[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
Renewal Request Educating & Engaging Commission FY 2010-2011 Programmatic Renewal
Page 1 of 12
[FY 2010 -2011]
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011] 1/14/2010
Dear Commission members, Three year-old Raffi, son of LGBT Alliance Planning and Advisory Group Member Ali Cannon and his wife Jessica smiled with exhaustion from having just marched with an estimated 800 Jews in the 2009 San Francisco Pride parade. "Mama, I get it!" Raffi declared. Raffi continued proudly, "Daddy's Trans and Mommy's Bi! We are all Jewish! Everyone here is Jewish!" This was a moment of kedusha, or holiness, for Raffi and his parents. They were teary-eyed as they listened to their son validating their family, their individual identities and their community. This statement made by a three-year-old child cemented in stone a rich and wonderful Jewish experience. We need to replicate and leverage these types of experiences to engage Jewish individuals and families on what this Jewish community values: not simply inclusion, but celebration of our diverse identities. For the estimated 36,000 Bay Area Jewish Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) individuals we understand that the principles of tikkun olam, to repair the world, b'tzelem elochem, we are all created in the image of the divine and tzedek, justice, inspire engagement in the greater Jewish community. We are pleased to present our renewal request to continue pursuit of these principles through work on behalf of the LGBT Jewish community and the Jewish community in general. The Bay Area has the potential to be a national model for innovation in LGBT celebration and inclusion by the Jewish community. The time is now! We have the opportunity to be a “light unto the nationsi�! We are convinced the LGBT Alliance meets a tremendous local need and is profoundly relevant to the larger Bay Area Jewish community. We are hopeful that you will come to this same conclusion after reviewing the following proposal. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact either of us directly. Thank you, Lisa Finkelstein Director LGBT Alliance lisaf@sfjcf.org (415) 369-2863
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Al Baum Founder, LGBT Alliance Chair, Planning and Advisory Group ahbaum@att.net (415) 922-6114
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION PROGRAM NAME: The LGBT Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties 2009-2010 PROGRAM GRANT NUMBER: LGBT Alliance Planning and Program Development SF JCF 0910PG-LGBT PROGRAM STAFF: Lisa Finkelstein, Director, (415) 369-2863 lisaf@sfjcf.org PROGRAM PURPOSE: The LGBT Alliance increases opportunities for Bay Area LGBT Jews to fully participate and celebrate in Jewish life. PROGRAM AMOUNT REQUESTED: $194,614.00
B. UNMET NEED POPULATION SUMMARY: The LGBT Alliance has worked over the past few years to understand the needs of the Bay Area individuals and families that dual-identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) and Jewish. ii Nationally, according to the LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP) about 15 million American adults identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual (LGB) or are in some-type of intimate relationships with same-sex partners. The iii iv Williams Institute suggests that perhaps 500,000 American adults identify as Trans . The Bay Area is the home to v the third largest metropolitan Jewish community in the United States as well as the largest LGBT population. From these population findings, the LGBT Alliance estimates that the Bay Area LGBT Jewish community population, dispersed across the Bay Area Jewish Community Federations' service areas that includes San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, is likely around 36,000 people or an estimated 8% to 11% of the total local Jewish population. vi
PROCESS TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING NEED: In the most recent Bay Area Jewish Community Federation Study LGBT Jews were not only recognized as a significant portion of the Jewish community but also noted as the least affluent, the most impacted by poverty, and in general, the most underserved by the organized Jewish community. Recognizing the desire for a deeper understanding of the needs of Bay Area LGBT Jews, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties (SF JCF) and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay (JFED) joined together to explore strategies to reduce the barriers for participation in Bay Area Jewish life. In early 2008 the LGBT Alliance, having been an affinity group out of the development department of SF JCF since 1996, transitioned into the Planning and Program Development Department and began managing the strategic planning process in conjunction with lay leaders from both SF JCF & vii JFED. The lay leadership group, aptly named the LGBT Alliance Planning and Advisory Group (PAG), began an unprecedented and ambitious Bay-Area-Wide collaborative initiative to research the needs of and then strategically plan for meeting the needs of LGBT Bay Area Jews. In addition to commissioning a Bay Area LGBT viii Jewish community needs assessment with Jewish Mosaic: The National Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity, the LGBT Alliance staff collected basic psychographic information from the community in 45 small group and one-onix one interviews: it also published a report of recommendations for Trans inclusion collectively designed to
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
complement and diversify the findings. What resulted in this process deepened the Alliance’s understanding about the particular needs, issues, and concerns of the LGBT population that emerged from those 2004 study results.
C. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION & OUTCOMES UNDERSTANDING WHY CHANGES NEED TO BE MADE: What we can substantiate now, that we could not verify before this planning process, is that, in some ways, Bay Area LGBT Jews are a microcosm of the larger Jewish community. Yet LGBT Jews, experience additional barriers to engagement. The Alliance’s findings identify specific issues of concern to certain subpopulations. For example, Bay Area Trans Jews are engaged in the Jewish community to some degree, but recognize that the Jewish community needs to move forward on transgender awareness and inclusion. What we can now soundly confirm is that among Bay Area LGBT Jews our younger generations participate and affiliate less than our older generations; many of us are in interfaith relationships; we comprise an economically diverse group; and we have a wide-ranging diversity of opinions about and sense of connection with Israel. Additionally, some of the universal identity issues that Jews experience amplify in our subx communities based on the multiple levels of barriers to break down before we get to questions of involvement. KEY LEARNINGS: The primary intention of our newly published LGBT Alliance strategic plan titled, "Celebrating Distinctions," is to utilize the following key findings in driving future work with the Bay Area LGBT Jewish community: Bay Area LGBT Jews are highly diverse in terms of age, gender, geography, family status, spiritual connections, xi identities, health status , interests, social networks, and commitments. There is no singular LGBT Jewish community in the Bay Area. Rather Bay Area LGBT Jews often identify with specific subpopulations as defined by many of the characteristics just listed. Some Bay Area LGBT Jews are already deeply engaged in Bay Area Jewish life and have helped to transform Jewish organizations from within as staff, board members and clients or members. Bay Area LGBT Jews lack accessible avenues to share and receive comprehensive Jewish LGBT-related information, referrals, and resource materials for involvement in the Jewish community to experience leadership options, economic support, networking, group travel, philanthropic contributions, volunteer experiences and spiritual care. Some Bay Area LGBT Jews want more identifiable pathways to involvement, spiritual care and leadership opportunities. Lack of engagement with Jewish community does not mean lack of deep Jewish identity. Bay Area LGBT Jews want to, and often do, incorporate aspects of their Jewish identities and Jewish culture into their lives, outside and beyond synagogue life. Additionally, having a strong Jewish identity does not necessarily translate into mainstream Jewish community engagement. The factors influencing the level of engagement among Bay Area LGBT Jews mirror other subpopulations within the Jewish world. However, the factors that tend to limit engagement are often present to a greater degree among Bay Area LGBT Jews. The majority of the Bay Area's Jewish organizations are at least open to the welcoming of LGBT people. Only a minority of the Bay Area's Jewish organizations are characterized as pro-actively and systematically inclusive in terms of the policies, practices, and programs that signal greater LGBT participation. Many Jewish organizations want help with financial resources, training, marketing, outreach, and program development to support a range of LGBT-thematic programs and events that reach a wide variety of people in various regionally diverse areas.
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
While these learnings are important to consider, so are those that suggest that there are a number of issues that really are unique to our community. These include, among other things, concepts of gender identity and family that are squarely outside of “the mainstream.” As a result, our strategic plan seeks to address both domains: those in which LGBT Jews are grappling with the same issues as the broader community, but also those that constitute unique and specific challenges/opportunities. PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION & OVERVIEW: Viral marketing and multiple outreach strategies across the Bay Area helped the LGBT Alliance sell out and achieve record attendance at its events in 2009-10. The LGBT Alliance has strengthened its outreach strategy through dedicated and consistent use of LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook social networking sites. The LGBT Alliance Facebook page has built a stronger online presence for the group and offered a steady stream of event information, articles, and pictures. Over the past 12 months, the LGBT Alliance grew to 600+ followers on the @JewishLGBT Twitter feed, promoted over 100 events, and grew to more than 1,000 members on Facebook. PROGRAM PROGRESS: Please see the logic model in Appendix A, to review the intended outcomes of the FY 10-11 LGBT Alliance program. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Together with community leaders and partners from across the Bay Area, the LGBT Alliance supports a broad spectrum of initiatives directly related to Jewish life. Highlights include: Conducted programs, convened committees and spearheaded advocacy activities designed to unify the Bay Area LGBT Jewish community. Published & designed the LGBT Bay Area Jewish Needs Assessment Study Engaged the LGBT Alliance’s Planning and Advisory Group (PAG) with the work of community organizing, planning and publishing a new LGBT Alliance strategic plan with the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay (JFED). PROGRAM CELEBRATION: In the past year, the LGBT Alliance continued to sponsor, promote, host and organize multiple events and programs connecting Bay Area LGBT Jews to Jewish life while we continued to focus on our th strategic plan. Our signature 2009 event was "Jews March for Pride" at San Francisco 39 annual Pride parade. We surpassed many of our attendance, partnership and programming goals. On June 29, 2009, the largest gathering of Jews in celebration of LGBT rights in the world marched down Market Street led by 20+ Rabbis, 800 Jews and 60+ Bay Area Jewish organizations. In addition, we organized the Federation's annual pre-Israel in the Gardens party by hosting Israeli Gay pop music star, Ivri Lieder. This event brought together over 500 Bay Area Jews, Israelis and guests. Here are a few additional highlights: Organizing a candlelight march, vigil & memorial for the LGBT Teens murdered in Tel Aviv. Promoting how to honor the 11th Annual Transgender Day of Remembrance at Shabbat services across the Bay Area Celebrating Thanksgiving over lunch with 65+ LGBT Seniors at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center Hosting over 40 LGBT Jews for a pre-conference mixer at the 2009 Hazon Food Conference KEY STRATEGIES MOVING FORWARD: Within the next fiscal year, the LGBT Alliance will begin to implement 70% of the recommendations from the findings of the LGBT Alliance Study and Strategic Plan. Within this fiscal year, we plan to focus on the parts of the strategic plan that do not require external grants. These initial strategies listed
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
below and charted in our logic model are strategies 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Strategies 1 and 2 will ensue as funds are raised: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Targeted Outreach: Promote & support targeted, local, engagement opportunities that focus on specific sub-populations. Enhance Organizational Capacity: Support training programs for Jewish organizations that promote inclusion and welcoming of Bay Area LGBT Jews. Build Community Partnerships: Organize & collaborate with Jewish groups and organizations to create more social, cultural, community service & spiritually- based programming for Bay Area LGBT Jews. Develop Leaders: Create, promote & support professional development & networking opportunities that prepare Bay Area LGBT Jews to move into leadership roles within Jewish organizations. Foster Engagement with Israel: Design &/or strengthen programs that can foster greater awareness of and engagement with Israel among Bay Area LGBT Jews. Enhance online content and access to resources: Increase the online access points for Bay Area LGBT Jews to develop community. Cultivate Giving: Develop a philanthropic menu and donor cultivation strategy targeted for Bay Area LGBT Jews who have both philanthropic interest and capacity.
OUTCOMES AND EVALUATION Please see the the Logic Model in Appendix A, to review the intended outcomes of the 2010 – 2011 LGBT Alliance program. The LGBT Alliance strategic plan is a complex, multi-year undertaking with ambitious regional objectives. A comprehensive evaluation of the LGBT Alliance will be developed and undertaken over time in order to: Inform and aid decision-making by funders, educators, lay leaders and community members Assess performance and progress over time Identify and replicate successes Address problems early with effective changes The comprehensive evaluation will be designed to provide findings, insights and recommendations regarding the efficacy of the implementation of the Strategic Plan to achieve desired outcomes for the LGBT Alliance Strategic Priorities. An evaluation team that includes experts in LGBT community empowerment and Jewish community evaluation, as well as agency, funder and lay representatives will oversee the comprehensive evaluation. The evaluators and methodologies employed will generate rigorous qualitative and quantitative results.
D. BUDGET AND SUSTAINABILITY INFORMATION PROGRAM BUDGET: Budget draft is included in Appendix B PROGRAM BUDGET VARIANCES: The LGBT Alliance proposed a budget of $214,673 for FY 08-09. After the Jewish Community Federation’s budget cuts, the FY 08-09 LGBT Alliance budget was reduced to $194,610. The LGBT Alliance again maintained that current funding level of $194,610 in FY 09-10 and for a third year requests the same level of funding $194,610 for FY 10-11. Program budget variances are included in Appendix C.
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
PROGRAM FUNDING PLAN: The LGBT Alliance’s long-term funding plan and timeline continues to be in line with the commitment of the Jewish Community Federation to educate and engage our Jewish community. In subsequent years in order to implement the strategies of the strategic plan, a diversity of funding sources is needed. PROGRAM FINANCIAL RECOMMENDATION: The LGBT Alliance, like all programs in the community, has scaled back its budget in light of tough economic times. Reducing funding below current levels would mean further cuts to staff, leadership development, co-sponsorship of events and regionally based programming partnerships. Execution of the strategic plan would consequently be stifled and momentum lost. PROGRAM FISCAL CHALLENGES: The current economic situation continues to hit low-income individuals and families the hardest. Statistics from the 2004 Jewish Community Study indicate that a third of LGBT households are low-income and that LGBT Jews are the poorest subgroup or more likely to experience poverty than any other Jewish subgroup in the Bay Area Jewish Community. President Barak Obama in his January 27, 2010 State of the Union address said, "For those that have known poverty, they feel it that much more now." The LGBT Jewish community is hurting economically and will continue to suffer in 2010-11. The LGBT Alliance continues to experience an increase in demand for subsidized programs. Engaging LGBT Jews with Jewish life at this increasingly difficult time is an essential piece of the LGBT Alliance's strategy. The LGBT Alliance assumes that an LGBT Jew who previously felt unwelcome in the Jewish community is looking for concrete signs that things have changed in the Bay Area. Providing access to Jewish life for economically vulnerable LGBT Jews is a key signal of that change.
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
E. ATTRIBUTION REQUIREMENTS The LGBT Alliance is an internal program of the Jewish Community Federation. Therefore, everything we do is attributed to the Jewish Community Federation. One example of successful attribution is a banner stating that the Jewish Community Federation celebrates Marriage Equality. This banner marched with lay leaders at the San Francisco Pride March. Here are a few visual examples of our marketing materials displayed in a collage:
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
APPENDIX A: LOGIC MODEL
[FY 2010 -2011]
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
APPENDIX B 2010 -2011 BUDGET: Jewish Community Federation LGBT Alliance FY 2010-11: Year 3 As of: 2/1/2010
Proposed Budget 2.1.10
Revenue Annual Campaign Funding Sponsorship Income
$ $
194,614.0 -
Total Revenue
$
194,614.0
Expense Staffing Salaries & Benefits Total Staffing
$ $
94,539.0 [1] 94,539.0
General Expenses (infrastructure) Catering Office Supplies Hospitality Transportation LGBT Community Conferences Postage Printing Thank you gifts Total General Program Expenses (infrastructure)
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
4,150.0 [2] 500.0 2,200.0 3,700.0 500.0 500.0 300.0 11,850.0
Programmatic Expenses Kol Tzedek (Coalition of Jewish LGBT organizations) Community Partnerships On-line content writer (contract) Israel leadership exchange Leadership training & development Total Programmatic Expenses
$ $ $ $ $ $
1,000.0 [3] 20,000.0 [4] 3,000.0 10,000.0 [5] 3,000 37,000.0
Allocated Overhead
$
51,225.0 [6]
Total Expenses Notes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
$
194,614.0
Benefits represent 21% of salary. Food for Committees, Groups, Programs and Meetings Kol Tzedek intends to partner with the Transgender Inclusion and overall community organizing Regionally-based co-produced programs and co-sponsorships. LGBT Alliance Staff and Lay Leadership Subsidies Includes JCF provided HR/benefit management, accounting and Finance, marketing and IT
[FY 2010 -2011]
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
APPENDIX C BUDGET vs. ACTUALS: Jewish Community Federation LGBT Alliance
Budget
2009-10 YTD
Submitted
Actuals
2.1.09
(as of 12/25/09)
Variance
FY 2009-10: Year 2 As of: 1/28/2010 Revenue Annual Campaign Funding Sponsorship Income
$ $
194,614.0 -
$ $
198,234.0 600.0
$ $
3,620.0 600.0
Total Revenue
$
194,614.0
$
198,834.0
$
4,220.0
Expense Staffing Salaries & Benefits Total Staffing
$ $
94,539.0 [1] 94,539.0
$ $
46,896.5 46,896.5
General Expenses (infrastructure) Catering Office Supplies Hospitality Transportation LGBT Community Conferences Postage Printing Thank you gifts Total General Program Expenses (infrastructure)
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
4,150.0 [2] 500.0 3,200.0 2,700.0 500.0 500.0 300.0 11,850.0
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
2,090.0 236.0 457.0 884.0 245.0 3,912.0
$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $
Programmatic Expenses Kol Tzedek (Coalition of Jewish LGBT organizations) Event Co-Sponsorship Regionally based co-produced programs Travel and Conferences Total Programmatic Expenses
$ $ $ $ $
1,000.0 [3] 13,000.0 [4] 13,000.0 10,000.0 [5] 37,000.0
$ $ $ $ $
300.0 2,000.0 2,000.0 1,307.0 5,607.0
$ 700.0 $ 11,000.0 $ 11,000.0 $ 8,693.0 $ 31,393.0
Allocated Overhead
$
51,225.0 [6]
$
27,782.0
$ 23,443.0
$
84,197.5
$ 110,416.5
Total Expenses Notes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
$
194,614.0
Benefits represent 21% of salary. Food for Committees, Groups, Programs and Meetings Kol Tzedek continues to partner on Transgender Inclusion &overall community organizing Includes sponsorship for Films, Pride, relevant community programs. LGBT Alliance Staff and Lay Leadership Development Subsidies Includes JCF provided HR/benefit management, accounting and Finance, marketing and IT support and building occupancy. This is an estimate only and is based on 08-09 allocated overhead costs. Allocated overhead will vary, potentially materially, as the JCF 09-10 budget is developed and finalized. Costs in the aforementioned service departments may increase or decrease as budget assumptions are developed and the drivers used to allocate those costs may change.
$ 47,642.5 $ 47,642.5
2,060.0 264.0 2,743.0 1,816.0 500.0 500.0 55.0 7,938.0
[Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties]
[FY 2010 -2011]
ENDNOTES The phrase “Or LaGoyim” or "A light to the nations" first appears in Isaiah, chapter 42:6-7 "I the Lord have called you in righteousness, and will hold your hand, and will keep you, and give you for a covenant of the people, for a light to the nations; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and those who sit in darkness, out of the prison house" ii Outlook on the LGBT Movement (2009 International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference Presentation a December 2009 report of the LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP) & Williams Institute summarized how community perceptions continue to assume that 10% is the given LGBT demographic number. They stated that in 1948, Alfred Kinsey’s Sexual Behavior in the Human Male revealed that homosexuality is far more widespread than commonly believed. From this study, general community perceptions indicate that Homosexuals constitute 10% of any population or community group. Homosexuality at that time may or may not have included the LGBT population continuum, as we understand it today. Most likely, it was an estimation (rather than a census of LGB individuals) of LGB behavior within a population. This estimation translates to what we understand today as 7% from Gary Gates, Same-Sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey, released by the Williams Institute at UCLA in October 2006. Additionally, data is based in part on information about same-sex couples, which means the bisexual population is likely undercounted and the transgender population is not included, which is why "LGB" is used, rather than "LGBT". According to current & live data compiled for California with the LGBT MAP project there are 1,338,164 LGB Californians (5.2% of the total population). In contrast, the New York state LGB Population is 592,337 or 4.2% of the total population. Total LGB population per state ranges from 11,000 in North Dakota to the 1.3MM (CA) LGB population density varies from 2% in South Dakota (10,554) to 8% in Washington D.C. (32,599) of a state's total population. Funding for LGBT community in North America is about 16% in DC, 23% in NY, 25% in California & 36% in all other states. iii Outlook on the LGBT Movement (2009 International Gay & Lesbian Leadership Conference Presentation a December 2009 report of the LGBT Movement Advancement Project (MAP) & Williams Institute. iv Data related to gender identity and expression—and the overall health and wellness of the transgender population—are essentially non-existent on a national scale. A serious effort needs to collect reliable data that more accurately assesses the current state and needs of the transgender community. v LGBT Alliance Study, A Bay Area Jewish LGBT Needs Assessment conducted by Jewish Mosaic. Dr. Caryn Aviv, Director of Research. January 2010. Page six (Phillips 2005). vi LGBT Alliance Study, A Bay Area Jewish LGBT Needs Assessment conducted by Jewish Mosaic. Dr. Caryn Aviv, Director of Research. January 2010. Page six (Phillips 2005). vii In spring 2007, the Bay Area Jewish community began an unprecedented and ambitious collaborative initiative to research the needs of, and strategically plan for, the Bay Area LGBT Jewish community. Together, the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties (SF JCF) and the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay (JFED) developed a Planning and Advisory Group (PAG) to oversee this Bay-Area-Wide initiative. The LGBT PAG members were selected seasoned community leaders, rabbis, LGBT experts, social scientists and communication professionals across a diversity of age, gender identity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, geographic region and Jewish community affiliation. The LGBT Alliance set out to engage a broad-based group with an interest and expertise in the work of the LGBT Alliance to jointly work together to create this plan. Our goal was to recruit up to 30 Jewish Lay Leaders from across the Bay Area to take part in the PAG. These leaders embody a wide range of perspectives and experiences within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex and Queer identified continuum. PAG participants in this process include a diverse sampling of the following: From all of the geographic regions of the Bay Area; Seasoned volunteer and professional leadership from the organized Jewish Community ; Various affiliation styles and levels of involvement with the Jewish and/or LGBT community Communal funders; various sexual orientations (including heterosexual), gender identities, gender presentations, economic class, health status, family styles and age; various political ideologies; Rabbinic and spiritual leaders in our community. viii This study used one-on-one interviews and focus groups with a diverse sample of 100 LGBT Jews. For interviews and focus groups, Jewish Mosaic developed a diversity matrix, using previous community studies and Census data, to select a broad and diverse sample of participants. Jewish Mosaic also developed an online survey, sent to 221 Bay Area Jewish communal organizations, which gathered information about LGBT Jewish programs, policies, services, staff, and lay leadership. 125 agencies completed the survey. 79 of those agencies were classified as general Jewish organizations and 46 were synagogues. 45 general agencies and 51 congregations did not respond to the survey. ix Gender Variant People in the Bay Area Jewish Community is a report from March 2009 of recommendations from Kol Tzedek. The authors of the report are: Rachel Biale, Ruby Cymrot-Wu, Noach Dzmura, Karen Erlichman, Lisa Finkelstein & Rebecca Weiner x For example, Bay Area LGBT Jewish families that are interfaith have a bigger percent of interfaith couples and while a heterosexual interfaith couple may have one issue to worry about, an LGBT interfaith couple now is different from the "norm" in at least two key ways, which may make being "welcomed" that much harder. Bay Area Jewish LGBT Needs Assessment June, 2009 Pages 5 & 6, two national (Cohen, Aviv and Kelman 2009, Aviv and Cohen 2009) and one local (Phillips: conducted in 2004, published in 2005) Some of those demographic trends dovetail and reinforce important demographics, patterns, and policy implications discussed in this report. Two important caveats: one national study (Cohen, Aviv and Kelman 2009) only included lesbian, gay, and bisexual respondents (no transgender respondents). The local Bay Area study (which did not include the East or South Bay) simply collected information among all LGBT respondents. It did not break out any demographic data by gender among participants within that LGBT sample. xi Health status refers to people living with compromised immune systems or those that live with HIV/AIDS or Cancer. According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, HIV Epidemiology Section. HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report. 2007 of the 27,592 cumulative AIDS cases in San Francisco at the end of 2007, 95% were among males, 4% were among females and 1% among transgender persons. Three-quarters of HIV/AIDS cases were among men who have sex with men (MSM). NonHispanic whites accounted for 54% of cumulative HIV/AIDS cases followed by African Americans (13%) and Latinos (12%). In 2007, there were 467 newly diagnosed HIV cases in San Francisco (a new “diagnosis” does not necessarily mean a new infection) -- 89% among men, 8% among women and 3% among transgender persons. 78% of these cases were among individuals 25-49 years of age. Among the MSM persons age 20-29 had the greatest percentage of unmet need. i