Stonewall Community Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that promotes and funds left-of-center LGBT groups and issues. It is financially supported by some large corporate institutions, including TikTok and American Express, and supports a wide range of left-of-center groups focused on access to abortion and LGBT issues. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and History

The Stonewall Community Foundation was formed in the late 1980s in response to the AIDS crisis as a collection of donor funds focused on LGBT issues, with a focus on funding small organizations. Since its formation, the foundation has issued over $21 million in grants. ⁴

Finances

In 2019, the Stonewall Community Foundation had $2,094,180 in revenue, of which $1,845,765 was derived from contributions and grants and $164,134 was derived from investment income. It had $999,108 in expenses, of which $475,579 was allocated towards grants and $339,050 was allocated towards employee salaries and benefits. The organization ended the year with $2,739,963 in net assets. ⁵

Notable financial supporters include American Express, Ralph Lauren, Chobani, Levi’s, Dockers, and TikTok. ⁶

Policies and Projects

The Stonewall Community Foundation is focused on promoting and supporting LGBT issue areas and groups. It issues grants directly from its general fund and manages donor-advised funds in which donors have input into how grants are issued. ⁷ The foundation reports that 59 percent of all competitive grants are issued to trans-focused groups, and that 33 percent of all grants support organizations working with LGBT youth. Additionally, the organization provides over 500 hours of pro bono nonprofit consulting annually. ⁸

Funds

The Stonewall Community Foundation administers a variety of donor advised funds. Some of these funds are named endowments without a specific focus, whereas others, such as The Dad Fund, which is funded by gay fathers, and The Gene and John Athletic Fund, which is focused on funding LGBT athletics, have a theme to their grantmaking. ⁹

Grantees

The foundation distributes grants to a wide range of organizations. Some are focused on providing goods and services or funding the arts, but a large number of left-of-center advocacy organizations are funded as well. ¹⁰

Four different chapters and project of the American Civil Liberties Union have received funds, as well as ActBlue Charities, a pass-through organization associated with the left-of-center ActBlue. ¹¹

It has provided funding to both NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center. ¹²

As is to be expected, the foundation also supports a variety of LGBTQ activist organizations including the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, The Audre Lorde Project, the Transgender Law Center, and the Transgender Legal Defense Education Fund. ¹³

Leadership

Jarret Lucas is the executive director of the Stonewall Community Foundation, a position held since 2010. Lucas has been involved with many left-leaning LGBT organizations, including INCITE! and the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance. Lucas was also a vice-chair on the board of the Astraea Lesbian Foundation. Lucas’ bio mentions “dozens of arrests for civil disobedience” and also states that “they/them/theirs” are preferred pronouns, but in the actual biography only the pronoun “he” is used. ¹⁴

Lucas was compensated $112,903 in 2019 and has made $750 in FEC-reportable contributions to Democratic candidates. ^{15 16}

1. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Work.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/work.
2. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Partners in Pride.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/partner.
3. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Grantees.” Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/grantees.
4.  Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Work.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/work.
5. Stonewall Community Foundation, IRS (Form 990), 2019, Part I
6. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Partners in Pride.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/partner
7. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Ways to Give.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/waystogive.
8.  Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Work.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/work.
9. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Find a Fund.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/funds.
10. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Grantees.” Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/grantees.
11.  Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Grantees.” Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/grantees.
12.  Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Grantees.” Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/grantees.
13. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Grantees.” Accessed April 29, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/grantees
14. Stonewall Community Foundation. “Our Team.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/team.
15. Stonewall Community Foundation, IRS (Form 990), 2019, Part VII
16. FEC.gov. “Browse Individual Contributions: Jarrett Lucas.” Accessed April 28, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Jarret+Lucas+&min_date=01%2F01%2F2000&max_date=12%2F31%2F2022.