Making Moves at Creating Change 2026
In late January, four members of the Stonewall team traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend the 2026 Creating Change Conference. The Creating Change Conference is the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the United States, and serves as an annual opportunity for queer and trans nonprofits, funders, and organizers to come together, share knowledge, and build both coalitions and community. This year, Stonewall was thrilled to co-host the conference’s first-ever daylong Philanthropy Institute, where LGBTQ+ organizations from across the country convened to discuss the state of our sector and how we can move forward as a community. Among the various panels and workshops taking place within the Philanthropy Institute, we were proud to host three wonderful events that bolstered our commitment to making philanthropy more accessible, and encouraged continued relationship building in the space of the conference and beyond.
Check out some highlights from our three events from Creating Change 2026:
Co-hosted with Borealis Philanthropy, our Funder Lunch created space for staff at funder organizations to gather and chat candidly about the unique challenges our organizations are facing. Throughout the afternoon, we welcomed staffers from nearly two dozen philanthropic organzations for an exchange of knowledge and ideas, and to strategize about how we can collaborate and best support each other’s work.
Our workshop entitled “Strengthening Funder Relationships” featured remarks from Stonewall’s Program Director, Maryse Pearce, our Director of Communications & Partnerships, Gattlin Miller, and founder and Executive Director of Out My Closet (a longtime Stonewall grantee partner), Michael Narain. The workshop provided guidance and tips to grassroots organizations on how to cultivate successful relationships with both nonprofit and corporate funders.
Finally, we closed the daylong institute alongside Borealis Philanthropy with our Funder Mingle event, which brought together funders and grassroots organizations to share space and build relationships in a pressure-free environment. The Funder Mingle was especially targeted towards BIPOC and trans-led organizations, which are often overlooked by traditional philanthropy. The Mingle provided grassroots organizations an opportunity to utilize and continue building the skills that were covered in our “Strengthening Funder Relationships” workshop.
We’re grateful to the National LGBTQ+ Task Force for this opportunity to share our work amongst so many leaders in the modern LGBTQ+ movement, and to Borealis Philanthropy for their thoughtful and ongoing collaboration!