Programs and results
What we aim to solve
While recent years have seen significant advancements for LGBTQ+ civil rights, including marriage equality nationwide, the repeal of both Don't Ask Don't Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, and the adoption in California of robust non-discrimination protections, LGBTQ+ people still experience great disparities in health and well-being compared to the broader public. LGBTQ+ people suffer higher rates of homelessness, violence, depression, suicide, arrest, incarceration, substance abuse, and poverty, and lower rates of insurance coverage. This is particularly true for LGBTQ+ people who sit at the intersection of one or more additionally marginalized identities – LGBTQ+ people of color; transgender, gender nonconforming and intersex (TGI) people; LGBTQ+ immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers; LGBTQ+ people with disabilities; the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated; people living with HIV; and LGBTQ+ young people just to name a few.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Safe and Supportive Schools
Every child in California deserves to attend a safe and supportive school, where they have the opportunity to learn and succeed, but studies show that LGBTQ+ students are more likely to face bullying and discrimination in schools than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. Through training and direct support, we work to increase the capacity of public schools to assess the needs of their LGBTQ+ students and enact greater support systems on behalf of LGBTQ+ students.
Accomplishments:
- Engaged 32 school districts, 5 county offices of education, and 10 parent groups about policies that contribute to safe and supportive school environments for LGBTQ+ and all students
- Distributed our Safe and Supportive Schools survey to 338 public school districts across California.
- Continued our Mentorship Corps program, which provides LGBTQ+ affirming mentorship to students in Fresno Unified School District, training and deploying 28 mentors to serve nearly 100 LGBTQ+ students.
COVID-19 Response
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, our LGBTQ+ Help Center (https://covid19.eqca.org/) continues to help LGBTQ+ people across the state find testing and vaccination resources best suited to serving our community. In 2021 we also conducted a campaign in collaboration with community-based organizations to provide LGBTQ+ people with facts about the virus, testing and vaccinations.
Accomplishments:
- Distributed 35,000 postcards to our members about the value of wearing masks and getting vaccinated.
- Subgranted $250,000 to 20 LGBTQ+ organizations across California to sustain them financially during the pandemic, and an additional $84,000 to 12 LGBTQ+ groups to bolster vaccination outreach to our community.
- Hosted three live, online discussions with LGBTQ+ leaders and health experts about the need to get vaccinated - including one in Spanish.
- Sent peer-to-peer text messages to 273,000 Equality California members, answering questions about the vaccines and urging them to get vaccinated
LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training
Our LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training provides information and resources to healthcare and homeless service professionals and organizations looking to provide inclusive, equitable, and affirming care to LGBTQ+ people. The training promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion and offers practitioners a range of tools to better identify and serve the needs of LGBTQ+ clients. To date, we have trained more than 4,000 healthcare providers and community leaders, empowering them to provide culturally competent quality care to LGBTQ+ patients and clients.
Accomplishments:
- Launched an online self-paced learning version of the training for healthcare providers, to expand program reach.
- Created specialized online modules addressing patient care for people living with, or vulnerable to, HIV and to encourage HPV vaccination uptake in LGBTQ+ young people.
- Expanded the training to include homeless service providers, reaching 9 organizations and 285 staff.
OUT Against Big Tobacco
For decades, Big Tobacco has targeted the LGBTQ+ community, resulting in significantly higher rates of smoking and use of other tobacco products and the health problems associated with them. In partnership with the California Tobacco Control Program, Equality California Institute has launched multi-year advocacy and education coalitions in Los Angeles County and the Central Valley to raise awareness about tobacco use disparities and educate lawmakers on the importance of common-sense policies to prevent bit tobacco from profiting off the deaths of LGBTQ+ people.
Accomplishments:
- Educated legislative candidates, 18 of whom agreed to decline campaign donations from tobacco companies.
- Educated community to help pass an ordinance in the City of West Hollywood to end the sale of flavored tobacco products and use of discounts on tobacco products.
- Published an article about tobacco control and the LGBTQ+ community in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
LGBTQ+ Leadership
LGBTQ+ people have traditionally been underrepresented in appointed boards, commissions, and offices at the federal, state, and local levels. These positions provide the opportunity to have a lasting impact on pressing policy issues and are a pathway to elected office and other leadership positions. Our leadership programming works to nurture LGBTQ+ leaders across California.
Accomplishments
- Our annual California LGBTQ+ Leadership Summit brought together over 100 openly LGBTQ+ elected and appointed officials to network, discuss policy priorities, and establish valuable mentorships among veteran public leaders and newly elected and appointed LGBTQ+ officials.
- Our Leadership Academy Trained 20 LGBTQ+ people from across a range of professions - 9 of whom identify as people of color - to run for elected office or seek appointment to public boards or commissions.
- Our Comcast Fellowship enlisted six LGBTQ+ youth to participate in a four-week, paid internship at the State Capitol.
Racial Justice
More than 18 months after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, California is still reckoning with its racist past and present. There is much work to be done to stop anti-Asian violence and the racial inequities highlighted by COVID-19 in healthcare and the economy, but we are playing a part in rectifying these injustices by empowering voters of color.
Accomplishments:
- Organized online, public forums with Asian-Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ leaders to confront anti-Asian hate in California, and explain its significance to the larger LGBTQ+ community.
- Advocated for COVID-19 vaccine equity and raised awareness about the disproportionate toll the pandemic has taken on Latino and Black LGBTQ+ communities.
- Provided subgrants to organizations serving, and led by, people of color to conduct COVID-19 vaccine outreach among communities of color.
HIV/AIDS
Society’s response to HIV and AIDS in the United States has roots in fear and ignorance. Thanks to medical advancements and understanding, support for moving past stigma and toward science is growing. But the work is far from done. Our programming works to educate and mobilize our communities in order to eliminate HIV stigma, modernize legislation across the nation, and reduce HIV transmissions.
Accomplishments:
- Coordinated a multi-state advocacy effort to modernize laws across the country that criminalized HIV.
- Shared our experiences and strategic insights with advocates in Illinois, Nevada, Virginia, and New Jersey, where governors signed laws to modernize HIV criminal laws.
- Helped to expand the capacity of lead organizations and HIV modernization coalitions in eight states to further their work to end discrimination against people living with HIV and to center science, not stigma.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of coalition members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
LGBTQ people
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of convenings hosted by the organization
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
California LGBTQ+ Leadership Summit; Fair Share for Equality; Advocacy Day
Number of public events held to further mission
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Public Education and Advocacy Events
Number of briefings or presentations held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Presentations to community leaders regarding disparities in LGBTQ+ health and well-being
Number of people trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Individuals trained in LGBTQ+ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Number of grassroots organizations supported
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Organizations provided with sub-grants and resources to conduct public education and outreach in LGBTQ+ issue areas.
Number of training workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Trainings include work done through our LGBTQ+ Cultural Competency Training program, the Leadership Academy, Comcast Fellowship, and Equality California Mentorship Corps.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Equality California Institute brings the voices of LGBTQ+ people and allies to institutions of power in California and across the United States, striving to create a world that is healthy, just, and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people. We advance civil rights and social justice by inspiring, advocating, and mobilizing through an inclusive movement that works tirelessly on behalf of those we serve. Equality California Institute, along with its affiliate 501(c)(4) Equality California, are the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations, with 900,000 members, and California’s only LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations working at the local, state, and national levels.
We are a diverse organization, accountable to California’s diverse LGBTQ+ community. We define “LGBTQ+ issues” broadly and are fighting for full, lived equality for all LGBTQ+ people and the diverse communities to which we belong — centering those in our community most at-risk of discrimination, including LGBTQ+ people of color, TGI people, immigrants, young people, women, and people living with HIV. For more than 20 years, Equality California Institute has been fighting for LGBTQ+ equality, and we will keep fighting until the work is done.
Our priorities areas are:
• Health & Well-being: Reducing disparities in LGBTQ+ health and well-being
• Leadership: Empowering LGBTQ+ elected, appointed and community leaders
• People Power: Increasing civic participation and building political power within the LGBTQ+ community
Through these and other channels, Equality California Institute is seeking to create change in our communities and public systems and to reduce disparities in LGBTQ+ health and well-being.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Advance Cutting-Edge Legislation
• Continue to advance LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice legislation in California, including legislation to protect the most vulnerable among us.
• Promote California’s pro-equality legal landscape as a roadmap for states across the country.
• Advance LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice legislation at the federal level.
• Expand programs to assist LGBTQ+ organizations in other states to adopt LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice legislation.
• Create affiliate infrastructure in other states where existing capacity is weak or nonexistent.
Enhance Our Electoral Clout
• Build the bench of openly LGBTQ+ elected and appointed officials to fuel the LGBTQ+ movement in California and beyond.
• Mobilize voter turnout for pro-equality candidates at the state and national levels.
Address Disparities In Health & Well-Being
• Continue to invest in programmatic work that focuses on vulnerable communities to which LGBTQ+ people belong, including communities of color and faith, immigrants, people living with HIV, elders, youth, people with disabilities, women and members of TGI communities.
• Improve LGBTQ+ competency in institutions that support the public in times of need and crisis, including healthcare providers, schools and universities, faith organizations and law enforcement.
• Expand programming focused on implementation of California’s pro-equality laws, including healthcare access programming and the Safe & Supportive Schools Initiative.
• Advocate for increased government resources to meet the needs of all LGBTQ+ people and people at risk of, or living with, HIV.
Educate, Mobilize & Engage Our Community
• Maintain a robust, comprehensive communications strategy to mobilize and engage the community at the local, state and federal levels.
• Increase Equality California’s earned media platform to become one of the go-to organizations in the nation for issues and stories relevant to the LGBTQ+ community.
• Maintain and strengthen Equality California’s role as the statewide convener and leader of the California’s LGBTQ+ community regarding health, electoral, legislative and policy issues.
• Increase and strengthen collaboration with LGBTQ+, labor, business and progressive partners to advance the community’s priorities.
• Optimize technology infrastructure to improve programmatic effectiveness.
Serve As A Talent Engine For The LGBTQ+ Movement
• Recruit and train the next generation of LGBTQ+ community leaders, enhancing their understanding of LGBTQ+ civil rights and social justice issues and community priorities.
• Invest in training and career advancement for staff through professional development opportunities that expand and refine skill sets that can be used to advance priorities in the public and private sectors.
• Mentor smaller organizations in the movement to build LGBTQ+ movement capacity at the local and state levels.
• Expand mentorship opportunities for volunteer leadership at Equality California.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Equality California Institute, along with its affiliate 501(c)(4) Equality California, are the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations and California’s only LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations working at the local, state, and national levels.
Our size lends itself to our strong communications and mobilization capacity, allowing us to reach large numbers of LGBTQ+ and allied individuals to conduct outreach, public education, and mobilization. As a leader in the fight for marriage equality, Equality California Institute is well known in the LGBTQ+ community and has a reputation for being leaders in the fight for LGBTQ+ equity and inclusion. We have positive relationships with LGBTQ+ and allied social justice organizations and non-profits across the state, are well-respected among our peer organizations and elected and appointed officials, and have an engaged and loyal board of directors, staff, and volunteer base.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Equality California Institute, along with our affiliate 501(c)(4) Equality California, was established in 1998 as the California Alliance for Pride and Equality (the name Equality California was adopted in 2003) with a mission to ensure the dignity, safety, equality and civil rights of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians.
Today, Equality California is the largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization in the nation. Our programs cover a wide range of topics that impact the diverse LGBTQ+ community, including healthcare, immigration, education, HIV prevention, TGI (transgender, gender-nonconforming and intersex) visibility, mental health, religious acceptance of LGBTQ+ people and leadership development for LGBTQ+ youth and adults.
We have achieved historic firsts in California—protecting LGBTQ+ youth from so-called “conversion therapy,” expanding access to life-saving HIV prevention medication, protecting transgender students from discrimination, and guaranteeing healthcare for transgender youth in foster care. We have launched innovative programs to support LGBTQ+ students in the Central Valley, empower the next generation of LGBTQ+ leaders to pursue elected and appointed office, and ensure healthcare professionals and homeless service providers have the tools and training they need to care for the LGBTQ+ community. Through these and many other efforts, we have also paved the way for the rest of the nation to follow—creating a roadmap and helping our partners in other states replicate our success. We have built California into a beacon of hope to LGBTQ+ people around the world, and we will not stop fighting until the work is done.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
EQUALITY CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE
Board of directorsas of 11/03/2022
Jackie Thomas
Thomboy Productions
Jackie Thomas
Juan Camacho
Rabbi Barbara Zacky
Ryan Harlow-Nakano
Jessica Stebbins Bina
Beth Collins
David Cruz
Lisa Larroque Alexander
Hon. Richard Bloom
Steven Brancato
Hon. Anna Caballero
Jeff Frietas
Hon. Lena Gonzalez
Hon. Sara Jacobs
Hon. Lisa Middleton
Cat Packer
Hon. Steve Padilla
Laura Zagar
Mark Gonzalez
Hon. Rafael Mandaelman
Hon. Dallas Harris
Hon. Abigail Medina
Katherine M. Forster
Laurie Hasencamp
David Ambroz
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data