The organization joins cohort of 55 youth-nominated organizations across eleven countries supporting youth mental health, wellbeing
Chicago, IL — DECEMBER 10, 2025 — Today, Trans Up Front Illinois announced its selection as a 2025–2026 Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient by Born This Way Foundation, founded by Lady Gaga. Trans Up Front Illinois will be receiving vital funds from the youth-driven grantmaking program to support its work uplifting transgender and gender-expansive youth throughout Illinois through leadership development, direct support, community education, and advocacy. The Kindness in Community Fund is supported by Pivotal, Cotton On Foundation, Sephora, Haus Labs, and others.
Trans Up Front Illinois is one of 55 youth-centered organizations across eleven countries chosen as a Kindness in Community Fund recipient for 2025–2026. These organizations advance youth mental health by providing accessible services including direct mental health support, housing and food resources, community safety initiatives, and programs that foster belonging and resilience.
From nominations to final selection, young people were engaged at every stage of the grantmaking process, ensuring their voices, priorities, and lived experiences shaped the cohort chosen to advance youth mental health and cultivate kindness in their communities.
“Being selected for the Kindness in Community Fund is a powerful affirmation of the work our youth, families, and communities are doing every day,” said Asher McMaher, Executive Director of Trans Up Front Illinois. “This grant will directly strengthen our capacity to create safer spaces, expand support systems, and ensure trans young people across Illinois feel seen, valued, and supported.”
“It is a testament to each Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient’s work that young people themselves selected them to receive this grant. We are thrilled to announce the 2025–2026 cohort of grant recipients that practice creative, innovative work to meet the needs of youth in their community, supporting their mental health and wellbeing,” said Rachel Martin, Chief Operating Officer of Born This Way Foundation. “With thanks to generous support from our partners, Born This Way Foundation is able to scale the important work of these grassroots organizations, ensuring they are able to help even more young people in their communities.”
Center on Halsted, which advances community and secures the health and well-being of the LGBTQ+ people of Chicagoland and throughout the Midwest, is also an awardee.
Despite the urgent global need for mental health investment, the World Health Organization reports that mental health accounts for only 2% of global health funding and just 0.5% of philanthropic health funding. The Kindness in Community Fund seeks to change this by investing directly in organizations that provide affirming, community-rooted services supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people.
For more information about the 2025–2026 Kindness in Community Fund recipients, please visit:
channelkindness.org/2025-kindness-in-community-fund-grant-recipients
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
About Trans Up Front Illinois
Trans Up Front Illinois is a statewide organization dedicated to uplifting transgender and gender-expansive youth, young adults, and their support systems. Through leadership development, direct support, community education, and advocacy, we work to ensure every young person has access to affirming resources and pathways to thrive.
About Born This Way Foundation
Born This Way Foundation, co-founded and led by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Bissett Germanotta, empowers and inspires young people to build a kinder, braver world that supports their mental health and wellbeing. Based on the scientific link between kindness and mental health and built in partnership with young people, the Foundation leverages research, programs, grantmaking, and partnerships to engage young people and connect them with accessible mental health resources. This approach comes to life through the storytelling platform Channel Kindness, the mental health training course Be There Certificate, the youth-led grantmaking program Kindness in Community Fund, and more, reaching thousands of young people around the world each year. Learn more at bornthisway.foundation.