Queer Mobilization Fund’s Largest Grant Cycle

The QMF team certainly wasn’t surprised to see an increase in the applications we received due to the mass passage and proposition of hundreds of anti-trans hate bills moving across the United States, particularly the South. However, even our highest growth expectations were exceeded when we broke our previous record of 42 applications and received 165 applications for funding in 2023! Thanks to a group of incredible funders responding to this urgent need, we were able to award 50 grants for our 2023 cycle, totaling $308,000 in grants awarded in 2023 and $656,000 in grants awarded to date!

As a capacity building grant program, our technical assistance program, which provides both one-on-one and cohort-model resources and coaching to our grantee organizations, is incredibly important to us. To respond to this massive increase in grantees, we have increased our technical assistance providers significantly this year. In June, we onboarded Giannina Callejas as our new Capacity Building Manager. Giannina has been a key part in QMF’s development, serving as a member of our grantmaking panel for several years before coming onto our staff. With a strong background in organizational growth and development, she has been a key addition to our team and a fantastic resource for our grantees.

We were also able to onboard four consultants across three contract groups. Blair Franklin of Alight Alchemy, Mitzi Melaine Wilson of Emerge Flourish, and Christopher Cuevas and Gustavo Rico of Colibri Consulting have stepped up to assist our grantees with their coaching and capacity building needs. With their help, we have been able to offer technical assistance to each grantee, with 80% of our groups opting in to regular coaching sessions with our team.

In our technical assistance with groups so far this grant cycle, we have seen significant growth and accomplishment from our grantees. Some of what our grantees have achieved in just a few short months so far in this grant cycle is listed below:

• Grimalkin Records has completed a strategic planning process with the assistance of their technical assistance provider. They now have a clear and deliverable plan to guide their work for the next three years.
• H2afrO developed their proposal writing skills and submitted a workshop proposal to a major LGBTQ+ conference.
• Paragon Cooperative Co has worked on developing a grant application template to bring more ease to the process of applying for funding opportunities.
• Soulthrive held an in-person strategic planning process with the assistance of their TA provider, Blair, to build out clear organizational goals and timelines.
• Afro Erotic Body has secured a presenter position for a TEDx talk and two additional grants to support their work

All of this work serves to build and strengthen our QTBIPOC movement infrastructure across the US Southeast. Through the growth and development of critical organizations within the QMF grantee cohort, we are impacting the movement ecosystem and building the foundation for power-building across the QTBIPOC organizing landscape.

We are deeply excited to support our grantees as they continue to grow through this grant cycle!