EQUITY FOUNDATION

Originally: P O Box 8607 Portland, Oregon 97207

P O Box 5696 Portland, Oregon 07228-5696

Years: 1989 -

Article in the Cascade Voice newspaper, April 1990

1989  Per Pat Young’s Sept 11, 2000 draft for GLAPNtimeline A group of gay men and lesbians establish/Equity Foundation. Over the course of eight years, the organization distributes more than $430,000 in grants and scholarships throughout Oregon.

Per David Grant Kohl’s book, A Curious and Peculiar People, he states, “Jim Vegher and John Grigsby responded to the misinformation and stereotyping by to Measure 8 backers. Taking an unprecedented and positive action, they organized a philanthropic organization with some members from the Right to Privacy Board. The mission of the Equity Foundation was and is “to assure the prosperity of gay and lesbian health, cultural and service organizations, and to promote a positive image of gay and lesbian people by making visible our contributions to the wider society.” (Just Out, October 15, 1993, p. 15)  

The founders were a collection of people who had an impassioned commitment to provide support to lesbian and gay organizations, especially those regularly bypassed by traditional grant-giving foundations. Under the early leadership of executive director Thomas Aschenbrener, funding has also been granted to non-gay causes that merit the support of the gay community. Grant application was made as simple as possible, but also required accountability and follow up reports for use of funds granted. Funds managed by Equity come from individual estates, planned giving, endowments, outright gifts, and several workplace giving campaigns including the City of Portland, Metropolitan Services District, Multnomah County, Tri-Met, and the State of Oregon. Employees at these places requested the inclusion of Equity as a recipient of their funds.”