The Leonard-Litz Foundation is pleased to announce its program grantees in Washington, DC: the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists and the Washington Blade Foundation. The recipients promote the interests and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community through their innovative programs and services and were each awarded a grant in the amount of $15,000 to support their ongoing efforts.
The primary purpose of the Leonard-Litz Foundation is to fund partner organizations in the northeast U.S. that improve the lives of the LGBTQ+ population, with an emphasis in intersectional LGBTQ+ advocacy. These two nonprofits are empowering LGBTQ+ people during a period in which it is particularly challenging to come by funding.
The NLGJA: An Association of LGBTQ Journalists is a nonprofit organization of journalists, media professionals, educators and students from within the news industry that foster fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ issues. One of the NLGJA’s principal efforts is to ensure no student faces a barrier because of their financial standing. As such, the grant will be used to assist their annual program CONNECT: Student Journalism Training Project, which brings together 10 students from across the U.S. to build a newsroom from the ground up and cover the events of its annual National Convention over one week.
Dillon Lewis, development and marketing manager of the NLGJA: An Association of LGBTQ Journalists, stated, “Our program has touched more than 250 students over the last 20 years. About half of LGBTQ journalists are not out in their newsrooms. We seek to give these LGBTQ student journalists an essential, supportive community.”
The Washington Blade was founded in 1969 as the first gay newspaper in the U.S., and its Foundation was established in 2010. The Washington Blade Foundation’s focus is to raise money to fund enterprise journalism projects and amplify LGBT advocacy and visibility. The organization will use the Leonard-Litz Foundation grant to advance those efforts.
We invite you to learn more about these organizations and help us support the important work they are doing for our community.