WHO WE ARE
The Trans Justice Funding Project (TJFP) is a community-run, non-charitable trust that funds Trans-led grassroots organizations in the US and US Territories who exist to serve and improve the lives of their local and national trans, gender non conforming and non-binary communities. TJFP is staffed by all trans and non-binary individuals who are Black, Brown, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
Doing philanthropy differently
Recognizing a deep legacy of radical, liberatory trans justice work that has always existed—and that has often been deprioritized by mainstream funding sources—Gabriel Foster and Karen Pittelman co-founded TJFP in 2012 to deliver direct, unrestricted funding to trans organizations led by and for trans people.
Inspired by other community-led grantmaking initiatives, TJFP’s unique model seeks to allow those who know best—trans activists, organizers, healers, artists, advocates, visionaries and leaders themselves—to be in positions of power as decision makers. Understanding the challenges of trans organizing, TJFP’s model gives out unrestricted general operating grants, funds groups that are and are not registered nonprofits, and does not require reporting. This allows trans justice groups to organize around their own priorities and what works best for them, and have free rein over how they use their money.
For The Community, By The Community
Trusting and supporting trans leadership is at the core of what we do and TJFP’s staff is composed entirely of trans and non-binary BIPOC individuals, unique in funding circles.
Unlike other funders, TJFP’s staff does not make final funding decisions: Every year, a new panel of six Community Grantmaking Fellows review and score hundreds of applications, gather for intensive discussion, and ultimately decide who should receive a grant and the grant award size. TJFP Community Grantmaking Fellows are trans and non binary leaders themselves from around the country, hand-selected into an intergenerational, multiracial cohort, bringing movement expertise and deep community experience to the table.
OUR VALUES
Trusting and supporting trans leadership.
We believe in trans leadership as the path to trans liberation, the brilliant ideas coming from our own community that are still so often underestimated. We know that the trans-led groups doing this work are the experts in what they need—not us!
Shifting the power dynamics of philanthropy.
We exist to fund and resource our communities and uplift their brilliance. We fund boldly, from a place of abundance, not scarcity. We innovate with the power and tools available to us as funders, turning the impossible into the possible.
Caring for our community with love.
We build lasting relationships with groups, from onset through growth. We see the ripple effect and transformational potential of supporting our community with trust and heart.
Impact and justice comes in all sizes and forms.
We treasure every donation, every application, every idea—no matter how big or small!
By the numbers
AS OF NOVEMBER 1, 202200
YEARS OF
GRANT-MAKING
00
GRANT APPLICATIONS RECEIVED
00
GRANTS
AWARDED
0$0+
MILLION IN FUNDS
DELIVERED
00
TRANS & NONBINARY PANELISTS & FELLOWS
I am very proud of the groups we were able to fund. These are groups engaged in critical trans justice work straddling multiple movements – from Black Lives Matter to sex worker liberation to food justice to reproductive justice and more. These are organizations centering BIPOC trans leadership and innovating community-led interventions on the state and interpersonal violence aimed at our bodies and spirits. I am honored to have engaged in this radical grant-making practice alongside a powerful team of fellows and staff. We took our mandate to heart and moved with the intention, care and love that our trans and nonbinary communities need and deserve.
Ola Osaze2021 TJFP Grantmaking Fellow and former grantee