Introducing the first of six TJFP 2019 Grantmaking Fellows, Sammie Ablaza Wills!

It’s that time of year again when we have the honor of introducing another fabulous grantmaking team.

Kicking off a series of introductions, we’re ecstatic to welcome Sammie Ablaza Wills to the 2019  TJFP Grantmaking Fellowship!

Sammie will join five other ground breaking, trans, non binary activists and organizers from across the country to select this years grantees.

Sammie is an enthusiastic queer, non-binary Pilipinx person with a vivid love for their chosen family, social justice, and grassroots
organizing. They currently serve as director of APIENC, a trans and queer Asian and Pacific Islander grassroots organization in the SF Bay Area. Sammie’s politic has come from witnessing xenophobia against their family, from fighting budget cuts to public schools, and from learning from queer Pilipino people in their communities. It’s from this that Sammie has worked to trained hundreds of young, queer, trans, Asian people to lead from values of abundance and interdependence. Sammie is dedicated to ethnic studies, racial justice, and environmental justice, working closely in groups such as Asians4BlackLives and Movement Generation. Sammie believes that anything can be turned into a chant and brought onto the streets (literally and emotionally). At all times, they strive to learn more about their ancestors, practice vulnerability, and share stories.

We can hardly wait to do this work with you Sammie!