We're kicking off December with 12 Days of Nonprofits — a 12-day celebration of the many local organizations that provide needed services to our community.
For nearly 30 years, the Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce has been a staple in the promotion of local LGBTQ+ and allied businesses. But with their newer sister organization, the Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation, they are advocating for Tucson's young, up-and-coming LGBTQ+ leaders and business owners.
Founded in 2019 by current board member and former commerce president Liane Wong, the foundation aims to support local LGBTQ+ young adults through their academic journeys by providing mentorship and leadership experience.
The foundation also offers $2,500 scholarships to local LGBTQ+ University of Arizona students in need.
"I'm very excited to see what these scholarship winners do with their careers, whether they start their own company, their own nonprofit or they're in a corporate situation and they become an LGBTQ leader within that corporation," Wong said. "All are great opportunities for them and that was my goal, you know, to create these new leaders and hope they'd stay in Tucson."
The foundation encourages the students to join the chamber's Board of Directors to get leadership, governance and public speaking experience by participating in the chamber's activities and events.
Members of the D.A.S.H. Leadership Program pose for a photo. From left: Liane Wong, Joey Brown, John Jackson Moyer, Marlee Raible and Vera Minot.
Aside from their scholarship program, the foundation's leadership program — D.A.S.H. — helps LGBTQ+ individuals and allies from the ages of 18 to 30 do precisely what the program stands for: develop a skillful horizon.
With four three-hour leadership workshops, participants will leave the program with a better understanding of the conflicts affecting the LGBTQ+ community and the skills to help solve those issues by utilizing "strategic thinking and tactical management," according to the foundation's website.
Both the Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce and the foundation aim to create a new inclusivity approach to business networking by honoring the "whole human," said incoming chamber president Vera Minot.
"The whole human that shows up to a workplace is a better employee and has better mental health, just in general, but that also benefits the workplace," she said. "Whole humans can bring forth beautiful ideas. So I feel like the foundation is planting some incredible seeds and really helping out on the front end, while the chamber continues to work on that back end, making that business network and business community a better place for those younger folks to move into."
Due to the pandemic, the chamber and foundation pivoted to a hybrid approach. They hosted monthly Zoom meetings, with quarterly in-person meetings. The hybrid model helped cut down costs, allowing the chamber to give back more money to the foundation and the community.
"Every other Zoom meeting that we have either goes to a local nonprofit, ideally serving the LGBTQ community and then the other half of the time it goes to support the foundation," Minot said.
The most challenging part of creating a new inclusive business community?
Obtaining active and long-term participants within the organizations.
With the organizations being 100% volunteer-run, participation is key, said Minot. Without consistent or active members, there becomes a lack of diversity in thought, which is needed for the organizations to grow.
To help increase participation, Wong — who will be in charge of the membership committee for the chamber this upcoming year — hopes to reach out to new and existing members to see how they plan to participate in the organization.
"How do they want to get involved? How do they want to step up? The few coffees I've had with people and ask these questions, it's mind-boggling to them, because they've never joined an organization where they've been asked to participate and asked to speak up," Wong said.
The chamber and foundation want its members to get the most out of the organizations by engaging in events, helping create change within the community and being more than just a name and phone number in their member directory.
"I feel with this foundation that we need to have more young adults step up, we need to give them the opportunity and we need to give them the education experience that can come from the elder LGBTQ population," Wong said. "So even if they may not have the necessary money to donate, they can donate their time, their energy, which is just as important, if not equally as valuable."
How to help
Community members can donate directly to the Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce Foundation's scholarship fund. They are hoping to increase the number of scholarships they give out within the next few years.
You can also purchase a Tucson LGBT Chamber of Commerce membership for an annual fee of $175. The organization also offers a discounted fee for nonprofits.
Or, business owners can purchase one of the chamber's four sponsorship tiers — all of which provide the benefits of a standard membership plus various perks such as recognition at one of the monthly breakfast meetings and your logo listed as a sponsor on the chamber's website for a year.
Lastly, the chamber and foundation are always searching for long-term members and volunteers to become board members and help enact change within our community.
Other nonprofits that help the Tucson LGBTQ+ community
- Tucson Pride
- Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation
- Desert Voices
- LGBTQ+ Alliance Fund with Community Foundation for Southern Arizona
