Make no mistake: we are building power. Our movements are being taken extremely seriously. Here in the United States, this hostility came to a head in November with the ushering in of a presidential administration intent on denying us––as queer people, as women, as migrants, as black and brown people––our right to exist free of persecution.

In Turkey and Honduras, trans activist Hande Kader and indigenous organizer Berta Cáceres, two powerful women who placed their bodies on the line for their communities, were murdered. In Latin America, religious fundamentalists organized stronger than ever to protest the feminist and LGBTI movements that our grantee partners are leading.

We were made for this moment. Astraea was founded in and for times precisely like this one.

From our first cycle of grants in 1980, we’ve existed to retaliate and to expand the very spaces that white supremacy, capitalism, xenophobia, economic injustice, and sexism seek to shutter. Because attacks on our bodies, our rights, and our freedoms have been perpetrated against us since the founding of this country, we know how to respond: we listen, we partner up, and we support each other.

In 2016, we funded over $3.5 million in grants to 190 organizations in 62 countries. We expanded our Intersex Human Rights Fund, engaging new donors and growing a cohort of groups funded for the first time; we exceeded the $20 million goal for Fueling the Frontlines; we held two CommsLabs gatherings, most recently in South Africa, where we began prioritizing healing justice. We welcomed new organizations into our fierce network of activists and we continued to support those who’ve been fighting with a vengeance. In Sri Lanka, Venasa Transgender Network works to reduce the number of human rights violations faced by transmasculine people. In New York, Audre Lorde Project builds leadership and political strategies for LGBTQ people of color.

In our 2016 Annual Report’s pages, we’ve shared how we have and will continue to power forward. Thanks to the unwavering support from donors, artists, and activists like yourself, Astraea has continued to exist in order to resist.

Here is the story of our––and your––uprising!

Read it now here.