Lighthouse Foundation of Chicagoland—a Black- and queer-led, multiracial social justice organization—has released its Black Queer Equity Index (BQEI).
The BQEI evaluates the organizational cultures of five of the area’s largest LGBTQ+ nonprofits: AIDS Foundation Chicago, Center on Halsted, Chicago House, Equality Illinois and Howard Brown Health. All of these organizations provide care and/or advocacy to those living with HIV.
Because HIV disparately impacts Black LGBTQ+ people, Lighthouse Foundation believes it is key to our community’s wellness and upward social mobility to engage these five nonprofits.
Using statistical analysis of the organizations’ human resource data, surveys, individual interviews and focus groups, the foundation discovered that Black queer employees and board members at these organizations commonly shared experiences of marginality, ambivalent experiences of optical diversity and an overall lack of the “real work” of antiracism.
In response to the data analysis, Lighthouse Foundation’s BQEI staff and advisory council developed categories for equity indicators for the organizations to implement and strengthen for Black queer employees and board members. Said categories include resource Allocation, Giving Voice and Power, Professional Development, Systemic Action and Data Collection.
In 2022, Lighthouse Foundation will invite additional organizations to join the second cohort of the BQEI project.
For the full report, visit http://www.lightfoundchi.org/bqei.