The Gill Foundation is an American

philanthropic foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating di ...

based in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. It is one of the funders of efforts to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

) people in the United States. The foundation's mission is "to secure equal opportunities for all

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

, regardless of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

or gender identity and expression."

History

The Gill Foundation was founded by

Tim Gill Tim Gill (born October 18, 1953) is an American computer software programmer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and LGBTQ rights activist. He was among the first openly gay people to be on the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. He is the f ...

in 1994, two years after the passage of Amendment 2, a

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

ballot initiative denying

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

people equal protection under the law. As of 2017, the foundation had granted more than $335 million to various

nonprofits A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

. In 2004, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the largest association of charitable fundraisers in the world, honored the Gill Foundation with its Outstanding Foundation award. On April 1, 2025,

Kate Kendell Kate Kendell (born Kathryn Dean Kendell, April 15, 1960) is the former Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), a national legal organization that fights for the civil and human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and ...

was announced as the new CEO of the foundation, with a start date of May 7.

Grant-making activities

The Gill Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in the United States working to bring about equality for LGBT people. Beyond its grant-making, the foundation also has been recognized for its OutGiving program, through which the foundation seeks to build a larger base of philanthropists giving strategically in support of LGBT causes. In recognition of the OutGiving program,

Liberty Hill Foundation The Liberty Hill Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Sarah Pillsbury, heir to the Minnesota Pillsbury baking fortune, along with Anne Mendel, Larry Janss and Win McCormack, in 1976. Its motto is "Change. Not Charity." The name of t ...

honored

with its

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

Award in 2011 "for his vision, passion and leadership in helping to create and continuing to inspire the modern day LGBTQ donor movement." The Gill Foundation invests a significant portion of its funding in its home state of Colorado, supporting nonprofits working to improve the quality of life for all Colorado residents. In 2016, $1.7 million was invested in Colorado organizations. Its Gay & Lesbian Fund's $1 million challenge grant in 2005 to the Mile High chapter of American Red Cross was one of the largest non-corporate donations in the country for

Hurricane Katrina disaster relief The disaster recovery response to Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 included U.S. federal government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), state and local-level agencies, federal an ...

. At its inception, the Gill Foundation office was based in Colorado Springs. In June 2012, to consolidate operations, the Gill Foundation closed down the office in Colorado Springs while continuing its presence in Denver. The foundation donated the Colorado Springs building to Rocky Mountain PBS to create the Tim Gill Center for Public Media. The foundation reevaluated the future direction of the Gay & Lesbian Fund, although it remains committed to its Colorado programs.

References

External links

*
Meet the Megadonor Behind the LGBTQ Rights Movement

The Advocate Op-ed: Where will activism dollars go next?
Feb. 3, 2014 * {{Authority control LGBTQ organizations based in the United States Organizations based in Colorado Tim Gill 1994 establishments in Colorado

History

Grant-making activities

See also

References

External links