Happy December, darling and delightful do-gooders!
The Effing Foundation is ending the year with a bang. I’ve got so much news for you, I’m going to itemize it for your perusing pleasure:
- Contribute to our first fundraiser
- Welcome THREE new Advisory Council members
- Celebrate eight amazing pilot grant candidates
- Check out our new website
1. Contribute to our first fundraiser
In past newsletters, I’ve said that eventually that I was going to ask you for money: Now is that time.
Before the end of 2017, we need to raise $40,000 to launch our pilot grant program. We’re off to a great start (40% raised!) but we need your help.
For this fundraiser, we’re looking for one-time gifts. If you have money left in your giving budget for the year, here’s what I can say: $5k would cover an entire pilot grant, which would be Effing amazing. $2.5k is half a pilot grant, and that would also be completely fabulous. A gift of $500 or more and you are magically transformed into a Founding Donor. (I'm not entirely sure what all that entails yet besides a thank-you on the website, but it's a start.)
If these amounts are a bit steep for you, no worries -- once we get these pilot grants off the ground, we’ll be trying to establish a large base of small, monthly donors.
You can read more about the amazing projects in our pilot grant program below. When you’re ready to make a tax-deductible contribution, visit our new donation page. Thank you so much for your support!
2. Welcome THREE new Advisory Council members
That’s right! This month I’m thrilled to introduce to you not one, not two, but THREE amazing new Advisors:
(from left to right, Kae Burdo, H. Leslie Foster II, and Robin Wilson-Beattie)
Kae Burdo (@kaeburdo) they/them
Kae Burdo is a sex, sexuality, and relationship educator & writer. They regularly contribute to the sex & relationships section of Bustle, writing and consulting on polyamory, kink, and queer topics, and were recently a guest on Vermont Public Radio’s Vermont Edition with Jane Lindholm (“What Constitutes Sexual Consent?”), focusing on the complexities of consent. Kae is the founder and president of Vermont Ethical Non-Monogamy (VENM), which is dedicated to creating social and educational spaces - both online and off - for poly folk in (or attached to) Vermont. Previously, Kae sat on the board of Vermont Alternative Sexuality Education (VASE). They also offer workshops and presentations on polyamory, consent, and other sexuality-related topics for audiences of all ages.
Leslie Foster II (http://lesliefmuse.com / @leslie_muse) he/him
Leslie Foster II is a poly, queer, cis male experimental filmmaker who has lived in Los Angeles for a decade. As an artist, he strives to create work that is beautiful and uncomfortable and his love for storytelling is inspired by a childhood spent in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Leslie has shot music videos in Serbia, founded the 501(c)(3) Traveling Muse Pictures, spent five weeks undercover in Jamaica shooting a documentary about violent homophobia, gone to Burning Man seven times, and talked Vice Media into saying nice things about his art. Leslie’s first solo gallery show "Ritual Cycle," was created with designer and composer Scott Arany and filmmaker Heather Dappolonia, who together form the collective Nomad Solstice. "Ritual Cycle" debuted in March 2016, followed by a second solo installation, "59," for which he shot 11 films in 11 months with 11 different collaborators, that debuted in May. "59" represented the completion of a year-long art residency with the art non-profit Level Ground. He’s currently contemplating whether to find a sea-faring band of vagabond artists with whom to to run away, fulfilling a childhood dream.
Robin Wilson-Beattie (http://sexAbledWithRobinWB.com / @sexAbled /sexAbled on Facebook) she/her
Robin Wilson-Beattie is a disability and sexuality health educator and writer, teaching the world to embrace and explore your sexuality, regardless of ability. She is a member of the Association of American Sexual Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), the Women of Color Sexual Health Network (WOCSHN), and a certified graduate and member of the San Francisco Sexuality Information Training (SFSI). Robin has been involved in sexuality education and awareness since high school. After acquiring a physical disability, she began in 2008 speaking on sexuality and disability topics and issues. She consults with individuals and organizations on issues of adaptive sexual support, and has had written articles and curriculum on this subject. Robin is a nationally recognized self and systems disability advocate. She is a deep-fried Southern girl, Sex Geek, comic book nerd, mid-century buff, and proud Mama of one amazing daughter.
I am honored to welcome these talented folks to our Advisory Council, who have already begun the process of reviewing our pilot grant applications. Speaking of which…
3. Celebrate eight amazing pilot grant candidates
What does it take to make real change in the world? Money.
In order to make real social change around sex-positivity, we've got to fund sex-positive artists and educators. The Effing Foundation is launching our grant program with eight amazing candidate projects:
The Adipositivity Project by Substantia Jones (NYC) -- nude portrait series of fat models (including queer/trans models and models of color); empowering fat people as unapologetically sexual beings through artistic photography
Afrosexology by Dalychia & Rafaella (St. Louis, MO) -- education, exploration, and reclaiming of Black sexuality through a new video series featuring Black people of varying genders and sexual orientations discussing their sexualities
eros&persephone by Lola Rose Eros (LA) -- an exploration of the human psyche through the lens of sexuality as a series of short videos by a Black transmasculinefemme self-taught artist; the stories include concepts such as safer sex practices, enthusiastic consent, scene negotiation, queer identities, gender expression, relationship dynamics, kink, and fetish
More Than No (LA) and Survivor Theatre Project (Boston, MA) -- theater workshops & performances that empower survivors of sexual violence, regardless of gender or sexual orientation
PolyDallas Millennium Symposium by Ruby Johnson, LCSW (Dallas, TX) -- PolyDallas Millennium is a sex-positive sexual health symposium that is a platform for marginalized and oppressed groups. We provide education on ethical non-monogamous relationships in an oppressive and stigmatizing society. Educators, activists, and community leaders that are representative of the attendees engage the audience in shared language and experiences. PolyDallas Millennium is a symposium that has space and joy for all communities and all ways of being.
( ) ("whole") (NYC) -- collaboration between performance company the A.O. Movement Collective & queer/feminist collective AORTA films; body-positive, queer erotic art film including performers who are queer/trans people of color
Your donations will help bring these projects to life!
4. Check out our new website
Just in time for the holiday giving season, we've got a whole new website! http://www.effing.org/ now has even more information about our mission, our big plans, and our fabulous team. (The newsletter archive hasn't quite made the move yet, but I'll be working on that in the coming weeks.)
Big things are happening, and I couldn't have done it without all of you. It's been a long, slow haul, but now we're looking at making grants like we're a Real Organization or something. (I don't think it'll be quite real to me until the checks to grantees are in the mail, but we're sure close.) If you have the resources to contribute to the fundraising campaign, and/or you shop on Amazon and you can support us via Amazon Smile, that would be a huge help. Thanks to those of you who have already donated and to our ever-growing group of Founding Donors!
And thanks to all of you, once again, for believing in our mission and in me. I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with you on this Effing amazing endeavor. Best wishes for the rest of your 2017, and I'll be back with more news next year!
Peace,
~Kit Stubbs, Ph.D.
You can follow the Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity on Facebook, or Twitter. You can make a tax-deductible donation and support us via Amazon Smile. For more sex-positive goodness, check out my personal blog and Twitter (@vortacist).