Astraea Foundation

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The Astraea Foundation, more properly known as The Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation, is a lesbian charitable organization.

In its statement of purpose, the Astraea Foundation identifies its mission as advancing, "the economic, political, educational and cultural well-being of lesbians," and "to educate individuals about money, power and giving; to expand the community of donors supporting lesbian issues; and to raise and distribute funds to organizations, individuals and projects." The foundation especially concentrates on advancing the status and well-being of lesbians of color, and works to fight various forms of bias, hate, and exploitation. Though its main focus is helping to empower lesbians, the Astraea Foundation seeks to empower and advance the status of all women and gay men.

Founded in 1977 as a means of raising funds for various women's organizations, the foundation was restructured in 1990 to become an all-inclusive philanthropic organization focusing on the needs and concerns of the GLBT community. The foundation now works with gay, lesbian, and women's organizations as well as with the philanthropic and fund-raising efforts of numerous business and charitable groups. These include the Women's Funding Network, the Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, the National Network of Grantmakers,and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, as well as an informal network of lesbian and gay community foundations. 

As a part of its efforts to fight discrimination and support diversity, the Astraea Foundation has recently begun funding the efforts of lesbian artists, particularly lesbians of color, through its Lesbian Visual Arts Project.  Other programs include Smart Women/Smart Money, designed to help both gay and straight women of all backgrounds become financially secure and independent; the U.S. Grants Program, which supports organizations which fight various forms of oppression, especially racism; the International Fund for Sexual Minorities, which helps groups working to protect the rights of the GLBT community; the Lesbian Writer's Funds, supporting the efforts of emerging lesbian poets and fiction writers; the Margot Karle Memorial Scholarship Fund, for students of City of New York University; and the Lynn Campbell Memorial Fund, supporting projects which work for social justice. 

Those interested in applying for grants or making donations to the foundation may contact them thorugh their website or by writing them at:

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Entry revised 7 January, 2005. All text is available for use under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (see Copyrights for details).

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