Ezra Berkley Nepon is the Senior Program Officer for Knowledge and Learning at Global Philanthropy Project and joined GPP in 2015. Ezra coordinates GPP’s research development, is the primary author of the Global Resources Report, and supports GPP’s communications and development.Ezra previously served as Director of Grassroots Fundraising for Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and Development Coordinator for the William Way LGBT Community Center, and co-authored reports including “Who Decides: How Participatory Grantmaking Benefits Donors, Communities, and Movements” with The Lafayette Practice. They are the author of two books – most recently, Dazzle Camouflage: Spectacular Theatrical Strategies for Resistance and Resilience, and a recipient of the 2014 Leeway Foundation Transformation Award. Currently, Ezra is a board member of the Leeway Foundation, and an active member of Jewish Voice for Peace. Ezra received an M.A. Degree from Goddard College in Transformative Language Arts.

Jay serves as the Agency’s lead to elevate issues concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and other people of diverse genders and sexualities (LGBTQI+). In this role, he works to meaningfully integrate LGBTQI+ people into USAID’s inclusive development programs, policies, research and training. Most recently, he was the Engagement and Communications Advisor in the Center for Education at USAID.Previously, Jay served as the Director of the Global program at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). During his time at HRC, Jay successfully organized four annual Global Innovative Advocacy Summits, created an active alumni network of 180+ advocates from over 90 countries, and trained dozens of advocates from every region of the world on LGBTQ advocacy.He served in the Obama administration at USAID where he worked on program policy, public engagement and communications, particularly on the Agency’s LGBTQI+ and food security work. Jay also worked at the Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. in Washington, DC and Peace Boat Japan in Tokyo.Jay grew up in Arlington, Texas before leaving the Lone Star state for Amherst College in Massachusetts to get his B.A. in political science. He did his graduate studies on a Rotary Fellowship, earning an M.A. in peace studies at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

Joy L. Chia is the Executive Director of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a public foundation rooted in LGBTQI communities and movements working globally to advance the rights of LGBTQI people and communities. Astraea endeavors to mobilize and distribute resources so as to reach the activists and communities who need them most and who are best positioned to make transformational impact over time.

Joy comes to Astraea from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), where she was the Team Manager with the Women’s Rights Program and led its work on “Power of the Collective” which supports feminist activism, community mobilization and advocacy to be more independent, resilient, vibrant, and inclusive. From 2012-2018, Joy was the OSF East Asia program officer and led the program’s grant-making portfolios on equality and human rights in China. She has also held fellowships and taught international human rights law and practice at institutions, such as the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong and at Fordham Law School. Joy is a graduate of Yale University and Columbia University School of Law.

Michael is based in Washington, DC and is the Global Grants Director. This is a new position at Outright International, responsible for the overall design and implementation of Outright’s grantmaking strategies.From 2015 - 2021, Michael Heflin was the Director of the Equality Division of the Human Rights Initiative at Open Society Foundations leading grant making strategies to advance equality in several areas including LGBTQI rights and the rights of persons with disabilities. During his tenure, the program secured new resources to initiate support for movements advancing racial and ethnic justice in key countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia including Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Myanmar and developed a new global intersectional portfolio focused on women facing multiple layers of discrimination.Michael came to Open Society Foundations in 2009 to launch a global initiative on LGBTQI rights focused on supporting emerging LGBTQI rights groups in the global South and East. Under his leadership, the foundation became one of the largest donors in the global fight for LGBTQI rights, supporting the development of burgeoning organizations and movements in 50+ countries and leading strategic global initiatives to support local activists that earned historic victories in the areas of decriminalization, family recognition and legal gender recognition.Prior to joining Open Society Foundations, Michael was Managing Director of the Campaigns Unit for Amnesty International USA. He also served as the founding Director of Amnesty International’s first LGBTQI rights program. Michael also worked at Amnesty’s International Secretariat where he was the Interim Director of the International Mobilization Program. Michael started his human rights career as the Deputy Director of the organization’s Midwest Region Office in Chicago.Michael holds a law degree with a focus on human rights from the University of Cincinnati where he held a fellowship at the Urban Morgan Human Rights Institute and was an editor of the Human Rights Quarterly.

Outright Board Member, VP and Chief External Affairs Officer, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy