We aspire to see an Aotearoa where trans, takatāpui and intersex youth no longer experience discrimination and stigma within health, education, employment, state care, housing, community and in households across our country. Instead, they should be embraced by us all, included, acknowledged and treated equally.

We are honored to be walking alongside trans, takatāpui and intersex organisations across New Zealand to help them achieve their goals of ensuring young people are loved and supported by whānau and the community.

Kate Tindall Lum from TTF has been working to create this new strategy of work for the past three years. She says, “We have been really lucky to have had guidance and advice from our friends in the sector to help us develop the Embrace strategy.  We believe every young person has the right to feel safe, respected, and celebrated.  The rainbow sector is significantly underfunded and we felt strongly that organisations working with trans, takatāpui and intersex young people needed more money, support and greater capacity to build on the awesome mahi they are already doing.

“There is great strength and leadership in this community and we’re excited to support organisations making a difference that will benefit young people in this area.”

We have given a few donations to various initiatives in this space as we’ve been developing this work, however now with the Embrace strategy to further guide our giving, we are able to put more structure to this area.  We will actively seek proposals and accept applications and our hope is that the funding will be flexible, responsive, progressive, innovative and non-competitive.

Kate adds, “This is an exciting journey for us to be embarking upon and there is still so much for us to learn. We look forward building high-trust, open partnerships that will have a lasting impact for trans, takatapui and intersex young people.”

We would like to hear from trans, takatāpui or intersex-led organisations working  to:

• Increase access to information, support, and leading change for trans, takatapui and intersex youth
• Offer safe homes and alternative housing
• Open the doors for inclusive support for them and their whānau
• Give the rainbow and youth sectors the knowledge and capacity to support them in the best way possible
• Promote inclusive and culturally appropriate information, positive messaging, share up-to-date NZ data, increase visibility and advocate for change
• Build pathways for wellbeing, safety and leadership
• Work collaboratively within and across sectors

TTF will continue to consult with the trans, takatāpui and intersex community to ensure we make the best decisions about our funding and will work alongside other funders and government where necessary to support community-led goals.

For more information on how to apply for an Embrace donation click here.