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.