American Jewish World Service

Our Mission

Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world. Rooted in our mission, AJWS was founded in 1985 by American Jews who wanted to join together as global citizens to help some of the poorest and most oppressed people around the globe. Today, AJWS is the only Jewish organization dedicated solely to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing world.

How We’ve Made Change

AJWS started as a small organization, but now raises more than $50 million a year. And since our founding, we have provided more than $230 million to support thousands of social justice organizations in the developing world that have taken on some of the biggest global challenges of our time.

Today, AJWS is one of the top human rights funders in the world. We’re the 6th largest funder of organizations working to advance the rights of women and girls, the 8th largest funder of organizations focused on environmental and natural resource rights, and the 4th largest U.S.-based funder of international LGBT rights work.

Highlights of our work include campaigning to stop the Darfur genocide, fighting global hunger, responding to the Ebola epidemic in Liberia and the earthquake in Nepal, and working to end violence against women, girls and LGBT people worldwide.

Check out the timeline by clicking here to see some of our key accomplishments over the past 30 years!

Atlanta Pride

PURPOSE & MISSION

The main purpose of the APC is to promote unity, visibility and self-esteem among lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender persons and to promote a positive image in the Atlanta area and throughout the Southeastern United States through community activities and services.

The main mission of the APC is to provide lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender persons with cultural and educational programs and activities which enhance mental and physical health, provide social support, and foster an awareness of the past and present contributions of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender persons, through community activities and services, including an annual Pride event.

HISTORY

Atlanta Pride traces it’s roots back to the summer of 1970, one year after the historic Stonewall Riots in New York. Since that time, Atlanta Pride has grown both as an event and organization. Highlights from the past decades include incredible speakers, such as Coretta Scott King and Rep. John Lewis, and momentous occasions, such as the repeal of anti-gay sodomy laws. Read more about Atlanta Pride’s history here.

Contact Us

Atlanta Pride Committee, Inc.
1530 DeKalb Ave NE, Suite A
Atlanta, GA 30307

Office: (404) 382-7588
Fax: (866) 766-9104

Email: info@atlantapride.org

The Counter Narrative Project

MODEL: We are committed to public education as a strategy to build cultural competence among our community allies, as a tool to heal internalized stigma among black gay men, and fight structural stigma in the culture at large. We also believe advocacy training has to be coupled with black gay men’s movement history and cultural production to best facilitate issue awareness. Finally, such approach is the most effective way to build power among black gay men.

APPROACH: We are committed to engaging black gay men around our history, culture, and social context. We believe that organizing is most effective when rooted in our most meaningful experiences, our sacred spaces, and our most transformative texts. We trace our lineage from the works of Joseph Beam, Essex Hemphill, Marlon Riggs, and other figures engaged in black gay men’s cultural and political activism. It is in this tradition, where “black gay man,” stood as a political category as much as a sexual identity that we find our foundation.

VISION: The Counter Narrative Project envisions the following: (1) A world where all black gay men feel valued (2) Work where policy intervention is rooted in our stories and our lived experiences (3) Narratives that will move hearts and minds and change public policy (4) The availability of narratives through media, popular culture and other locations that uplift black gay men. (5) That community building, collective memory and storytelling are indispensable to movement building (6) A world where we are leaders in the conversation around black gay men (7) A proliferation of black gay male thought-leaders actively engaged in shaping narratives around black gay men (8) A world where black gay men are free, and all oppressed communities are free.

HISTORY: The Counter Narrative Project was born out of a series of conversations, starting back in 2013, among community members around the narrow representation of black gay men in media and other cultural narratives. And though HIV/AIDS is a serious concern for black gay men, and should be addressed, we recognized the urgency of such issues such as economic distress, criminalization, housing issues, aging and culture. This gap provided a significant leadership opportunity for us and we believed that through combining our collective forces we would be the best positioned to lead this effort. Thus, we were born to amplify the voices of black gay men. We believe that visibility is necessary for cultural change, and cultural change is necessary for social change.

Emory University

Emory University, recognized internationally for its outstanding liberal arts colleges, graduate and professional schools, and one of the Southeast's leading health care systems, is located on a beautiful, leafy campus in Atlanta, Georgia's historic Druid Hills suburb. The university is enriched by the legacy and energy of Atlanta, and by collaboration among its schools, centers and partners.

Emory's partnership with The LGBT Institute involves Emory's Women's  gender, and sexuality studies department (WGSS) who help support the Institute's scholarship, with specific studies in relation to other important aspects of identity, including race, ethnicity, religion, class, disability, and nationality. Women's, Gender, and Sexulaity analyzes the ways in which social and institutional power is structured in part around social identities, and it examines the meanings attached to these identities through interdisciplinary lenses.  This broader understanding has implications not only for what is studied but how it is studied.  Emory scholars working in the study of women, gender, and sexuality reflect this development in their work, which covers a range of disciplinary and methodological approaches.

Departmental Strengths

Our departmental strengths and areas of expertise are concentrated in the following four areas: 1) Race, Class, and Justice; 2) Globalization and Development; 3) Visual Culture, Narrative, and Ethics; and 4) Bodies, Sexualities, and Science.

With 10 core faculty members and over 60 associated faculty, we enjoy consistent support from the university administration and continue to grow.  Our most recent hires in feminist science studies demonstrate our ongoing commitment to building bridges with other parts of the university, including the Neuroscience Initiative, the Psychoanalytic Studies Program, and the Rollins School of Public Health.  We continue to offer a vibrant undergraduate major and minor, an increasingly popular graduate certificate, and a Ph.D. program that sets the benchmark for the nation.

Global Faith & Justice Project of the Horizons Foundation

Rooted in faith and justice, this global project amplifies faith voices that protect human dignity and achieve equality for LGBT people and their families.

In 78 countries it is illegal to be gay, in 7 countries the death penalty can be imposed. Homosexuality or same-sex relationships are criminalized in these countries as a result of the legacy of colonial penal codes. New anti-homosexuality laws threaten with imprisonment. The so-called homosexual propaganda laws threaten human rights education, medical and legal services for LGBT persons. They also foster suspicion rather than respect for the human dignity of LGBT people and their families.

While significant strides for LGBT equality are being made in the United States and many other countries, persecution of LGBT people is increasing around the world. Religion, culture and tradition are often used as sanctions for such persecution.

With these facts and experiences of LGBT persons in mind, how might we imagine a different world? How might we find ways to empathize, to understand what it is like to be a gay or LGBT person navigating their way in such hostile and life-threatening environments? How might we discover ways to stand in solidarity with LGBT persons and their families on the journey to a world that respects the human dignity of all persons? Together we can create a world that is free and equal.

Human Rights First

AMERICAN IDEALS. UNIVERSAL VALUES.

On human rights, the United States must be a beacon. Activists fighting for freedom around the globe continue to look to our country for inspiration and count on us for support. Upholding human rights is not only a moral obligation; it’s a vital national interest: America is strongest when our policies and actions match our values.

Human Rights First is an independent advocacy and action organization that challenges America to live up to its ideals. We believe American leadership is essential in the global struggle for human rights, so we press the U.S. government and private companies to respect human rights and the rule of law. When they fail, we step in to demand reform, accountability and justice. Around the world, we work where we can best harness American influence to secure core freedoms.

We know it is not enough to expose and protest injustice, so we create the political environment and policy solutions necessary to ensure consistent respect for human rights. Whether we are protecting refugees, combating torture, or defending persecuted minorities, we focus not on making a point, but on making a difference. For more than 35 years, we’ve built bipartisan coalitions and teamed up with frontline activists and lawyers to tackle global challenges that demand American leadership.

Human Rights First is a non-profit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York, Washington D.C. and Houston. To maintain our independence, we accept no government funding.

Point Foundation

Point Foundation empowers promising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students to achieve their full academic and leadership potential – despite the obstacles often put before them – to make a significant impact on society.  

 Point Foundation (Point) is the nation's largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students of merit. Point promotes change through scholarship funding, mentorship, leadership development, and community service training.

Georgia Equality

Georgia Equality’s mission is to advance fairness, safety and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and our allies throughout the state. We are two organizations – united with a common vision but serving unique functions in our work to achieve equality. Georgia Equality, Inc. works year-round to pass pro-equality legislation and elect fair-minded elected officials. Through the Equality Foundation of Georgia, we conduct voter registration and educational activities, provide information to decision makers, and work to organize and mobilize LGBT residents and allies to advance equality in urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state.

Charis Circle / Charis Books

Charis Circle and Charis Books & More
For more than 40 years Charis Books & More, the oldest and largest feminist bookstore in the nation, has played host to legendary programs and events. In 1996, we created a separate 501c3 non-profit, Charis Circle, to continue and expand our program offerings. Together, Charis Books and Charis Circle create a forum for free thought, independent voices, and unique expression. As a non-profit, Charis Circle is funded mainly through individual giving efforts and foundation gifts. Charis Circle rents space from Charis Books and More to house our office, as well as to hold our programs and provide the only community feminist space in Atlanta that is open to the public 7 days a week. Charis Books & More is a for-profit, independent business that is funded through book sales.   

In 2004, Charis Circle began sending all of our memorabilia from author events, community programs, and celebrations to Duke University for archiving. By doing so we are preserving our place in history.    

Charis Circle exists to foster sustainable feminist communities, to work for social justice and to encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices.

About Charis Circle's Programming:
Charis Circle creates and co-sponsors programming in four primary project content areas: the From Margin to Center Literary Project, the Founding the Future of Feminism Project, the Strong Families, Whole Children Project, and the Urban Sustainability and Wellness Project. All of our programming is created with a commitment to sustainability via diverse and innovative funding sources, by nurturing partnerships across communities and geographies, and with an eye toward technical innovation which will create and support accessible feminist communities beyond our physical location.

From Margin to Center Literary Project (FMC)–Building on Charis Books and More’s thirty-seven year commitment to independent and marginalized voices, Charis Circle’s literary project seeks to expand existing notions of literature, test cultural and discipline-based boundaries and traditions, cultivate written experimentation, encourage discourse between schools of thought, and build audiences for live literary experiences. With a primary focus on diverse and marginalized voices, FMC is a cutting-edge literary project that works to encourage “a place at the table” for all.

Founding the Future of Feminism Project (FFF)–works to build a sustainable and dynamic feminist movement facilitating regional networking and program development that challenges and seeks to dismantle all forms of oppression through an intersectional feminist lens. FFF organizes around a philosophy of wholeness, believing that all people have a right to be self-determining across the entire spectrum of their lives.

Strong Families, Whole Children Project–is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of strong, healthy, and whole young people (and the people who love them) who are committed to gender justice beyond the binary.

Urban Sustainability and Wellness Project– is designed to introduce community members to resources and programs that promote a healthy, vital, and sustainable world which rejects the predominate ideology of scarcity and promotes mutuality and sufficiency beyond capitalist models.