MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Marra Communications Manager Arcus Foundation 646-837-8863 amarra@arcusfoundation.org NEW YORK, NY (June 19, 2018) – The Arcus Foundation, a global foundation promoting respect for diversity among peoples and in nature, announced today the appointment of Alisha Williams (preferred gender pronouns: she/her, they/their) as a Program Officer of the Social Justice program. Williams will start in the new role at the end of June.
Arcus’ spring grantmaking portfolio gives support for recipients to carry out a wide variety of great ape and gibbon conservation efforts, offering opportunities to improve chimpanzee care facilities and to strengthen protections for apes in their natural habitats. The Jane Goodall Institute will use its grant to support the collaborative implementation of the Conservation Action Plan for the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in a partnership with eight conservation organizations.
Many of the recipients of support in Arcus’ spring 2018 grantmaking portfolio are focusing on educational and legal strategies to amplify the messages of the LGBTQI community, from media training to advancing human rights litigation and policy analysis. They are also harnessing the positive voices within religious communities to advocate for acceptance and inclusion.
Advocating for the rights of LGBTQ persons across the globe and through a variety of channels is the goal of the grants in the winter Arcus Foundation portfolio. From working with transgender and intersex groups to faith leaders and regional organizations, organizations continue to fight to raise awareness and combat discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
The grants awarded by Arcus as part of the winter cycle of funding address the ways in which conservation practitioners are concentrating on various threats to great apes. They are focusing not only on the threats, but also the drivers of those threats, and how they destroy habitats or populations of apes.
MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Marra, Communications Manager Arcus Foundation 646-837-8879 amarra@arcusfoundation.org NEW YORK, NY (December 11, 2017) — The Arcus Foundation, a global foundation promoting respect for diversity among peoples and in nature, announced today that Maya L. Harris, a distinguished attorney and public policy advocate, has joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
A muxe woman, Peregrina Vera is a member of the Indigenous Zapotec community from the town of Juchitán in the southeast of Oaxaca state in Mexico. A skilled artisan of traditional woven clothing, Peregrina also prepares decorations for local festivals. But in addition to her artistic endeavors, she is one of the leaders of the Transformándome (“Transforming Myself”) project housed at Mexfam, a nationwide civil society organization promoting access to health, education, and advocacy of sexual and reproductive rights. The project helps educate the muxe about their rights and how they can live authentically as themselves, including acquiring identification documents that accurately portray their names and genders.
Peregrina’s activism includes documenting incidents of hate crimes against the muxe throughout the region. This is a subject she unfortunately knows all too well after she experienced a recent violent attack and robbery in which all of her work tools were stolen.
These incidents have increased as new people have moved into the region.
“Before they did nothing to us,” Peregrina explains. “Now if you’re at a party, just by seeing you, they want to attack you, they insult you, and on many occasions, the aggression changes from words to physical attacks.”
By documenting these incidents, Peregrina is helping to bring the issue of hate violence to the attention of authorities and the public. She is also working to connect members of her community through online meetings using computers acquired by the Transformándome project. All of her activism is aimed at increasing the acceptance and inclusion of her muxe community.
Mujer Muxe, Peregrina Vera es miembro de la comunidad indígena Zapoteca del pueblo de Juchitán, en el sureste del estado de Oaxaca. Hábil artesana de la ropa tejida tradicional, Peregrina también prepara adornos para las fiestas locales. Pero además de sus esfuerzos artísticos, es una de las líderes de Transformándome en Mexfam, la organización nacional de planificación familiar de México. El proyecto ayuda a educar a la comunidad Muxe sobre sus derechos y sobre cómo pueden vivir auténticamente sin esconderse, incluyendo cómo obtener documentos de identidad que reflejen con exactitud sus nombres y géneros.
El activismo de Peregrina incluye la documentación de incidentes de crímenes de odio contra la comunidad Muxe en toda la región. Se trata de un tema que, por desgracia, conoce demasiado bien tras haber sufrido recientemente un ataque violento y un robo en el que le sustrajeron todas sus herramientas de trabajo.
Estos incidentes han aumentado a medida que nuevas personas se han trasladado a la región.
“Antes no nos hacían nada”, explica. “Ahora, si estás en una fiesta, solo con verte quieren agredirte, te insultan y, en muchas ocasiones, la agresión pasa de las palabras a los ataques físicos”.
Con la documentación de estos incidentes, Peregrina está ayudando a llamar la atención de las autoridades y del público sobre el problema de la violencia motivada por el odio. También está trabajando para conectar a los miembros de su comunidad a través de reuniones en línea utilizando computadoras adquiridas gracias al proyecto Transformándome. Todo su activismo busca aumentar la aceptación y la inclusión de su comunidad Muxe.
A bonobo in trees moving its mouth, with a binocular effect zooming in on the ape. A text overlay says, “Dedicated to the idea that people can live in harmony with one another and the natural world.”
A forest with the sun shining through trees, with a text overlay that quotes Jon Stryker and Annette Lanjouw of Arcus Foundation saying, “Destruction of nature exposes us to a panoply of diseases, and creates and exacerbates social injustice and political repression around the world.”
A razed forest.
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Text overlay with a quote: “LGBTQ communities served by our Social Justice Program live at the intersection of this long chain of degradation—environmental and social.”
A scene from a protest, people wearing face masks, waving signs and banners, drumming on a drum, dancing, shouting through a megaphone. Two signs are a sheer black color with gold trim and list several names, including Roxsana Hernandez, Claire Legato, Muhlaysia Booker, and Nina Pop. Another sign says “Black Trans Lives Matter”.
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A woman wearing a white dress, long wavy dark brown hair, teal lipstick, plum fingernails, rectangular metal glasses sits in a chair and talks. A text overlay identifies her as Úmi Vera, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, United States, and quotes her saying: “There’s incredible power in the trans queer migrant community. To be dehumanized so much and not lose your hope, your sense of joy—it’s just astonishing.”
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A woman with short black and gray hair wearing a black dress shirt talks. A text overlay identifies her as Indyra Mendoza, Red Lésbica Cattrachas, Honduras, and quotes her saying: “For so many years, we missed being free and open with our partners—now is the time to make it happen!.”
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A woman wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt under a jumper featuring white and pastel yellow, blue and green circles, a black head covering and a red face mask, stands in front of a church building with a sign that says: “Central Methodist Mission You are born in love by love for love”. A text overlay identifies her as Mia Lukas, SistaazHood, homeless trans women supported by Gender DynamiX, South Africa, and quotes her saying: “With their support, we feel more included in society.”
A Learn More button that links to a story: Supporting Cape Town’s Homeless Transgender Women During COVID-19
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An aerial view of a forest with area of deforested land. A text overlay that quotes Fransisca Ariantiningsih, Orangutan Information Centre, Indonesia, saying “Logging and habitat destruction force animals from the forest, making them vulnerable to trafficking.”
A woman with neck-length dark brown straight hair and a beige dress shirt talks in front of a pink flowering tree.
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A baby orangutan slowly climbs a tree.
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An adult orangutan eats tree bark while clinging to a tree.
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An adult gibbon with black fur climbs a tree with a baby gibbon clinging onto the adult. Two bonobos move through trees.
A man with a beard and buzzed hair wearing a tan polo shirt with the African Wildlife Foundation logo talks. A text overlay identifies him as Raoul Mulumba Tafua, African Wildlife Foundation, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and quotes him saying, “Protecting Congo’s forest biodiversity benefits the community from the perspective of climate change, food production, and tourism.”
A woman with tightly braided dark brown hair and wearing a t-shirt with pink sleeves, a pink bow, and the faces of two people against a light blue background, talks. A text overlay identifies her as Merveille Boale Batuli, supported by Village Enterprise and African Wildlife Foundation, and quotes her saying “I’m a mother, a widow, and I have to feed my family.”
A man in a gray dress shirt and wearing a shoulder bag sits behind a table and reaches toward prescription medicine boxes and opens one to take out a smaller box and hand it to someone on the other end of the table. A text overlay quotes Jon Stryker and Annette Lanjouw of Arcus Foundation saying “Conservation without social justice is neither ethical nor possible. To achieve conservation and respect for the world’s apes, we work with the people who live alongside them.”
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The man from the pharmacy walks down a dirt path past bushes while smiling.
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