BreakOUT (also known as Youth BreakOUT) is a far-left organization that advocates for left-of-center LGBT-interest policies and manages related activist and community programs in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is sponsored by Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, a left-of-center fiscal sponsor and nonprofit incubator.

Background

In 2010, a group of transgender individuals in New Orleans, Louisiana attended an activist training program of the Independent Police Monitor, a civilian-run municipal police oversight agency, hosted by Women with a Vision, a left-of-center New Orleans-based advocacy group focused on race and healthcare issues. ¹ In 2011, those individuals constituted themselves as BreakOUT! (sometimes styled Youth BreakOUT!), a project of the Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, a left-of-center fiscal sponsorship organization that provides financial and logistical support to over a hundred groups, some of which notably promote left-of-center climate and environmental policies, engage in racial and sexual issue oriented advocacy, and criticize the U.S. criminal justice system. ²³⁴ The group’s first official action was to appear at a press conference with representatives from Women with a Vision and the Center for Constitutional Rights, a left-of-center legal advocacy group, to make critical statements relating to Louisiana laws punishing “crimes against nature.” ⁵

The organization manages four programs: the Building Our Power Institute, a 12-week activist training program for LGBTQ youth; Healing as Resistance Together (HART), an ongoing series of discussion sessions oriented toward LGBTQ community groups in New Orleans; the New Orleans GSA Network, an outreach and networking project focused on organizing LGBTQ high school students in New Orleans; and Posh Academy, a high school equivalency exam preparation program for LGBTQ youth. ⁶

Additionally, the organization manages two advocacy campaigns, “We Deserve Better,” which criticizes policing policies in New Orleans and proposed legislation that would better fund the city’s police department, as well as “VICE to ICE,” which highlights the connection between allegations of criminal activity perpetrated by LGBT youth and illegal immigrants in the city. ⁷

Funding

BreakOUT! accepts tax-deductible donations through the tax-exempt Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs; as a result of this fiscal sponsorship arrangement, BreakOUT! is not obligated to disclose its internal finances and nonprofit institutional donors may report contributions to BreakOUT! as contributions to Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. However, in its annual statement, BreakOUT! notes various organization for their “unwavering support.” ⁸⁹

AIDS-focused groups supporting the organization include the AIDS United Sector Transformation Fund and AIDS United Southern REACH; smaller personal or family foundations such as the Abelard Foundation, Andrus Family Fund, Arcus Foundation, and Foundation for a Just Society; community-centric organizations such as Cox Community Grant of New Orleans City Council, Cricket Island Foundation, Criminal Justice Initiative of the Solidago Foundation, Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans, Friday Night Before Mardi Gras, Greater New Orleans Foundation LGBT Fund, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation IMPACT Fund; and larger, national grantmaking groups such as Communities for Just Schools Fund, Astraea Foundation, Calamus Foundation, Schott Foundation for Public Education, Third Wave Fund of Proteus Fund, Tides Foundation, and Transforming Movements Fund of Borealis Philanthropy. ¹⁰

In 2020, in response to developments associated with the Black Live Matter movement, BreakOUT! received a grant of over “six figures” from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. ¹¹

People

BreakOUT!’s website lists the names of six of its “founders,” though only their forenames. None serve on the staff of the organization. ¹²

Collette Carter is the interim director of BreakOUT! Previously, Carter worked with organizations including African Ancestral Lesbians United for Societal Change, Disability Justice Collective, and the Audre Lorde Project, a community organizing center for left-progressive activists of ethnic and sexual-orientation minority backgrounds based in Brooklyn, New York. ¹³¹⁴

1. “Our Mission.” Women with a Vision. Accessed June 28, 2021.

   https://wwav-no.org/our-mission/

2. “Core Services.” Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Accessed June 8, 2021. http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/core-services/
3. “Mission & Purpose.” Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Accessed June 28, 2021.http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/mission-purpose/
4. “BreakOUT!” Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Accessed June 28, 2021.  https://saveourplanet.org/projects/breakout/
5. “Mission.” BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.youthbreakout.org/mission/
6. “Programs.” BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.youthbreakout.org/programs/
7. “Campaigns.” BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.youthbreakout.org/campaigns/
8. “2016: UnPresidented.” 2016.  BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://shaena6.wixsite.com/eoy2016
9. “BreakOUT!” Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Accessed June 28, 2021.  https://saveourplanet.org/projects/breakout/
10. “2016: UnPresidented.” 2016.  BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://shaena6.wixsite.com/eoy2016
11. “BLACK LIVES MATTER 2020 IMPACT REPORT.” Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, 2021. Accessed June 25, 2021.  https://blacklivesmatter.com/2020-impact-report/.
12. “Our Founding Members.” BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.youthbreakout.org/who-we-are/
13. “The Audre Lorde Project.” Accessed June 28, 2021. https://alp.org
14. “Who We Are: Collette Carter.” BreakOUT! Accessed June 28, 2021. https://www.youthbreakout.org/who-we-are/