Stonewall Community Foundation

**What we do** Stonewall Community Foundation strengthens the LGBTQ community and Movement by making strategic, values-driven investments in dynamic organizations, projects, and leaders. As a public foundation, we do that in close partnership with the people impacted by our mission, our diverse and global supporter base, and the many individuals pushing forward the front lines of progress. We raise money and fund hundreds of nonprofits every year in over 30 issue areas that advance queer liberation, including racial, social, and economic justice. We also administer a variety of donor funds and house six unique scholarship programs, including the largest in the country created to support LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers. Our grantmaking, which began during the height of the AIDS crisis, is complemented by capacity building initiatives that equip changemakers with the tools needed to maximize their impact. That includes free consulting, coaching, and monthly workshops. In all we do—from seed funding to planned giving—our priority is to make the greatest difference possible. **Our values** We believe philanthropy, while an expression of love and care, is also power wielded. As such, we strive to model and build equity, and to be accountable, transparent, and trustworthy in all our practices and the advancement of our mission. This includes making philanthropy accessible to everyone and giving people space to live beyond the false binary of being only a benefactor *or* a beneficiary. We believe in centering and investing in the leadership of people who are made to experience the greatest vulnerability in our communities. We also prioritize issues causing the most harm in the lives of LGBTQ people *and* those affording us the greatest joy and opportunity. With that, we are explicitly committed to: ending the criminalization of queerness, gender nonconformity, and poverty; lifting up all communities of color and transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people; funding art and cultural production; embracing disability justice; working to end racism and anti-Blackness; and supporting organizations and work that serve undocumented immigrants and people involved in survival economies. **Our history** Against the tragic backdrop of the 1980s AIDS crisis, the tapestry of LGBTQ nonprofits was becoming more vibrant. In New York City, dozens of groups sprang up to address emergent issues and, with that, there was a growing need for resourcing. Our founders had a solution: creating a foundation, for us and by us, where loss could inspire legacy and the power of individual giving could be amplified. Stonewall came to life in 1990 as a collection of donor funds, and as the local landscape evolved, so did our identity. We embraced a focus on small, grassroots nonprofits and populations experiencing the greatest vulnerability; we ramped up both our fundraising and grantmaking; and community participation was carefully threaded throughout our work.