Resilience Webinar Series

Equality Without Borders Logo
Koppa Lab Logo
GATE: Global Action
The Rustin Fund for Global Equality Logo

The LGBTQI+ Resilience Webinar Series

The funding environment for LGBTQI+ people, as well as their human rights and social inclusion, dramatically changed in 2025. But we are resilient. This is a pivotal time to learn from one another and to explore innovative income-generating models to sustain our essential work. Many LGBTQI+ organizations have long histories of community-led health service delivery, strategic community positioning and branding, and mobilizing regional and global networks for support in times of crisis and opportunity.

In June and July, Equality Without Borders/Council for Global Equality, Koppa Lab, Global Action for Trans Equality - GATE, and the Rustin Fund for Global Equality launched a three-part webinar series highlighting autonomous resourcing models and factors to consider for diversifying funding streams.

If you are a community-based organization, civil society organization, a current or former recipient of institutional funding or foreign assistance, or an activist looking to diversify and expand your fundraising strategies, we invite you to explore the webinar recordings below. We hope these sessions inspire connection, learning, and adaptation—and that together, we continue to meet this moment with strength and resilience.

Webinar 1

Individual Donor Engagement Basics: Motivating Friends, Allies, and the Diaspora to Donate

This webinar shared strategies and experiences with mobilizing networks of diasporic communities who have contributed directly (or indirectly) to LGBTIQ+ organizations in the Global South and East. The speakers discussed:

  • How they identified potential donors, and the genesis of their fundraising approach
  • What messages were particularly successful for garnering support and attention from donors
  • The costs of the model, and the returns
  • And other lessons learned from their initiative

Moderator: Kent Klindera, the Rustin Fund for Global Equality

Speakers:

Listen to this webinar audio in: Español, Français, العربية

Webinar 2

Social Enterprises Basics: Income Generating Models for LGBTQI+ Organizations

A. Europe and Africa Session

This webinar explored a variety of income-generating initiatives that LGBTQI+ CSOs and CBOs have used to supplement and sustain organizational operations. The speakers shared:

  • How their business model was created, the genesis of the idea, and the research that was needed to get started
  • The costs of the model, and the returns
  • Strategies that were only moderately or not at all successful
  • And other lessons learned from their initiative

Moderator: Mino Likwasi, Koppa Lab

Speakers:

Listen to this webinar audio in: Español, Français, العربية

B. Asia and the Pacific Session

This webinar explored a variety of income-generating initiatives that LGBTQI+ CSOs and CBOs have used to supplement and sustain organizational operations. The speakers shared:

  • How their business model was created, the genesis of the idea, and the research that was needed to get started
  • The costs of the model, and the returns
  • And other lessons learned from their initiative

Moderator: Kent Klindera, the Rustin Fund for Global Equality

Speakers:

Webinar 3

Social Enterprises in the Health Sector: Formalizing LGBTQI+ Health Service Delivery to Improve & Sustain Operations

This webinar dove into income-generating programs for community-led health service delivery. The speakers shared:

  • Their considerations for moving to fee-for-service, and the costs associated with it
  • If the model involved (or required) partnership with their government, and if accreditation was required
  • The costs of the model, and the returns
  • Other lessons learned from their initiative
  • And how the income model was structured, i.e. insurance-based, self-pay-as-you-go, or subscription based

Moderator: Erika Castellenos, GATE

Speakers:

Listen to this webinar audio in: Español, Français, العربية

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