Welcoming Schools Annual Report

Using an intersectional, anti-racist lens, The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Welcoming Schools program is dedicated to providing actionable policies and practices for educators. Ensuring school communities have access to the critical tools necessary to embrace family diversity, prevent bias-based bullying and support transgender and non-binary students is the primary goal of the program.

Last year’s Annual Report highlighted Welcoming Schools’ expansion of secondary school trainings, booklists, and resources in response to the urgency of requests for professional development with attention to the unique needs of LGBTQ+ adolescents. The report also featured Welcoming Schools’ successful approach to reaching educators during the pandemic. Broadening training options to include virtual and hybrid delivery has had a positive impact on accessibility.

Since the idea for Welcoming Schools was hatched in 2004, the program has continued to demonstrate a responsiveness to the needs of our youth and the educators who are committed to ensuring that all students are able to feel safe and thrive in our school communities. This past year has been no exception as we celebrate the expansion of resources, the addition of dynamic new facilitators, and reaching educators in all 50 states and internationally.

^{Human Rights Campaign National Survey of LGBTQ+ Teens, in partnership with the University of Connecticut (2022).}

Welcoming Schools continuously works to update and expand their free resources for Pre-K–12 educators and youth-serving professionals. This year was no exception with the development of new conference modules, instructional resource guides for secondary educators, toolkits and booklists. Welcoming Schools is also in the process of ensuring all resources are accessible to those that speak Spanish, and are available on our website.

To access more of Welcoming Schools free resources, visit welcomingschools.org/resources

Analysis of a 2020 HRC Foundation survey of youth-serving professionals shows that they are far more likely to be equipped to serve and protect LGBTQ+ young people in their work when they receive targeted training on LGBTQ+ topics. Schools and other youth-serving organizations need to provide these learning opportunities for their staff, and individuals should seek out training — both in-person and online, to build their knowledge and skills for working with LGBTQ+ youth.

Educators who have engaged in Welcoming Schools professional development consistently report a deepened understanding of the urgency of this work and an increased confidence in their ability to support LGBTQ+ students and foster affirming, inclusive school environments.

The percentage of educators that feel they have the skills and knowledge to adequately support LGBTQ+ students more than doubles after Welcoming Schools training.

"Thank you so much for this explicit and informative presentation. I felt validated in our work and supported in pushing us forward to greater consistency of language and practice as we continue along our learning continuum creating a welcoming and affirming school environment. Very nicely done!"

Since 2011, Welcoming Schools has trained educators in all 50 States, plus DC, Aruba, Bahamas, Denmark, El Salvador, Germany, Honduras, Mexico, Qatar, Taiwan and Uganda.

"This was a very helpful workshop. It helped me understand practices to use as well as the importance of them…I often come into some internal conflict with my beliefs…This training helped me understand how I can maintain my beliefs while still being inclusive."

MORE PRAISE FOR WELCOMING SCHOOLS TRAININGS

"This was an excellent training session - engaging, clear, relevant and important. I'm grateful we're finding ways to advocate and support all children; especially those who need our advocacy the most."

"Love Welcoming Schools! The materials helped me during a very difficult experience at a previous district where I had to educate an audience that was not accepting."

"Thank you for this training. We are moving closer and closer to becoming the inclusive and equitable organization we aspire to be."

Prince George's County Public Schools (PGCPS) serves over 131,000 students in Maryland. Welcoming Schools trained a cohort of 14 educational leaders from the district in 2021 and they began rolling out professional development to staff in 2022. The district facilitators in PGCPS are working systemwide in an effort to train ALL 20,000 staff members. PGCPS adopted additional district-wide policies, including specific guidance to support transgender and gender non-conforming students.

Welcoming Schools trainings are delivered by a diverse cadre of certified facilitators who work with educators across the country. Our trainers are experienced leaders in the field of education, allowing them to provide meaningful connections to this work for schools and classrooms. The program welcomed 15 dynamic facilitators to the group this summer, expanding the program’s capacity to meet the increasing need for trainings that address the diverse needs of our school communities.

Welcoming Schools is grateful for the collaborative efforts of our current partners:

Special Thanks

Thank you to HRC Foundation Senior Vice President, Jay Brown and HRC Senior Director of Programs and Partnerships, Ellen Kahn for their leadership in guidance.

Thank you to our amazing consultants, Toni Smith, Jennifer Herdina, Angie Powers for your expertise and knowledge in developing our new resources.

A special thank you to our consultant, Cindy Bohrer, for drafting this annual report in addition to being an expert copy editor.

Thank you to the finance team for being such strong partners with us to ensure our fee for service model thrives, and to general counsel for their leadership and guidance with all things related to our contracts and intellectual property.

Thank you to the Marketing and Communications team for always elevating our important work in such a meaningful way.

A heartfelt thank you to all of our national facilitators delivering Welcoming Schools training so effectively to schools around the country.

Thanks to Glenda Santiago Marrero for her work in translating this report in Spanish.

Last but certainly not least, thank you to Tarine Wright for designing this annual report in such a beautiful, compelling format.