TRANSform Culture Fellowship Grant

TRANSform Culture Fellowship Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Pride Foundation
Amount: US $15,000
Last Updated: April 01, 2026

Summary

The TRANSform Culture Fellowship, supported by the Pride Foundation, is dedicated to uplifting Transgender, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary, and Intersex (2STNBI) individuals in the Northwest. This fellowship aims to foster community education, promote research, and develop a network of leaders to combat discrimination and advocate for cultural change. By providing financial support and training, the program empowers BIPOC 2STNBI leaders to thrive and lead impactful initiatives across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

Overview

TRANSform Culture Fellowship People who are Transgender, Two-Spirit, Nonbinary, and Intersex (2STNBI) have always existed and will always exist in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. If the ultimate goal of our CARE Department is to fuel a Northwest inhospitable to harm directed at LGBTQ+ communities, then our TRANSform Culture program is our unapologetic commitment to 2STNBI individuals and communities in the service of that goal. The TRANSform Culture Program supports the brilliant and dedicated organizations and leaders working to meet the needs of BIPOC 2STNBI individuals and organizations in the Northwest. What has crystalized as the TRANSform Culture program has evolved and shifted over the years, but what has remained central is the belief that all gender and sexual minoritized people should be able to live openly as our whole selves, and to live free and well from discrimination and violence. Origins of the TRANSform Culture Program The TRANSform Culture (TFC) program exists because BIPOC gender-diverse community members in the Northwest asked for it (see “Introducing TRANSform Washington” 2016). In 2016, Pride Foundation was invited to join a community coalition called TRANSform WA, a public education campaign that successfully was able to defeat Ballot Initiative I-1551 (an anti-Trans Bathroom Bill). With the defeat of I-1552, the TRANSform WA campaign evolved into the TRANSform Culture program, now housed at Pride Foundation, with a new broader focus to work across the Northwest. In 2021 and 2022, the TRANSform Culture experimented with launching a community advisory body called the Village Council, consisting of BIPOC Trans, Nonbinary, Intersex, and Two-Spirit Northwesterners. We are indebted to council member Ganesha Gold Buffalo for the idea of a Village Council. In 2022, with the hiring of an inaugural Director for the Department of CARE, the TRANSform Culture program was restructured to better clarify the narrative and power-building elements of the work. In 2023, it became an integral program within the Department of CARE. What is the TRANSform Culture Program The TRANSform Culture program consists of a fellowship project (the TRANSform Culture Fellowship), an alumni network project (the reimagined Village Council), and broader narrative work honoring and unapologetically centering BIPOC 2STNBI knowledge and livelihoods in the Northwest. The Goals of the TRANSform Culture Program are: To support community education activities reflecting the historical and future gender and sexual diversity within and across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, respectively. To promote community research by and for BIPOC 2STNBI individuals and organizations in the Northwest. To develop a network of community action with 2STNBI communities in the Northwest for the region and beyond. Project Details The TFC fellowship currently consists of ten fellowship slots (two per state that Pride Foundation serves), and it runs twelve-months. The fellowship provides fellows with a one-time monetary stipend ($15,000). In 2023, we officially launched the inaugural cohort of the TFC fellowship. The goals of the TRANSform Culture Fellowship Project are to: Financially and professionally support BIPOC 2STNBI individuals in the Northwest and increase their capacity to grow their leadership. Train fellows to lead and participate in community-based narrative research that supports cultural change and public policy work in the service of Pride Foundation’s mission. Create a network of trained BIPOC 2STNBI leaders across the Northwest who work with Pride Foundation and our community partners to drive cultural change and transform public policy.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. This fellowship is open to adults 18 years old or older. If you are 16 or 17 and have legal guardian approval and wish to apply, please contact the CARE Director to discuss this further.There are a few key priorities for this fellowship that are consistent every year, and there are priorities for the fellowship that shift each year based on the input from the fellows from the prior year. The consistent priorities are for individuals who: Reside in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington (at the time of application) Are Black, Indigenous, People of Color Identify as Trans, Nonbinary, Intersex, and/or Two-Spirit