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International Trans Fund

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The International Trans Fund (ITF) is a left-of-center grantmaking project that provides funding to small transgender activism organizations around the world. ITF is a project of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (Astraea), a left-of-center grantmaking organization focused on LGBT issues. 1

ITF requires that all individuals who determine ITF grant funding are transgender activists recognized by the transgender community. 2 ITF only provides grants to organizations led by transgender individuals and only funds organizations that are committed to building a “movement” within the transgender community. 3 ITF supports left-of-center views on activism and “intersectionality,” prioritizing grants to organizations that purportedly combat other social issues in addition to transgender issues, including “racism, classism, [and] ageism.” 4

Several major left-of-center donors and foundations have earmarked contributions to Astraea for the ITF. These include the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, and billionaire Mackenzie Scott. 5 6 7

Background

In 2015, the left-of-center Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, a grantmaking foundation that supports LGBT advocacy organizations, created International Trans Fund as one of its projects. ITF began to disburse grants in 2017.  ITF operates as a grantmaking fund that provides financial resources for organizations led by transgender individuals that work to advance left-of-center policies on transgender issues around the world. Aside from grantmaking, the ITF also provides activism training and organizing workshops for its grantees. 8

Each year, ITF accepts applications for grant funding, which are reviewed by a grantmaking panel. The panel consists of transgender activists who have a background in community organizing and have been deemed “credible” by the transgender community for making grant decisions. 9

Grantmaking Activity

From 2017 to 2018, International Trans Fund spent $1.14 million on grants to 54 organizations across 38 countries. 10 The ITF only offers grants to organizations that are led by transgender people, operate with a budget under $150,000, and advance policies favorable to the transgender community. ITF does not provide grants to organizations that provide direct services to transgender individuals, instead mandating that all recipient organizations must contribute to “movement building” within the transgender community. 11

ITF supports the left-of-center idea of “intersectional” activism. As of 2020, ITF has started to prioritize grants to organizations that tackle levels of “marginalization” within the transgender community. ITF alleges that transgender communities face greater marginalization than other communities and provides grants to organizations that take an “intersectional” approach to activism, targeting “racism, classism, ageism, ableism, misogyny and so on” in addition to transgender issues. 12

ITF’s 2020 grant recipients include 52 organizations in 41 different countries that work to advance left-of-center policies towards transgender people. These recipients include Almas Cautivas A.C, a Mexico-based organization that works to increase privileges for incarcerated transgender women; Asociacion Silueta X, an organization in Ecuador that lobbied to allow citizens to opt-out of identifying their gender on government documents; and Rainbow Path Aotearoa New Zealand, an organization that connects transgender refugees with legal and medical resources. 13

ITF supported just two left-of-center transgender organizations in the United States in 2020. These include Trans(forming), an Atlanta-based organization that provides resources for transgender and intersex women in prison and engages in activism to shut down prisons, and the Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia, a group that provides resources to homeless transgender individuals and supports a number of left-of-center movements, including Black Lives Matter. 14 15 16

Donors and Funding

ITF does not report its funding independently. In 2017, Astraea reported $911,124 in total expenditures, including $500,000 in grants, on ITF. 17 Most of this funding went overseas, with Astraea reportedly spending $147,745 in Sub-Saharan Africa and $223,907 in Central America and the Caribbean in support of ITF programs. 18 That same year, Astraea received over $1.39 million in funding from the government of the United States. 19

Several left-of-center donors and foundations have contributed to Astraea in support of ITF. Between 2015 and 2020, the Ford Foundation, the Foundation to Promote Open Society, the Arcus Foundation, the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, the Levi Strauss Foundation, and the American Jewish World Service Inc provided grants to Astraea for ITF programs. 20 The Open Society Foundations, led by liberal megadonor George Soros, announced that it would be providing grants to ITF in July of 2017. 21

In July of 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife Mackenzie Scott gave $1.7 billion to 116 left-of-center nonprofit organizations, $46 million of which went to organizations focused on LGBT issues. Scott named ITF as one of her “116 Organizations Driving Change” and provided a donation to the organization of an undisclosed amount. 22

References

  1. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). The Astraea Foundation Inc. 2017. Part III, section 4b.
  2. Giambrone, Broden. “Call for Applications to the ITF Grant Making Panel,” International Trans Fund.  December 23, 2019. https://www.transfund.org/category/gmp/.
  3. “What We Fund.” International Trans Fund. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.transfund.org/our-grants/what-we-fund/.
  4. “What We Fund.” International Trans Fund. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.transfund.org/our-grants/what-we-fund/.
  5. Information provided by FoundationSearch. International Trans Fund. www.FoundationSearch.com
  6. Dynarski, Wiktor. “This New Fund Wants to Supercharge Grassroots Trans Activism,” Open Society Foundations. July 14, 2017. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/giving-trans-activism-support-it-deserves.
  7. Scott, MacKenzie. “116 Organizations Driving Change,” Medium. July 28, 2020. https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d.
  8. https://www.transfund.org/about-us/what-we-do/
  9. Giambrone, Broden. “Call for Applications to the ITF Grant Making Panel,” International Trans Fund. December 23, 2019. https://www.transfund.org/category/gmp/.
  10. Giambrone, Broden. “Resourcing Trans Movements.” International Trans Fund, March 25, 2019. https://www.transfund.org/2019/03/resourcing-trans-movements/.
  11. “What We Fund.” International Trans Fund. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.transfund.org/our-grants/what-we-fund/.
  12. “What We Fund.” International Trans Fund. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.transfund.org/our-grants/what-we-fund/.
  13. “2020.” International Trans Fund. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.transfund.org/2020-2/.
  14. “2020.” International Trans Fund. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.transfund.org/2020-2/.
  15. “RE-PURPOSE / CLOSE THE JAIL.” Trans(forming). Accessed January 8, 2021. https://www.trans-forming.org/re-purpose-close-the-jail.
  16. “A Community United to End Transgender Homelessness #Transendhomelessness.” Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia. Accessed January 8, 2021. https://tapvirginia.org/.
  17. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). The Astraea Foundation Inc. 2017. Part III, section 4b.
  18. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). The Astraea Foundation Inc. 2017. Schedule F, Part I, Section 3.
  19. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). The Astraea Foundation Inc. 2017. Part VII, Line 1e.
  20. Information provided by FoundationSearch. International Trans Fund. www.FoundationSearch.com
  21. Dynarski, Wiktor. “This New Fund Wants to Supercharge Grassroots Trans Activism,” Open Society Foundations. July 14, 2017. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/giving-trans-activism-support-it-deserves.
  22. Scott, MacKenzie. “116 Organizations Driving Change,” July 28, 2020. Medium. https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d.
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