Mobilizing for Trans Futures: Trans-Inclusive Grantmaking Training
Around the world, organizations and movements led by and for trans and gender non-conforming communities are building greater power and visibility. At the same time, regressive efforts to deny trans people’s existence and undermine trans human rights have intensified. Anti-trans campaigns are active across all world regions, and anti-trans messaging is used as a wedge issue by right-wing “anti-gender” forces and by trans-exclusionary forces within progressive causes.
People working in philanthropy are in a unique position to improve strategies for global trans funding and serve as a bulwark against anti-trans agendas being promoted and enacted by anti-gender actors, political parties, national governments, and religious institutions.
Mobilizing for Trans Futures is designed as an opportunity for peer education and dialogue among funders to address emerging needs in movements for trans rights and ensure that their organizational values and grantmaking practices align with goals for trans-inclusion. Through presentations, small group conversations, and exploration of scenarios specific to grantmakers, this training seeks to create a supportive and confidential space where funders can ask questions, explore challenges, and receive guidance on providing intersectional support to trans communities in the regions or issue areas they serve.
Upcoming Training Cohorts
In 2025, GPP will hold two training cohorts, each held online over two days, 2.5 hours per day.
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April 24-25: 8 am to 10:30 EST
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Sept 15-16: 8 am to 10:30 EDT
If your institution would like to hire GPP to facilitate the training outside of these time frames, or with customization, please inquire at info@globalphilanthropyproject.org
More Information
- Support people working in philanthropy to advance their conceptual and practical understanding of trans and gender non-conforming issues.
- Connect these understandings to other movements for gender and reproductive justice, health access, democracy, and human rights.
- Provide case-making guidance with data and information that help donors frame the opportunities for their foundation to fund trans communities, movements, and issues.
- Discuss the current backlash against trans communities, the increase in trans-exclusionary activity, and its implications for funders.
- Explore questions, possible areas of tension and perceived contradictions, and scenarios that help donors sharpen their grantmaking practices and apply consistent principles for trans-inclusion.
This training is offered in a two day two-part format on Zoom. Each session runs for two hours and a half with a break in the middle. Sessions are interactive and require live attendance in both sessions. To encourage participation and preserve confidentiality, sessions will not be recorded.
Part 1
- Welcome & Introductions
- A global picture of trans organizing & funding
- Overview of anti-trans movements
Part 2
- Practices for trans-inclusive grantmaking
- Working with dilemmas & challenges in grantmaking scenarios
- Responding to trans-exclusionary narratives
All participants will also receive supplementary materials, including GPP’s most recent Global Resources Report, The State of Trans Organizing Report, Tools for Trans Inclusive Grantmakers, and links to videos for discussions on some of the topics covered during the training.
The training costs $1,200 USD. Once you express interest in joining one of these cohorts, please give us a few days to approve your registration. Once it is approved, you will receive a payment link. Your registration will not be confirmed until your payment has been completed.
Insights from Previous Participants
So much has been achieved with so little funding, imagine what could be done with more.
The world pushes us to constantly react to threats and challenges so quickly. That’s why spaces like this — spaces that give us time to reflect, connect, imagine new ways to resist, serve, learn, and strengthen our movements — are essential. I really appreciate it.
There’s a temptation to think, ‘If I can’t do it perfectly, I won’t try at all‘ — and, in my opinion, that’s rooted in white supremacy. The way we move past that is by talking to trans people: asking what trans people in your communities want to see you doing, and starting there. Be willing to make mistakes, but approach them from a place of wanting to learn, grow, and stay centered in action. Too many non-trans organizations are sitting it out, afraid of doing it wrong. I just want to encourage you: don’t let the fear of getting it wrong hold you back.
What struk me most is understanding that trans communities are both diverse and united, and that we need to engage with each community based on its unique needs, contexts, and experiences.
I feel a lack of urgency when it comes to trans rights, as if it’s seen as a lesser form of oppression. When I look at what’s happening to trans people in the UK, I wonder — if this were happening to the broader LGBT community, would we be more outspoken and willing to act?