Pride Month: Three Leaders Working to Encourage Belonging
Happy Pride Month! Every June, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies celebrate the queer community and how they positively impact the world. This year, for Pride Month, we highlight three leaders who work to encourage belonging and celebrate everyone for who they are. We hope that by reading about these leaders, we can illuminate different ways you can support the LGBTQ+ community in Houston and beyond.
We recognize that there are a vast number of incredible Houstonians who work to ignite positive change for this community. Because this list is far from exhaustive, we encourage you to share the name of a philanthropic leader in this space that we should highlight in the future by emailing [email protected].
Marjorie Joseph: Executive Director of Houston Coalition Against Hate
Marjorie Joseph has aimed to make a positive difference in the City of Houston through the work of Houston Coalition Against Hate (Coalition) and her personal mission of championing justice and belonging. The Coalition is celebrating its 5th Anniversary, where this collective impact initiative grew from 34 to over 60 member organizations strong and is still growing! The Coalition’s model has been recognized nationally as the “north star” in the space of anti-hate, and its research has been useful to local law enforcement agencies, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Justice. The Coalition is also the originator of the #JusticeOverEquity framework and Justice Statement. We asked Joseph what her vision is for a better Houston, and she shared,
“My vision is for a just Houston where everyone feels welcomed, accepted, and safe because they belong. The research provided annually by The Kinder Institute demonstrates that we are the country’s most diverse and 4th largest city. If Houston can successfully apply the #JusticeOverEquity framework to the city’s climate, health, and education systems; not only would we remain one of the most viable cities to live in, but we could also position ourselves to be a model for the entire nation.”
Marjorie Joseph, Executive Director of Houston Coalition Against Hate
The Coalition’s approach to belonging has always been its steadfast commitment to addressing all incidents of hate, bias, violence, and discrimination based on a person or group’s religion, race/ethnicity, gender, gender identity/expression, abilities, age, sexual orientation, national origin, creed, immigration status, or genetic information. The Coalition does this through education, research, relationship building, and prevention initiatives, as well as partnering and collaborating with organizations on offerings and initiatives celebrating the diversity that makes Houston strong.
“Currently, we [the Coalition] are in the process of applying for the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA’s) Community-Based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crimes grant in collaboration with Right To Be (RTB). RTB’s mission is based on the creation of its methodology for bystander intervention to stop harassment. If awarded, the grant will provide the community training and train the trainer opportunities to respond and reduce hate incidents and hate crimes specifically against the LGBTQ+ community throughout the state of Texas.”
Marjorie Joseph, Executive Director of Houston Coalition Against Hate
What’s next for Joseph and the Coalition? In partnership and collaboration with the Houston Police Department (HPD), recently, the Coalition was awarded the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Program grant. This grant will help the Coalition implement its Solidarity Against Hate: Building Trust to Enhance Response to Hate Crimes & Incidents in the Houston Area initiative. This project aims to build trust between and among law enforcement, prosecution, community-based organizations, and the public. Building this trust will increase public awareness and reporting of hate crimes and hate incidents, grow community intolerance to hate, enhance the response capacity of community-based organizations by implementing a uniform system of response to incidents and crimes, facilitate hate crimes investigations and prosecutions, and secure justice for hate crime victims. We look forward to witnessing how the Coalition and Joseph will continue serving as educators and neutral conveners for the LGBTQ+ community and beyond throughout Houston.
Lisa Madry: Vice President for Community Engagement at Episcopal Health Foundation, Board Member of Texas Pride Impact Funds, and Co-Chair of the Houston Human Rights Campaign Steering Committee
Lisa Madry is an incredible Houstonian who works to activate people to address the root causes of issues people face in Houston and beyond. In her professional life, she serves as the Vice President for Community Engagement at Episcopal Health Foundation. Through this work, Madry develops, engages, and partners with different organizations to improve community health rather than just health care.
“Houston is viewed as a prosperous city. I’d like to see more shared prosperity. In Houston, even if it is just a mile or two apart, the life expectancy from one zip code to another can vary by 20 years. Houston does not need to be this way, there is enough to go around, and we need to develop ways to share the prosperity for everyone that addresses these disparities and inequities.”
Lisa Madry, Board Member of Texas Pride Impact Funds and Co-Chair of the Houston Human Rights Campaign Steering Committee
In her limited spare time, she represents Houston by serving on the Board of Texas Pride Impact Funds, an LBGTQ+-focused community foundation for Texas that supports nonprofits that help to enrich the lives of thousands of LGBTQ+ Texans for generations to come.
“Even within the LGBTQ+ community, some groups are more marginalized than others. Many of the smaller grassroots organizations serving these groups do not have many places to go for funding for basic resources. One group that Texas Pride Impact Funds (TPIF) supports partners with people who need assistance changing the gender markers on their IDs so someone can have identification that accurately reflects their identity. At TPIF, there are not a lot of philanthropic sources for those groups and TPIF does a great job of finding these smaller organizations in Houston and beyond to help them. Essentially, TPIF helps supports the LGBTQ+ communities serving those in hard-to-reach corners and places throughout the Houston region and state.”
Lisa Madry, Board Member of Texas Pride Impact Funds and Co-Chair of the Houston Human Rights Campaign Steering Committee
Locally, Madry is the Co-Chair of the Houston Human Rights Campaign Steering Committee and also serves on the National Board of Governors for Human Rights Campaign.
“The local steering committee is really where we bring the work of the national Human Rights Campaign to the Houston community. We help mobilize people to fight for equality. Right now there are tremendous attacks on trans people that do not reflect the opinions of the majority of Texans. We help connect and mobilize Houstonians to engage in those issues – we are the boots on the ground for HRC in Houston.”
Madry is inspired by Houston’s diversity, openness, and willingness to collaborate across all different lines. Her advice to anyone facing adversities related to ethnicity, gender, or anything else is to find allies to talk with when faced with obstacles. Your allies can help address and resolve the issue depending on the circumstance.
Tammi Wallace: Co-Founder, President, and CEO at Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Tammi Wallace has identified as a Houstonian since 1986, when she moved to Houston as a 17-year-old from a small town in Mississippi. She finds Houston inspiring because of the “can-do mentality” of Houstonians who rise up to challenges, regardless of whether it is due to natural disasters, hosting sought-after sporting events, or even city-wide celebrations.
Wallace has dedicated the past two decades of her personal and professional life to helping Houston have more representation and inclusion of Houston’s LGBTQ+ community in all facets of Houston. Currently, she serves as the President and CEO of the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce.
“What we see, and why we established the Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), is that the LGBTQ+ community was not represented in the economic fabric of Houston in a lot of ways. We [Houston] are diverse, but the LGBTQ+ representation is missing in a lot of places. If you do not have a seat at the table, you do not have a voice. The Chamber works to change this, we [the Chamber] are the intersection of business and the LGBTQ+ community, and we are a unique path to help close these gaps.”
Tammi Wallace, Co-Founder, President, and CEO at Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce
In her personal time, Wallace has worked with a variety of organizations that help Houston’s LGBTQ+ community. Currently, she serves on the board and is past president of the Hollyfield Foundation, a foundation that provides direct and indirect funding to prevent discrimination, educate, and secure equal rights for sexual minorities and assist in health care issues for the community, particularly in the areas of HIV/AIDS education, care, and treatment. Wallace says, “Hollyfield Foundation funds about $70,000 – $80,000 each year, and this money goes to a lot of smaller organizations where these grants make a huge difference. The organizations we [Hollyfield Foundation] support are definitely the types of organizations that are boots on the ground, really engrained in the Houston community.”
Previously, Wallace has been involved with and currently supports the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, a nonprofit led by former City of Houston Mayor, Annise Parker. LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is the only national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ+ people who can further equality at all levels of government.
“For me, it is always going back to ‘having a seat at the table.’ There is no better way for the LGBTQ+ community to be represented than through government leaders. Even though we have allies, which is critically important, having us at the table makes a huge difference in regard to policies, changing hearts and minds, helping a younger generation see what is possible – we need LGBTQ+ leaders.”
Tammi Wallace, Co-Founder, President, and CEO at Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce
Wallace has always been drawn to social justice work. She says that “As someone who identifies as Lesbian, growing up I did not see a lot of people like me by any means. When I moved to Houston and witnessed the challenges that the LGBTQ+ community faces – like hatred and harassment. I want a world where these things do not happen – this is what motivates me to help drive change.”
Wallace shared that the way she was able to start igniting meaningful change within the LGBTQ+ community was by getting involved with nonprofits that support this community. Wallace knows of many organizations in Houston doing great things for the LGBTQ+ community, with about 32 of them being involved with the Chamber — a great place to get started with engaging in this work.