Building Resilience and Solidarity: Annual Report 2023
As our community faces growing marginalization, the denial of human rights, discriminatory legislation, restricted access to healthcare, and criminalization for simply being who we are, the need for a strong organization to support global trans movements in the most marginalized regions is more critical than ever. The ITF plays a vital role in this mission.
The ITF operates as a global community-based participatory fund, with trans voices at the core of our decision-making and governance processes. We are dedicated to fostering strong leadership within the organization, thereby strengthening global trans communities. Once again, the ITF has successfully increased our grantmaking, provided ongoing support, and extended our reach to more vulnerable groups worldwide.
We are thrilled to share a moment of pride and accomplishment with you as we present our Annual Report for 2023. This document encapsulates the collective efforts, successes, and milestones that have defined our journey throughout the year. 2023 marked the seventh year of the ITF’s existence, and we are excited to continue building on our achievements.
Message from the Director
Dear friends and colleagues,
Trans communities across the globe are under threat, facing coordinated attacks on our rights and organizations, and the rollback of protections. This is happening within the context of the move towards authoritarianism and the emergence of a wide range of antigender actors who are attempting to solidify the concept that gender is an invention and an “ideology.” Trans and gender diverse people are specifically targeted by anti-gender actors because our existences challenge the traditional gender binary and the rigid gender roles that come with it. The result is that trans people are routinely vilified and scapegoated, our identities and experiences weaponized. But we are fighting back, our movements are resolutely promoting human rights, emphatically challenging misinformation, and enthusiastically celebrating trans joy. This is also a critical moment to work intersectionally and across movements, as we join forces with broader LGBTQI and feminist organizations who are also pushing back against anti-gender movements and undemocratic forces.
The ITF is working hard to move money to the frontlines to do this critical work. In 2023, we awarded $1,257,317 to trans-led organizations, which was a 151% increase in annual grantmaking from our first grant cycle. Since our inception we have moved $6,288,817 to 182 trans-led organizations in 94 countries. The organizations we support are building movements. In imagining what support could look like, the ITF has also expanded how we make grants. As a participatory grantmaker, the vast majority of our funds (91%) are allocated through our main grant cycle, which is done through an open call and where every grant and every dollar is determined by the Grant Making Panel.This year, through a parallel participatory process, we also invested in a 3-year project on Legal Gender Recognition in Latin America and the Caribbean with the support of the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. Acknowledging that participatory processes can often take a long time, the ITF formalized our Opportunity and Crisis Fund, a small pot of funding that allows the ITF to respond more nimbly to emergent needs.
2023 was also a year of reflection for the ITF and an opportunity to take stock of where we are through the completion of the 5-year Impact Evaluation. The resounding message from this process is that the ITF is critical and plays a vital role in supporting and sustaining global trans movements, now more than ever. As one grantee partner vividly stated, “If the community are the movers and shakers – ITF is the spine.” Throughout the pages of this Annual Report, you will see what some of our members, grantee partners and funders have said about our work. But if I could summarize – we have a lot done but a lot more to do.
In order to effectively resource global trans movements to respond to the challenges they face, we strongly believe in investing in the ITF as an organization to ensure we are a robust and sustainable mechanism to move money. In 2023, we continued to support trans leadership by welcoming new members to our Board and Grant Making Panel, we implemented a new grants management system and we developed new policies and procedures to guide our work.
As we confront the threats trans movements are facing, I take inspiration from the incredible work that our grantee partners are doing in the face of so much opposition. These effective, innovative, and creative responses are building stronger trans movements across the globe. As you read about their work, I hope you will share the same hope and determination that I feel – we will fight and we will win.
The ITF extends our heartfelt gratitude to our staff, Board, Grant Making Panel, grantee partners, and all our allies and collaborators who are moving funds to trans movements worldwide and advocating for trans liberation.
This vital work wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our funders: Arcus Foundation, American Jewish World Service, Dreilinden, The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), Ford Foundation, Foundation for a Just Society, GiveOut, Loewe, MacKenzie Scott through the National Philanthropic Trust (NPT), Open Society Foundations, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and numerous individual donors.
We would like to thank outgoing Board members Alejandra Collette Spinetti Núñez, Chaber, Zhan Chaim, and Barbra Wangare for all their work while on our Board. We are excited to see the amazing projects our global family will bring to fruition this year.
