We've Got a Lot to be Proud of This 2018 Pride Season

PROUD OF OUR TEAM

The work of every staff member, volunteer, and board member advances our mission to support thousands of LGBTQ young people. This month we’re proud to share some of the ways others have honored our HMI team.

The City & State Pride Power 50

On June 11^th, City & State published a list of the most powerful LGBTQ leaders in New York. It was no surprise that it was chock full of HMI leaders and supporters, including Chief Executive Officer Thomas Krever, of whom City & State said, “When policymakers want to craft proposals for LGBT youth services, Thomas Krever is the man to provide them wise counsel.”

We are proud that our Board Secretary and Chair Emeritus Charles O’Byrne, former team members Andy Humm and Ann Northrop, and former Board members Brian Ellner and Charles Myers, among many supporters and close friends were all recognized. Topping the Watch List by City & State was our very own Senior Director of Communications, Gabriel Blau. We think it says a lot that so many of the most engaged LGBTQ leaders in NY are part of the HMI family!

Awards from our Partners

BMW knows how fierce our Chief Operating Officer Darra Gordon is, so for all of her work in our community they honored her with the “Woman of Xcellence” award! Darra was also named by GO Magazine as one of this year’s “100 Women We Love“.

In meetings, in front of crowds, on TV and wherever LGBTQ youth need to be centered, Thomas Krever is there, so when the first Stonewall Inn Ambassadors were named, Thomas was chosen along with such luminaries as Billy Porter, George Takei, Anna Wintour, Chelsea Clinton, Chely Wright, Leiomy Maldonado, Jussie Smollett, and Lavern Cox. See the full list.

Recognized by our Peers

We always love their training, but this year our Director of Advocacy and Capacity Building, Lillian Rivera, and Senior Director of Youth Programs, Bridget Hughes, were recognized in a big way. At NAA18 participants rated their presentation on LGBTQ Youth and After-school Best Practices as the best out of 170 sessions!

Congratulations to Director of Youth Services, Juan Williams, who was selected for the Support Center’s 2018 Leadership Collaborative!

Thank you to Queens Pride for selecting HMI as a Grand Marshal! It means a great deal to us to be recognized for our expanded support of youth in all five boroughs and beyond.

Don Christian and the Music Masters spoken word artists, Asin and another HMI youth gave the New York City Council an amazingly powerful performance. We’re PROUD of our HMI youth who brought the anti-racist and trans celebratory voices to the ceremony.

PROUD OF OUR YOUTH

To Our Young People:

This is a special kind of community. We know that numbers can’t fully measure our success together, because each and every one of you is unique and deserves every chance to thrive. We hope that you look back at this year with pride in what you’ve accomplished.Perhaps this was the year you experienced your first counseling session, marked the completion of your High School Equivalency (or the beginning of it!), or were accepted to college and received a scholarship. Maybe you started your career with an internship, or became a peer educator. Or was this the year you discovered yourself in the Kiki Lounge, Music Masters, or one of the other 250 programs? Was this the year you made lifelong friends overa meal at cafe HMI?And maybe this was also the year you needed help finding a home, or accessing government resources, or needed more trips to the pantry for clothing and supplies.

Whatever this year meant for you, we are proud that you let us and your peers be a resource, that you stuck with it, and that you are with us now. When we say we are HMIProud, we are talking about you.

PROUD OF OUR WORK

Now in our 39th year, HMI reaches thousands around the city and beyond through more than 250 programs. As we continue to grow we seek to serve youth in the ways they need most, and we track our progress so we can continuously improve our work.

Here are just some of the numbers we use to measure our impact. All of this is only possible because of you and a dedicated staff and volunteers unlike any other.

*Numbers represent time period of July 2017 – June 2018