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Webinar – Grantmaking for Disability: LGBTQIA+ Funding

Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

Blue and green graphic for the Disability Equity Series webinar entitled Grantmaking for Disability: LGBTQIA+ Funding. The date of the event is May 9, 2024 at 1:00pm ET. Featuring photos of moderator Amoretta Morris and panelists Cory Lira, Shaena Johnson, and Masen Davis.
Register for the Webinar

An estimated 3 – 5 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live with disabilities. However, funding for disability rights and justice represented only one cent of every $10 in foundation grants awarded in 2019, and only 28 cents of every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2021 specifically supported LGBTQ communities. As we witness a spike in homophobic, transphobic, and ableist legislation passing across the United States, philanthropy must take action to fund inclusion, rights, and justice for disabled LGBTQIA+ communities.

We’ll cover topics including:

CART will be provided. If you require another accommodation to fully participate in the webinar, please note it in your registration, or contact us at communications@disabilityphilanthropy.org. This free webinar is presented by the Disability & Philanthropy Forum.

About the Panelists

Moderator: Amoretta Morris, President, Borealis Philanthropy

Amoretta Morris is the president of Borealis Philanthropy. For the last 20 years, Amoretta has worked to build power, equity, and justice by supporting community-led change. She has innovated across sectors in philanthropy, nonprofits and local government. Prior to joining Borealis, Amoretta led national community change work at the Annie E. Casey Foundation for nearly a decade, partnering with local communities to build change from the ground-up. She serves on the board of the Black Swan Academy. Morris earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and African studies from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s in public policy from Harvard University.

A fat light-skinned latine-indigenous person wearing a leopard print dress smiles directly at the camera. They are wearing gold hoop earrings with brown waist-length hair pulled to the front and lying over their left side shoulder. Behind them is a mostly off-white wall with some tan circular basket-woven style art on the wall.

Panelist: Cory Lira, Disability Frontlines Fund Program Officer, Third Wave Fund

Cory Lira (she/they) is a fat disabled chicana indigenous femme of color community organizer, writer, and educator living in Portland, Oregon. Her community work focuses on PIC abolition (as a member of Critical Resistance), fat liberation, and disability justice. In addition to over a decade working in higher education, they recently led the Advancing Disability Justice grant program at Northwest Health Foundation. As the Disability Frontlines Fund program officer at Third Wave Fund, she supports moving resources to disabled BIPOC communities in order to create impactful, intersectional, and sustainable movements to address issues facing BIPOC disabled individuals and communities.

Shaena Johnson, a young Black woman with medium length, black locs, wearing a tan hat, black, brown and burgundy floral shirt, brown plaid jacket, eye glasses. She is smiling partially, while looking at the camera.

Panelist: Shaena Johsnon, Interim Out in the South Project Director, Funders for LGBTQ Issues

A native Louisianian, Shaena brings over 15 years of organizing, grantmaking and philanthropic advocacy experience to her work. Through her work, Shaena has gained unique perspectives and experiences with environmental, gender, racial, reproductive, and economic justice, and has directed millions of dollars in resources to BIPOC led and run organizations in the US. Shaena has created and held leadership roles in grassroots organizations, legal advocacy organizations, public foundations and philanthropic initiatives, including Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, BreakOUT!, Astraea Foundation, and Funders for LGBTQ Issues. Shaena has also served in a public role with the Human Relations Commission of New Orleans.

Panelist: Masen Davis, Executive Director, Funders Concerned About AIDS

Masen Davis, Executive Director of Funders Concerned About AIDS, has spent 25 years advancing human rights and healthcare for LGBTQ and HIV-impacted communities. Before joining FCAA, Masen served as interim executive director of Transgender Europe; CEO of Freedom for All Americans; Executive Director of Transgender Law Center; and interim Co-Director of Global Action for Trans Equality, where he helped launch the International Trans Fund. Within philanthropy, he worked as Senior Director of Special Projects at the Gill Foundation and Community Investment Officer at United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Masen received his Masters of Social Welfare from UCLA, and Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. A gay, trans man, Masen lives in Berlin with his husband and their scruffy terrier, Rex.