Juneau Why?
Pride Foundation's Amy and Tiffany warming up for a tour of Alaska's LGBTQ leaders starting in Anchorage
Pride Foundation has awarded grants to Juneau-based organizations in recent year but it has been a long time since we’ve been to Juneau — nothing beats building relationships face-to-face. So off to Juneau we go!
Our commitment to supporting the Alaska’s LGBTQ community means not only nurturing relationships we already have, but also reaching outside the nucleus of Anchorage to places like Juneau and Fairbanks, where the LGBTQ communities might be smaller, but every bit as dynamic.
This week is going to be an eventful one for Pride Foundation in Alaska. Amy White, our Director of Community Strategies & Engagement, is flying to Anchorage for an action-packed three days filled with meetings with grantee organizations, coffee dates with donors, a reception co-sponsored with Identity, Inc., and a house party to celebrate my “coming out” as Pride Foundation’s new Regional Development Organizer for Alaska! But perhaps the most pivotal event on Le Tour d’Alaska is the two-day trip to Juneau we have planned at the end of the week.
Every time I mention to someone in Anchorage that Amy and I are flying to Juneau, they assume that we’re going down to lobby. “Are you going to meet with legislators?” they ask. The answer is no. (Though we might sneak over to the bar of the Westmark Baranof Hotel to eavesdrop on their conversations!)
We’re going to Southeast Alaska in order to connect with leaders of Juneau’s LGBTQ community and their allies. Organizations like Juneau PFLAG, Juneau Pride Chorus, Southeast Alaska Gay & Lesbian Alliance, the Juneau Human Rights Commission, and the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. We’re going to Juneau to meet with community leaders who many of you in Anchorage know by name—even if you’ve never met in person—like Sara Boesser, who emails the weekly collection of LGBTQ-related news stories to people all over Alaska, and Marsha Buck, the former Board President of Alaskans Together for Equality and member of Everything Gay in Juneau!
We’re also going to Juneau so Amy can tell her friends and family that she’s been to a place only accessible by boat or plane, and so that I can trade in my Sorel snow boots for Xtra Tufs and make believe that spring has sprung!
We’re going to Juneau to make new friends. We hope that it’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Tiffany is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Alaska. Email Tiffany.
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