Letters from Astraea's Board Co-Chairs and Interim Executive Director
A closer look at our 2020 grantmaking
Our 2020 grantee partners
Our 2020 donors
A big-picture look at our 2020 finances
Astraea and grantee partner stories from 2020
LIKE TREES GROWING SURELY AND STEADILY IN A FOREST, the movements Astraea supports—grassroots, feminist, and LBTQI movements around the world—have been laying their foundations, strengthening their roots, and planting new seeds for years. With each passing generation, our movements add new rings to their trees, building more and deeper knowledge. With each new organization, the forest grows thicker, lusher, more resilient, more alive.
2020 brought with it unprecedented storms that shook us all: a raging global pandemic; increased police brutality; state violence; heightened surveillance against Black, Brown, Indigenous, migrant, and other marginalized communities; a rise in authoritarianism; the ongoing closing of civil societies; and extractive capitalist systems designed only to take and never to give. Yet, our movements—who represent communities disproportionately impacted by each of these crises—have always shown us that, when we center care, we can transform lone trees into forests. When we fight for justice, joy, rest, and healing, we create ecosystems that will sustain and nurture us forever.
What is collective care? How do we take care of our movements so they can continue to care for their communities? Scientists have found that neighboring trees help to sustain each other through their root systems, either directly, by intertwining their roots, or indirectly, by growing fungal networks around the roots that serve as a sort of extended nervous system, connecting separate trees. Community care and the creation of interdependent networks of solidarity are the basis and ongoing motivation for the work of grassroots movements—from mutual aid to advocacy. As a feminist funder and the only philanthropic organization working exclusively to fund LGBTQI movements, our role and mandate are clearer than ever:
1)Make sure we strengthen our movements’ root systems by moving more money and resources to them (not just now but over the long-haul), so that our movements can continue to transform their powerful visions into reality, and build towards our collective liberation.
2)Nourish and care for ourselves by building the infrastructure we need to support our growth and transformation, and by prioritizing our own wellness, healing, and sustainability, so that we can in turn care for our movements.
Our 2020 Annual Report is a celebration of care and its ability to transform. Our movements have shown us time and time again that when we act collectively and from a place of deep care, we not only keep the forest alive, we support it to grow and to thrive. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for standing strong beside us.
Bookda Gheisar and Eboné Bishop,
Board Co-Chairs
Dear Friends,
Care and solidarity have always been Astraea’s reason for existing, and this year has only proven them more necessary for the sustainability of our movements and for Astraea’s own transformation. As a global pandemic—along with heightened police violence, increased surveillance, the ongoing closing of civil societies, the rollbacks of human rights, rising authoritarianism, and of course, the climate crisis—continued to ravage our world, the criticality of grassroots movement-building has only deepened. And as our movements continue to care for their communities, we continue to resource them, and our donors and partners continue to support us and stand behind us. 2020 was our biggest grantmaking year yet: we granted $5.3 million to 203 grantee partners through 250 grants, a 26% increase from 2019.
In April 2020, we launched our COVID-19 Collective Care Response, raising and moving more flexible resources to grantee partners and their communities, and making it easier for grantee partners to access funding. We are proud to have raised and leveraged over $1 million in funding from institutional and individual donors to support grantee partners’ resilience. This year, we also launched our Collective Care Blog, published several pivotal reports on the state of LBQ, trans, and intersex funding, and wrapped up our first LGBTI Global Development Partnership, which stewarded millions in government funding to the grassroots! Meanwhile, our grantee partners around the world continue their powerful work, supporting their communities to thrive as best they can, even in this tenuous moment. Through mutual aid efforts, advocacy, and the practice of collective care, they are leading us through this period of transformation with a powerful vision of collective liberation, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to that vision.
We began our search for permanent Executive leadership in 2020 but, just as the unpredictability of the past year shifted the trajectory of so many of our lives, it similarly impacted Astraea’s own transition and this search process. The Search Committee and the Board paused at the end of 2020 to restructure and reevaluate the process, and have since relaunched the search with the goal of finding a strategic, strong, feminist leader to guide Astraea in its commitment to advancing gender, racial, disability, and economic justice around the world.
This year has served as a reminder of the necessity and purpose of Astraea’s mandate which has always been to resource the LBTQI, Black, Brown, migrant, Indigenous, and feminist movements at the grassroots—those who have so often been the most marginalized in our communities but whose transformative visions are charting the path towards our collective liberation. It has reiterated the necessity of feminist funding that is flexible, that is nimble, that is sustainable—funding that is responsive to the needs and priorities of our movements, so that they can care for their communities. This year, we have learned just how inherently and deeply interconnected all our ecosystems are, and that care is an essential element of our collective transformation.
In Solidarity,
Bookda Gheisar and Eboné Bishop
Co-Chairs, Astraea Board of Directors
Sandy Nathan,
Interim Executive Director
Dear Friends,
What a year it has been. By the time you read this letter, the world will have been navigating the global COVID-19 pandemic for over a year—a year in which we have each been challenged to reimagine ways of working, doing, and being. Grassroots movements—the LBTQI, feminist, Black, Brown, migrant, and Indigenous communities that Astraea has always proudly supported—have continued to show us the way forward, calling us to prioritize collective care as a tool for survival, healing, joy, and justice for us all. Concurrently, it has become undeniably clear how dysfunctional our systems and economies are, how pervasive structural racism continues to be, and just how dangerous white supremacy and right-wing authoritarianism can be when given legitimacy. That is why it has been critical for us to continue to support the folks most impacted—those who hold the radical dream of liberation—while also turning inwards, reflecting, and committing to an "internal" Astraea that mirrors the visions of our grantee partners.
Astraea has taken this call to heart, and we have shown up—for ourselves and for our movements. We have spent the last year intentionally beginning to undo our own capitalist, white supremacist instinct to constantly be working, doing, and moving at breakneck speed. We have embraced the ways in which slowing down can ultimately help us to grow and transform the organization, while holding steadfast the vision of our founding mothers. We have been taught just how necessary space for healing is. Astraea had already begun this organizational transformation work in September 2019 when I joined the organization, but every day since we have taken steps to deepen our commitment to collective care for ourselves, the organization, and our movements.
In March of 2020, as the pandemic took hold, all our staff began working remotely. We emphasized self-care, community care, and collective wellbeing was our main priority, and we leaned into our queer feminist values to guide each step we took in response to this moment. From providing unlimited sick leave to reducing our work hours, we took several necessary, tangible steps to ensure our staff were cared for. We have also spent the year redoubling our efforts to strengthen our organizational culture in order to ensure long-term stability and build towards an organization that is truly inclusive of all who are a part of it. So far this has included staff-wide anti-racism focus groups and a training on our role in the non-profit industrial complex, with more to come.
In July, we took an organization-wide pause for two weeks. The pause was an opportunity for Astraea staff to step away from our desks and reflect on how we can step more into “being” as opposed to “doing.” We examined our internal practices as we work to be an organization that is truly anti-racist, intersectional, feminist, queer, and international. We recognized the pause as not just a vacation, but as a radical, political, subversive act: one that rejects dominant capitalist and white supremacist definitions of productivity as tied to success, and instead disrupts by embracing rest, care, and joy as critical to the health of our people, and therefore the health of Astraea.
With the creation of our expanded Management Team, we are working to strengthen our leadership pipeline and are in the midst of updating our organizational structure and decision-making models in alignment with our feminist values. These efforts will take time and concerted commitment, another reason why we must create the spaciousness needed for them to be successful efforts that will prepare us well for new permanent executive leadership in 2021.
It has been an honor to lead Astraea over the last year. I am grateful to our staff, Board of Directors, and all of you for how you have unwaveringly stood with us and our movements. Astraea is financially strong thanks to the faith and support of all our donors who recognize Astraea’s intersectional support for global LBTQI movements. We were humbled to receive a $4 million gift from MacKenzie Scott last year in honor of this work. With your continued invaluable support, we are steadily bolstering our own systems, policies, and practices, all while resourcing our movements to grow and make change. Throughout the rest of my tenure, I will continue to prioritize sustainability, organizational strengthening, and collective care, while bringing in the fresh perspectives and energy that we need to guide Astraea into the future.
Thank you for continuing to believe in Astraea, in the bold vision of our founding mothers, and in the power of care and transformation.
In Solidarity,
Sandy Nathan
Interim Executive Director
We are deeply inspired by the ways in which LBTQI movements keep growing and transforming to meet the moment and build towards a brighter vision for the future. In response to the deep ongoing harms of systemic racism, the rise of far-right fascism, and the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, our movements are sowing the seeds towards our collective liberation. Our work is to support movements to grow strong foundations and to thrive over the long haul. From the queer and trans elders who paved the way for today’s movements, to the intersex organizations around the world that are providing mutual aid to see their communities through the pandemic, our movements are showing us what is possible when our work is grounded in collective care.
Illustrated by Amir Khadar
Participants at CommsLabs in South Africa in 2016. Credit: Lerato Maduna
Latin American and Caribbean Intersex Convening in Buenos Aires, February 2020. Credit: Latin American intersex communities
Rromnjako Ilo, Community outreach 2016. Credit: Rromnjako Ilo
Katherine Acey. Credit: Astraea archives
Credits: Community United Against Violence and interACT
Illustrated by Amir Khadar
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Credit: Sappho for Equality
Illustration by: Gloria Muthoka; Design by: Design Action Collective
Credit: Intersex Community of Zimbabwe
Credit: Tzk'at
Credit: Love and Struggle Photos
Credit: National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network (NQTTCN)
Credit: Black and Pink
Credit: GALANG
Credit: Mesahat
Credit: Queer Sista Platform
Credit: Armario Abierto
Credit: Guyana Trans United
| Without Donor Restrictions | With Donor Restrictions | All Funds | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support and Revenue | |||
| Grants and Contributions | |||
| Core Programs and Expenses | 3,120,233 | 16,159,402 | 19,279,635 |
| Sponsored Projects | — | 1,766,952 | 1,766,952 |
| Net Investment Return | 125,759 | 414,263 | 540,022 |
| Foreign Currency Transactions (Loss) Gain | — | — | — |
| Other Income | 1,030 | — | 1,030 |
| Total Revenue | 3,247,022 | 18,340,617 | 21,587,639 |
| Net Assets Released From Restrictions | |||
| Core Programs and Expenses | 21,037,193 | (21,037,193) | — |
| Sponsored Projects | 1,732,137 | (1,732,137) | — |
| Total Revenue after Releases | 26,016,352 | (4,428,713) | 21,587,639 |
| Expenses | |||
| Program Services | |||
| Grantmaking | 6,620,770 | 6,620,770 | |
| Core Programs | 13,106,901 | 13,106,901 | |
| Sponsored Projects | 1,534,121 | 1,534,121 | |
| Total Program Services | 21,261,792 | — | 21,261,792 |
| Supporting Services | |||
| Administrative and General | 875,040 | 875,040 | |
| Fundraising | 1,179,175 | 1,179,175 | |
| Total Supporting Services | 2,054,215 | — | 2,054,215 |
| Total Expenses | 23,316,007 | — | 23,316,007 |
| Change in Net Assets | 2,700,345 | (4,428,713) | (1,728,368) |
| Beginning Net Assets as of June 30, 2019 | 1,156,466 | 11,990,844 | 13,147,310 |
| Ending Net Assets as of June 30, 2020 | 3,856,811 | 7,562,131 | 11,418,942 |
Based on audited financial statements for the year ending June 30, 2020
A note about our donor list: Long-time partners may notice that our donor list looks different this year. As a queer, feminist women's fund that endeavors to center gender, racial, and economic justice in all that we do, we recognize all of our donors who make our work possible. Every single dollar makes a difference, stretching all the way back to Astraea's cross-class founding around a kitchen table in 1977. Presenting our donor list alphabetically, rather than by size of gift, is a better reflection of our true appreciation of each and every one of you. Thank you!
Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice is the only philanthropic organization working exclusively to advance LGBTQI rights around the globe. We support hundreds of brilliant and brave grantee partners in the U.S. and internationally who challenge oppression and seed social change. We work for racial, economic, social, and gender justice, because we all deserve to live our lives freely, without fear, and with profound dignity.
We envision a world where all people can actively and enthusiastically belong, regardless of their sex, sexuality, gender, bodies, dis/ability, race, class, nationality, migration status, or any other aspect of identity or circumstance.
Our mission is to fuel local and global movements that shift power to LGBTQI people and organizations pursuing social justice and human rights. We do this by providing support in the form of grantmaking, philanthropic advocacy, communications, and capacity building.
Designers: Kimberly Costa, Adam Shaw-Vardi (Lousch Creations)
Editor: Bridget de Gersigny
Writer: Mihika Srivastava
Proofreader: Beau Gambold
Contributors: Kim Kaletsky, Mikail Khan
