Wilton Manors (June 19, 2023) – The Our Fund Foundation awarded a total of $280,00 in grants through its to 20 deserving organizations and projects that support fresh, bold LGBTQ-specific programs and initiatives in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties.
Our Fund celebrated the donors and recipients who received grants ranging from $5,000 – $20,000, and the impact they have on South Florida’s LGBTQ community during a grant reception at its headquarters in Wilton Station on June 12.
“These grants would not be possible without the generosity and forethought of our passed Legacy Society members who included Our Fund in their wills and estate plans,” said David Jobin, President and CEO of The Our Fund Foundation. “It is more important now than ever before to support these meaningful nonprofits who enrich our community in so many powerful ways.”
The Our Fund Foundation’s 2023 Arts2023 LGBTQ Arts & Culture Fund & Culture Fund Grant Recipients include:
1. Afro Pride Federation
United We Dance
Bringing to life a vision of a diverse harmonious community finding commonalities and healing through dance.
2. Arts United
Executive Director
Funding to employ an Executive Director.
3. Black LGBTQ Liberation
Thou Art Woman
A BIPOC-centered event series celebrating LGBTQ+ women and their allies through performance and visual art since 2014.
4. Brévo Theatre
The Pursuit of Happiness Project: Art for Social Change
A series of projects that uses various art forms to engage and inform our community.
5. Florida Atlantic University Foundation
2023-2024 Fair Play Initiative
A commission and development program for new plays and stories about the LGBTQ+ experience.
6. Florida International University Foundation
GenderChill: A Gender Justice Fashion Show at FIU
A gender justice fashion show brings together various communities for a consciousness-raising event focused on gender and body.
7. Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida
Disney Pride in Concert – Family Engagement
Funding to engage more families in Disney Pride in Concert, a powerful event filled with 43 Disney songs, set in the context of the LGBTQ+ community.
8. Hollywood Art and Culture Center
Open Dialogues: The Queer Trilogy
Highlighting the coming-out and allyship narratives of South Florida residents in three documentary film shorts.
9. Hued Songs
Sounds of Discourse Concert Series
Colliding music, equity, and conversation around social issues. The series aims to explore all that connects us.
10. Island City Stage
Performing Arts for All
Funding to support and offer free private dress rehearsal and live performance tickets to underserved theater audiences.
11. Lesbian Thespians
LGBTQ+ Community Play and Music Productions
Producing plays and music programs with a target audience of LGBTQ+ women and other diverse populations.
12. Master Chorale of South Florida
Considering Matthew Shepard
MCSF, in partnership with SunServe, performs Considering Matthew Shepard, a dramatic musical response to the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998.
13. Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Annual OUTshine LGBTQ+ Film Festivals in Ft. Lauderdale & Miami
Film festivals in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami present 100+ world-class LGBTQ+ films to entertain, inspire, enrich, educate, and encourage the community.
14. Plays of Wilton
Plays of Wilton 2023 Operating Cost Grant Request
Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2023 Expenses.
15. South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble
May the 4th Be With You – A Celebration of John Williams
Celebrating the music of the prolific award-winning film composer John Williams, hosted by the legendary drag performer Pandora Boxx.
16. Stonewall National Museum & Archives
Amplifying LGBTQIA Voices: Celebrating Our Stories
Amplifying LBGTQIA stories through the voices of history and those writing and speaking today.
17. The Pride Center at Equality Park
Jammin’ at The Center
A series of eight Jazz, R&B and Pop concerts that will provide unique entertainment for our LGBTQ+ communities and allies.
18. Thinking Cap Theatre
Funding to Support Administrative and Leadership Responsibilities of Artistic Director
TCT seeks funding to support the critical, ongoing administrative and leadership work performed by its Artistic Director.
19. Venetian Arts Society
Cafe Society Pride
Using the arts as means of celebrating the LGBTQA community & promoting diversity & inclusion amongst all people.
20. World AIDS Museum and Educational Center
Changing Minds: HIV/AIDS in the Sporting World
Artistic and educational exhibits and presentations on the effect HIV/AIDS has had and continues to have on the world of sports.
Support for the 2023 LGBTQ Arts & Culture Fund came from the following:
The Jim Laird Legacy Fund
Michael Sporn
DC Allen and Ken Flick No Gay Hate Fund
Scott Bennett
Peter Burleigh
The Doll/McNally Fund
Charles F. and Esther M. Frye Foundation
Daniel Hunt Endowed Fund
The Ross3 Fund
Dick Schwarz and Tom Massey
Jayne Baron Sherman & Deby Zum
The Russell Vance & Edward Schwartz Charitable Trust
The 2023 Arts & Culture grant review committee, made up of community volunteers, gave special consideration to organizations that have limited appeal to traditional funding sources as well as to applications that leverage partnerships between similar-missioned agencies to reduce duplication of effort/resources and expand reach/services and organizations that proved an effective and dedicated approach to addressing gaps in representation of marginalized communities.
Established in 2011, The Our Fund Foundation has grown into the third largest LGBTQ foundation in the nation. As South Florida’s only LGBTQ community foundation, Our Fund promotes a culture of philanthropy by uniting donors with organizations advancing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues in Broward and Miami-Dade counties and supporting causes within the LGBTQ community. For more information, visit theourfund.org or call 954-565-1090.