This past June, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits celebrated Pride week with gusto. It included chalk-art, rainbow cupcakes, and decorating pictures with glitter and inspirational quotes of Freddie Mercury, Audre Lorde, Harvey Milk and many others.
Not only was it a great time to celebrate with each other, it was also a moment to reflect on history and the intersectionality of oppression and liberation. We remembered that the first Pride was a riot led by trans women of color as a resistance and a movement for LGBTQA+ folks. And, as Pride was concluding, we learned about the new policy of separating children from their families at border detention centers, yet another new policy further tearing apart immigrant and refugee community members; an important reminder that the work towards collective liberation continues.
We finished the week with poems and a moment of silence for all, remembering that love is love is love. “It was really magical, there was something joyful about it…everyone enjoyed it whether they identified as queer or not,” said Amber Davis, MCN’s nonprofit services assistant, “It was a ripple effect of fun and community gathering.”
As a nonprofit that is focused on strengthening and connecting nonprofits, this is another example of how MCN is reflecting and living our values.
Another example of how we are intentionally reflecting our culture is by creating space to share gender pronouns both internally and by offering pronoun stickers at some events. Our intentions are to build an environment where folks feel comfortable sharing their pronouns. One training participant shared, “Thank you MCN, I really appreciated the opportunity to share my pronouns.”
MCN is reimagining our organizational culture to be a space where everyone knows they can show up as their full, authentic selves.