July has been a whirlwind of activity for the Pride Foundation team and we can’t wait to fill you in on all the great things happening! Before we dive into more updates and summer highlights later this month, check out these 3 Cool Things that made July special for us.
Pride Foundation board member, James Steele, traveled to Washington DC to attended a White House sponsored convening celebrating LGBTQI+ and Two-Spirit Indigenous communities!
“I was honored to attend the first Convening Celebrating LGBTQI+ and Two-Spirit Indigenous Communities, sponsored by the White House, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Several Indigenous Two-Spirit members from across the country attended the event. Deb Haaland, Secretary of the US Department of Interior, and Sharice Davids, U.S. representative from Kansas’s 3rd congressional district, honored us with remarks. We also had a panel discussion with several Two-Spirit people from across the country.” — James Steele, Pride Foundation Board Member
Omni Romero, Director of Community Advocacy, Research, and Education (CARE), has been appointed to the Washington State LGBTQ Commission! The Washington State LGBTQ Commission aims to better connect the state with the LGBTQ+ and Two-Spirit community, understand their needs, and advocate for equity in all areas of state government. Congratulations, Omni!
The Oregon Queer Data Project! Have you heard about the Oregon Queer Data Project? It aims to cultivate comprehensive, accessible, and intersectional data about queer communities in Oregon, and is a timely and powerful addition to the set of tools for LGBTQIA2S+ advocates, champions, and changemakers. They were recently featured in this article in the Bay Area Reporter. We have been so excited for this unique data project that’s the first of its kind (and have been serving as the fiscal sponsor for this important work).
As we wrap up this edition of 3 Cool Things, we want to remind you about a couple of upcoming events that you won’t want to miss:
- The first episode of our CARE Seedlings Webinar series, Building our De-Escalation and Defense Toolkit, is this Thursday, August 15th 11:45am PST. Sign-up here to learn tangible de-escalation and physical defense tools to support community advocacy by and for LGBTQ+ people.
- Tend Idaho takes place in Boise on September 12th! We hope you’ll join us for a night of community and celebration in downtown Boise. RSVP here.
With pride,
Katie Carter
(she/her)
CEO