Calling all lesbian poets and fiction writers! The Lesbian Writers Fund deadline has been extended to July 15th. Awards range from $10,000 for two winners to $100 for honorable mentions. The Lesbian Writers Fund supports the work of emerging lesbian poets and fiction writers across the U.S.
Too often, lesbian writing is marginalized by literary venues and funding sources, resulting in exceptionally talented artists unable to receive the nurturing and support so vital to their craft. The Lesbian Writers Fund is attempting to remedy this – and with good results. A former grantee used her award to purchase a computer, and no longer had to write by hand; and another attracted the attention of a prominent agent who facilitated the publication of her first novel.
Apply to the Lesbian Writers Fund
Celebrate Pride with Astraea! It’s been quite a year for LGBTI people in the U.S. and around the world. Come celebrate our successes and get inspired! Hosted at the beautiful home of Katherine Acey, our executive director, Astraea staff and friends will regale you with tasty food, thirst-quenching libations and lively conversations. This is one party you won’t want to miss!
PARTY WITH PRIDE
Annual Astraea Staff Party
Sunday, June 14th
2:00 – 5:00 PM
Home of Executive Director Katherine Acey
Brooklyn, NY
Good eats, good drinks, good music and great folks!
Featuring passionate poetry from Astraea’s own Fly Onakeme Etaghene!
Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene is a Nigerian dyke performance activist, poet, dancer, playwright and actress. Fly uses her poetry to chisel a verbal sculpture of her soul while addressing issues of race, class, sexuality, imperialism, love and family. Fly has self-published three collections of poetry, toured nationally and recently debuted her one woman show, Volcanos Birthright{s}, in NYC.
Suggested Contribution: $40 (more if you can, less if you can’t. No one will be turned away.)
If you’re interested in hosting your own Astraea House Party, please call Raymond Hsia, events manager at: 917-346-3198 or e-mail at: rhsia@astraeafoundation.rog
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice announced today that it has raised 4 million dollars as part of an historic global fundraising campaign to raise the bar on giving to women and girls by high-net-worth women. The money raised is part of a total of $176 million raised in the U.S. and around the world by the Women Moving Millions campaign, far surpassing the campaign goal of $150 million.
Over a three-year period more than 90 women have each committed $1 million or more to one or more of the 145 members of the Womens Funding Network, of which Astraea is a co-founder. These gifts will support women-led solutions to issues from poverty and human security to advancing access to health care and education. Together, the gifts of these committed donor-activists to Astraea amplify each other, ensuring that human rights, dignity and freedom are secured for LGBTI people globally.
We are delighted, but not surprised, by the fact that–against the bleak backdrop of the global recession–women have stepped forward to raise the bar on giving to women and girls. They recognize that giving more, not less, is what is needed when we are in the midst of economic crisis, said Helen LaKelly Hunt, co-founder of the Women Moving Millions campaign. Never before have women of wealth written large checks to fund womens causes. This is an historic moment in the world of womens philanthropy.
Now more than ever, at this time of crisis, investing in LGBTI-led work is critical, said Katherine Acey, Executive Director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Lesbian and gay couples and their families in the U.S. are much more likely to be poor than heterosexual couples due to discrimination against women and LGBTI people. Our grantee partners tackle these issues and generate creative solutions for economic justice. The results we’ve seen suggest that LGBTI-led solutions are the savviest way for donors to propel lasting community and social change.
The Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is the only foundation in the world solely dedicated to funding LGBTI issues in the U.S. and internationally. Our grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy programs help lesbians and allied communities claim their human rights.
The Womens Funding Network is a global network of 145 women’s foundations that raise money and make grants to create lasting social change through the advancement and leadership of women and girls.
www.womenmovingmillions.org
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Media Contact: Melissa Hoskins, Communications Associate
Phone: 212.529.8021 x26 Email: communications@astraeafoundation.org
Don’t miss the New York premier of the film that has everyone talking. Directed by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Debra Chasnoff, Straightlaced paints a breathtakingly candid portrait of how gender roles, sexuality and homophobia are shaping the lives of American teenagers today. With stunning candor, and often unexpected humor, a richly diverse cross section of teens open up about the ways that gender performance norms and anti-gay attitudes and behaviors box in everyone.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College [map]
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY
6:00 PM: Sponsor Party
7:00 PM: Screening
8:30 PM: General Audience Reception
Purchase tickets
How you dress, how much you eat, whether you can cry or hug a friend, which classes you take, which sports you play, the pressures to have sex and the incorrect assumptions you make about classmates are just some of the complex issues brought to light in Straightlaced. While the worst case scenarios in the film lead to suicide and violence, Straightlaced is leaving audiences uplifted and inspired. As one audience member shouted at the end of a recent screening, “I love this film! I love this film! I want everyone to see it!”
Sponsors:
Astraea Foundation
Ms. Foundation
Third Wave Foundation
NY Women’s Fund
On May 15th, join Astraea, OP.LYNX and Q-Wave for cocktails, chatting and mingling in a museum! Meet and rub elbows with fun people, enjoy the free exhibition tours, then relax and chat the night away whilst sipping an intriguing and whimsical lychee martini! A record turnout of over 500 women joined us at the last mixer (in spite of a February-like chill in November 2008)!
Yang Fudong,
Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest / Part III, 35mm film
DATE & TIME:
Friday, May 15, 2009
6:00 – 9:00 PM
LOCATION:
Leo Bar at Asia Society
725 Park Avenue
(at 70th Street)
New York, NY
Drink Specials on martinis, bellinis and more from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.
Leo Bar is a cash bar with no cover charge.
Exhibition Tours scheduled for 7:15 PM and 7:45 PM.
Currently on view:
Asian Journeys: Collecting Art in Post-war America
Yang Fudong: Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest
Partnering Organizations:
Astraea Foundation
OP.LYNX
Q-Wave
DEADLINE TODAY! Astraea seeks interns with our Program Team. Internships are available in our US Program and our International Program. Interns will gain a familiarity with progressive grantmaking and the communities and organizations that Astraea funds.
Interns will gain experience in a variety of aspects of grantmaking, including: researching & reporting on conditions experienced by LGBT communities in the US & internationally; summarizing proposal highlights for review and writeups for grants program publications; coordinating community briefings by visiting activists; applicant outreach for arts awards to individual artist & writers; archiving past grant.
Click here for more information
Join Astraea and the Slovak-Czech Women’s Fund for an intimate evening discussion on LGBTQI Human Rights in Slovakia and Czech Republic. Astraea will also present about the work of our grantee partners in Eastern Europe.
The Slovak-Czech Womens Fund was established at the beginning of 2004 as the sole grantmaking organization dedicated to advancing womens rights both the Czech and Slovak Republics. The main objective of the SCWF is to improve the status of women in the Slovak and Czech societies and to contribute to increased visibility and power of the womens movements in both countries. SCWF supports actions and initiatives that promote equal opportunities for women and men, combat all forms of violence against women, protect womens human rights, prevent human trafficking, empower Roma women, and eliminate gender stereotypes. SCWF also supports initiatives that tackle issues that most other donors shy away from, such as lesbian rights and the reproductive rights of women.
Since its inception, SCWF has awarded 154 grants in the total amount of $560,000 USD.
Monday, April 27, 2009
6:30 9:00 PM
Astraea Foundation
116 East 16th Street, 7th Floor [map]
New York, NY
Light food and beverage will be provided.
Suggested donation of $20. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
Limited seating for this event. Click here to RSVP.
Join us for Masculinity/Femininity (Part II), a Have Art: Will Travel! FOR PEACE AND EQUALITY event featuring: Linda Stein, Feminist Activist Sculptor and Astraea Visual Arts Committee member in dialogue with Michael Kimmel, Author of Guyland.
Includes reception and sculptural performance
Monday, April 20, 2009
6:30 8:30pm
The Art Club
100 Reade Street [map]
Tribeca in Manhattan
(between West Broadway and Church Street)
Limited seating. To RSVP, please e-mail: info@LindaStein.com
Sponsors:
- Astraea Foundation
- Changing Men for Changing Times
- Flomenhaft Gallery
- National Council for Research on Women
- On The Issues Magazine
- Third Wave Foundation
- Women of Color Policy Network
- Women’s Enews
Join Astraea in marking the 40th anniversary of the legendary Stonewall Rebellion, a spark that helped launch four decades of queer radical movements — sex radicalism, lesbian feminism, and transgender liberation; anti-war, HIV/AIDS, economic and racial justice struggles; and more.
Some LGBT activists would draw a straight line from the uprising against police violence then to the campaign for marriage equality now — but we know there has been a diverse abundance of agendas and visions for queer and trans politics every step of the way.
In conjunction with Left Turn magazine’s new issue focused on queer radicalism, this event will present an informative and inspiring evening of stories
from movements past, strategies for the present moment, and our dreams for the future.
Featuring: Katherine Acey, Executive Director, Astraea Foundation and Astraea grantee partners and colleagues.
Monday, April 20 2009
6:30pm 9:00pm
The LGBT Center
208 West 13th Street
New York, NY [map]
Sponsors:
Audre Lorde Project
Brecht Forum
FIERCE
Left Turn
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
Queers for Economic Justice
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Executive Director Katherine Acey provides insight and inspiration on the way forward for nonprofits and foundations in a timely episode of Laura Flander’s GRITtv. Katherine joins The Nation contributing writer Eyal Press, Marjorie Fine of the Center for Community Change and Talia Schank of Community Voices Heard.
from movements past, strategies for the present moment, and our dreams for the future.