identities. UTOPIA’s cultural approach to the work allows youth to come into their identity in their own time and at their own pace.
ENDNOTES
1 Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement and Research and Movement Advancement Project. March 2023. The LGBTQI+ Economic and Financial (LEAF) Survey: Understanding the Financial Lives of LGBTQI+ People in the United States. https://www.mapresearch.org/leaf-survey-report; Kent, Ana Hernández and Sophia Scott. New Analysis Finds LGBTQ+ Households Trail in Income and Wealth. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis On the Economy Blog. December 2022.https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2022/dec/new-analysis-findslgbtq-households-trail-income-wealth.
2 Liu, Michael, Vishal R. Patel, Sahil Sandhu, Sari Reisner and Alex S. Keuroghlian. Health Care Discrimination and Care Avoidance Due to Patient-Clinician Identity Discordance Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults. The Annals of Family Medicine July 2024, 22 (4) 329-332; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/ afm.3130. https://www.annfammed.org/content/22/4/329; Liu, Michael, Vishal R. Patel, Sari L. Reisner, and Alex S. Keuroghlian. Health Status and Mental Health of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(8):984-986. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.2544 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/ jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2820271
3 Flores, Andrew R., Lynn Langton, Ilan H. Meyer, and Adam P. Romero. Victimization rates and traits of sexual and gender minorities in the United States: Results from the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2017. Science Advances, 2 Oct 2020; Vol 6, Issue 40. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv. aba6910. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aba6910?fbclid=IwAR01oLZW1XfpYlZIif_ XRxOTzgBjmddp6ML9zTl6URfqFYCw6vL88CwguHc
4 DeChants, J.P., Green, A.E., Price, M.N, & Davis, C.K. (2021). Homelessness and Housing Instability Among LGBTQ Youth. West Hollywood, CA: The Trevor Project. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/researchbriefs/homelessness-and-housing-instability-among-lgbtq-youth-feb-2022/; National Network for Youth. LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness. https://nn4youth.org/lgbtq-homeless-youth/; Price, C., Chanchan, D., Wheeler, C., Seip, N., & Rush, J. (Eds.). At the Intersections: A Collaborative Resource on LGBTQ Youth Homelessness. True Colors United and the National LGBTQ Task Force. 2019.
5 Kosciw, J. G., Clark, C. M., & Menard, L. (2022). The 2021 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of LGBTQ+ youth in our nation’s schools. New York: GLSEN. https://www.glsen.org/research/2021national-school-climate-survey
6 Youth.gov: https://youth.gov/youth-topics/lgbtq-youth/child-welfare.
7 Youth.gov: https://youth.gov/youth-topics/lgbtq-youth/juveni1e-justice.
8 https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2023/.
9 Dawson, Lindsey, Ashley Krizinger, and Jennifer Kates.The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBT People. Kaiser Family Foundation. March 11, 2021. https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/ the-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-lgbt-people/; File, Thom and Joey Marshall. Household Pulse Survey Shows LGBT Adults More Likely to Report Living in Households With Food and Economic Insecurity Than Non-LGBT Respondents. August 11, 2021. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/lgbt-communityharder-hit-by-economic-impact-of-pandemic.html; Movement Advancement Project. The Delta Variant & the Disproportionate Impacts of COVID-19 on LGBTQ Households in the U.S. November 2021. https://www. lgbtmap.org/2021-covid-lgbtq-households; Movement Advancement Project. The Disproportionate Impacts of COVID-19 on LGBTQ Households in the U.S. December 2020. https://www.lgbtmap.org/2020-covid-lgbtqhouseholds.
10 The Trevor Project Research Brief: Evidence on Covid-19 Suicide Risk and LGBTQ Youth. January 2021. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/COVID-19-and-LGBTQ-Youth-January-2021. pdf
11 A response from the initial needs assessment survey in this project.
12 Lee, W. Y., Hobbs, J. N., Hobaica, S., DeChants, J. P., Price, M. N., & Nath, R. (2024). State-level antitransgender laws increase past-year suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary young people in the USA. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01979-5. https://www.thetrevorproject. org/research-briefs/state-level-anti-transgender-laws-increase-past-year-suicide-attempts-amongtransgender-and-non-binary-young-people-in-the-usa/.
13 Smith, Helen. WIAA considers new policies for participation of transgender athletes in sports. https:// www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/some-wa-school-districts-push-for-changes-to-how-trans-athletes-canparticipate-in-sports/ar-AA1vKpeO?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1& wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1.
14 Lawther, Alyssia and Sammy Luffy. 2022 RESOURCE TRACKING REPORT: LGBTQ Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations. Funders for LGBTQ Issues. June 2024. https://lgbtfunders.org/research-item/2022-trackingreport/.
15 PRRI. Views on LGBTQ Rights in All 50 States: Findings from PRRI’s 2023 American Values Atlas. March 2024. https://www.prri.org/research/views-on-lgbtq-rights-in-all-50-states/.
16 Movement Advancement Project: Washington State Profile, https://www.lgbtmap.org/equality_maps/ profile_state/WA.
