GILL FOUNDATION

For 20 years, the Gill Foundation has been an advocate for LGBT equality. Today more than ever, we are committed to securing equal opportunity for all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation and gender expression. The goal of our work is straightforward: we want to create an America in which all people are treated equally and respectfully.

Equal treatment – The opportunity to earn a living and support ourselves and our family is part of the American dream. Sadly, there are barriers to that dream for many LGBT Americans. 32 states still don't treat their LGBT citizens equally. LGBT people can be fired from their jobs, denied housing, and denied services based solely on sexual orientation or gender identity.
That's why Gill Foundation grantees are working at all levels of government to ensure opportunity is not limited by where you live.

Safe schools - All parents want their children to develop into responsible, autonomous, and healthy adults who will become contributing members of society. It's a parent's most basic hope for their kids. Children who identify as gay or are gender non-conforming are at much greater risk for verbal or physical assaults in school settings, causing them to miss school, fall behind, and even drop out at higher rates than other students. That's why we support anti-bullying policies and public education to create safer and more affirming schools for all students.

Building a prosperous Colorado – Our home state of Colorado is an even better place to learn, live, work, and play when people from all walks of life work together to create solutions to community challenges. That's why the Gill Foundation invests approximately one-quarter of our budget in nonprofit organizations throughout our home state of Colorado who are improving the quality of life for all Coloradans. In 2012, we made our first grants to address STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) literacy and close the achievement gap for all Colorado kids.

Over the years, we have invested over $300 million in high-impact nonprofits and programs that share our commitment to equality. But we're more than grant makers. We're sometimes leaders and always collaborators. We believe that you can never have too many allies or too few enemies. We share well with others and believe that knowledge should not be treated as a commodity. We introduce people to one another. We convene diverse parties to learn from one another. We enlist, educate and motivate. We're responsible and thoughtful.

Like many other social justice movements, advances toward equality have been incremental processes: state by state, law by law. Winning the freedom to marry is a shining example of our grantees' success.

There is still much left to do.

32 states still don't treat their LGBT citizens equally. LGBT people can be fired from their jobs, denied housing, and denied services based solely on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Statistically, no matter how hardworking, LGBT people still experience greater difficulty finding and keeping a job, get fewer benefits, and pay more taxes on the same income.

To see maps that represent the "State of Equality" for LGBT people, please visit http://gillfoundation.org/equality/.

Strategic investments in efforts to organize fair-minded Americans, educate the public, and share stories has and will continue to lead to significant progress in this area.

We rededicate ourselves to this important work every day by providing nonprofits, civic organizations, government agencies, and businesses with the wide variety of resources they need to be successful and inclusive.