Our First Glimpse Into PFund’s Grantmaking Process

Reflection by Kate and Susan

How many cooks does it take to finish the perfect dish? No, this isn’t the start of a joke. It’s more of an intro to reflecting on PFund’s letter of inquiry process. In August PFund kicked off our annual grant round. We received more than 80 letters of inquiry from LGBT nonprofits and programs seeking funding for the work they are doing across the Upper Midwest.

The reason for the whole cooking question in the first sentence is this: there were seven people – a mix of staff and community members – who spent four hours talking through the letters. Having never been a part of this process before, we were more than impressed by the thoroughness of the process. There were at least three times when “the majority” voted no on a particular project, not seeing the connection between the project description and PFund’s grant guidelines. On each of these occasions, one of the reviewers made a passionate and detailed pitch, asking the rest of us to reflect for a moment longer on the potential impact PFund funding could have. They pointed out elements we had missed, provided context we had overlooked, and generally made sure that some very viable projects got through that might otherwise have been overlooked.

This is why the community part of a community foundation is key: not a single one of us has enough information or insight to fully appreciate the breadth of our community. The only thing we can each agree to do is this: keep listening and be open to learning. PFund is grateful for every organization, project and individual leader working hard to make our lives more joyful. In the end we invited 35 groups to submit full proposals. From GSA development to theater productions, from lobbying to leadership development, this year’s set of applicants are responding to urgent and critical needs across the region and building powerful LGBT communities for the longhaul.

While we can’t yet fund everything that deserves to be funded, we are going to continue working hard to get closer to funding every single one of them. Go ahead, go online and make a donation towards that glorious future. 

http://givemn.razoo.com/story/P-Fund-Foundation

Matthew Antonio's Ode to PFund

Ode to PFund – Performed August 3, 2011 by Matthew Antonio Bosch (PFund Volunteer & REI Graduate)
at PFund’s SummerCAMP to raise funding & awareness for the Racial Equity Initiative

I only got 5 minutes, 5 minutes is all I got

(c) Anna Min

To tell you about PFund, so I gotta make this hot

First off, who am I, a bunch of y’all don’t know

A queer Latino from New York named Matthew Antonio

I started out with PFund as a community volunteer

Reviewing scholarships for queer students, just finished my 4^th year

Reading these amazing stories, from so very many queers

I realized at Age 16, I was nowhere near this fierce

Underground queer activism in rural communities & the church

Or academic excellence through active grad research

So after a few years of that, I learned about a group

Where you could connect with others & enter the queers of color loop

Alfonso said it’s REI, we’re a few years strong & countin’

(c) Anna Min

I said REI’s a camping store, I’m not rappellin’ off no mountain!

He said no, it’s an initiative devoted to racial equity

We’ll be promoting collaboration, leadership, & integrity

You’ll get to meet new people, Black Latino Asian

Native & Middle Eastern, look it’s a POC celebration

During my time with REI, we had some monthly meetings

To talk about our conferences, our workshops, & some readings

We shared our daily struggles & success with solidarity

Across unlikely allies with surprising levels of clarity.

They sent me to a conference for queer POCs

I wish that would happen here, but San Diego sure did please

(c) Anna Min

REI brought in some speakers, I actually use their stuff at work

Plus they fed us pizza & salad, chomp chomp mmm…what a perk!

I got to visit places I’d never been before

Like the office for Shades of Yellow, so awesome to explore.

So you see you get connected, as a result of REI

Increasing your knowledge base & your POC network on the fly

You might think “Ok so that’s done, well what happens when you finish?”

Well the doors swing out wide open, the opportunities don’t diminish

They asked if I’d join PFund’s committee to find the next Executive Director

Since I’m a volunteer, a donor, they called me a ‘community connector’

(c) Anna Min

So then I met the staff, the Board, & some amazing committee members

And we hired Susan & Kate, it was unanimous I remember

Now look at this place, people of every ethnicity, faith, & age

What were you ever thinking, giving me a microphone and a stage?

But now you know about PFund, our initiatives are ever raging,

And I hope you found this format very informative and engaging.

Thank you

Cathy Perry - 2011 Power of One Award Recipient

One after the other, as people who knew Cathy Perry found out she was the recipient of this year’s Power of One award, they paused and smiled, nodding their heads, and said, “yes, yes, that’s exactly right. That’s exactly who should receive it.” Cathy has that effect on people.

In 2006, Cathy moved to Bemidji, Minn. from San Francisco and immediately began to put down roots and build her new home. In working with Servant Hearts, Cathy was one of the founders of the Hospitality Initiative, a program which works to increase awareness, services and support for marginalized LGBTI2SQA youth and adults in Greater Minnesota.  Its vision and its efforts focus on creating inclusive, safe, welcoming and bias-free communities within the northern Minnesota rural region.

(c) Cathy Perry

Cathy founded the Human Connection Foundation, advocating for ESL students and their families. Since settling in Bemidji, she has done extensive community volunteer work, and event coordination for Evergreen House, Inc. and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Cathy's immense experience with cultural diversity training, working with volunteers, community organizations, leadership and being a world traveler compliments her passion in dispelling the disparities within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer communities. In addition to Servant Hearts, Cathy serves on the Board of Directors for Rural AIDS Action Network (RAAN).

And that’s only the beginning. Cathy is one of those people who, when she sees a need or an opportunity, immediately joins in with others to create solutions that help make their shared community stronger. Cathy has been instrumental in the formation of a GSA at Bemidji High School. She has been a speaker at a variety of educational and community programs. Among them are Bemidji State University's GLBTA group, The Phoenix. She has spoken at Evergreen Services, the Beltrami, Cass and Hubbard Counties Sexual Assault Program.Cathy has been a guest speaker at several classes at Bemidji State University addressing gender equality. Cathy hosted Esera Tuaolo when he spoke at BSU for National coming Out Day. She has participated in conversations with Bemidji Middle School, Headwaters Allliance for Suicide Prevention.  

One of the three people who nominated Cathy, Jini Lawless (a PFund scholar), had this to say about Cathy:  “Cathy is a diligent, thorough, hard-working, committed woman who's forethought and dedication have made a profound impact in this community.  Cathy has brought light, information, and hope to a town where previously there had been little talk of LGBT issues or resources for LGBT people.”

It’s not only program development that takes Cathy’s time. She is someone who shows up for the biggest and the smallest jobs. From designing brochures to printing and distributing handouts to staying late to clean, she makes sure that every level of work is taken care of.

Cathy has been the momentum behind RAP (Respect Awareness Project)-a week long community educational event which will include a seminar with presentations by a physician, mental health provider, theologian, 3 presentations by Jamie Nabozny and daily empowerment drumming activities as well as opportunities for an open mic.  With each activity, Cathy has arranged venues, co-ordinated availibility of CEU's with Bemidji State University, provided "creature comforts", handouts, arranged for breaks and meals and generally provided hospitality to all attenedees.

Says Tandy Bowman, one of her other nominators, “Cathy’s activism, love for people and passion to make a difference is changing our northern community.  Cathy is a very strong leader and motivated, challenges the norm and expresses the need to improve, grow and build unified communities.  Her leadership is beyond words and those who work with her, around her or listen when she gives presentations, know that Cathy's passion for bias-free, inclusive and welcoming communities is what needs to be present continually.  She judges no one and her heart is always ready to accept the challenge to make changes.”

This is work of love for Cathy and her partner, Tandy Bowman. Just stop by their house on a regular Saturday afternoon. There will be young people in the kitchen making posters for a social event in the coming month, neighbors stopping by to talk about the news, and others coming in and out to drop off newsletters or something they’ve just finished baking. This is Cathy’s work and why PFund is honored to award her with the 2011 Power of One Award.

summerCAMP, racial equity and PFund’s legacy

In 2005, a group of Board members and community members of color – with a few white allies -  successfully created the first ever endowment for LGBT people of color in the US. That’s right – until six years ago, no such endowment existed. Shortly after that, the Funders for LGBTQ Issues began their Racial Equity Initiative (REI). REI directed dollars to community foundations, including PFund, to be used as grants for organizations run by and for LGBT people of color. These national dollars were to be matched by local dollars, the idea being that each local community would then build its capacity to fundraise for LGBT people of color organizations.

And so last week we partied precisely for that reason. PFund’s third ever summerCAMP event was also our largest yet. Over 80 people came together to deepen and build relationships, listen to powerful speakers including Kaoz, and to put some money into the REI bucket.
The REI initiative, a national initiative, ends this year. In December, Minneapolis will host a national convening as part of the ending note of a four-year project. BOLD: A Queer and Trans People of Color Gathering to Support our Liberation and Self Determination is a historic gathering that will be taking place from December 2-4 2011 in downtown Minneapolis. This gathering, which is being hosted by the Astraea Foundation and PFund Foundation, will convene over 80 queer and trans people of color organizations funded by eight foundations across the country. 

This gathering is historic because it’s the first national gathering of queer and trans people of color in the United States. The opportunity will provide attendees with an opportunity to build organizing skills, sharpen thinking, strengthen collective voice and create a vision for the future that speaks directly to histories of resilience, creativity, desire, passion and vision. Ten of the eighty people gathering will be coming from the Twin Cities metro area. Locally, we are excited to watch as they bring what they learn at the convening into their everyday work and lives.

This convening is the “closing note” of the Racial Equity Initiative work that has strongly informed PFund’s activities for the last three years. But the ending isn’t an ending. Instead, it’s a “closing forward.” PFund will “end” REI as part of an opening to the next chapter of PFund’s racial equity and racial justice work. PFund’s commitment to communities of color across the region predates REI. It continues long after the grant reports have been written and the REI evaluation has been completed. summerCAMP in 2011 was focused on raising dollars for the REI match.  summerCAMP 2012 will still raise dollars to be passed on to LGBT organizations in the upper Midwest working towards racial equity and racial justice. The party will continue to grow, as will the resources that PFund can provide.  We hope you want to be a part of it.

In the short term, you can do a whole host of things to support PFund’s racial equity and racial justice work:
•    Give towards the REI match through to the end of 2011
•    Consider making a legacy gift to go towards the Communities of Color endowment
•    Spread the word about this work, making sure that at PFund we know about emerging LGBT organizations or projects that center racial equity and racial justice

And keep watching this page!  We will make sure you stay in the loop about the ending of REI and the vision for moving forward.